Heads Will Roll (song)

"Heads Will Roll"
Single by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
from the album It's Blitz!
Released June 29, 2009
Format CD, 7"
Genre
Length 3:41
Label Interscope
Songwriter(s) Brian Chase, Karen Orzolek, Nick Zinner
Producer(s) Nick Launay, Dave Sitek
Yeah Yeah Yeahs singles chronology
"Zero"
(2009)		 "Heads Will Roll"
(2009)		 "Skeletons"
(2010)

"Zero"
(2009)		 "Heads Will Roll"
(2009)		 "Skeletons"
(2010)
Music video
"Heads Will Roll" on YouTube

"Heads Will Roll" is the second single released by American band Yeah Yeah Yeahs from their third album, It's Blitz!. The CD and 7" commercial singles were released in the UK on June 29, 2009.[1] The song is sung from the viewpoint of the Queen of Hearts in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The song was remixed by Canadian DJ A-Trak and later by an online American artist named JVH-C, which has been the most notable and popular remix of the song. The latter has been used in Internet memes extensively, notably meme remixes.

Music video

The music video was directed by Richard Ayoade. It features the band playing in a (presumably) underground venue when a dancing werewolf (whose dancing is reminiscent of Michael Jackson) appears on stage. A light flashes halfway through the music video and the werewolf transforms. He then proceeds to chase after the audience and kills most of them. The video then ends with the band having been murdered while Karen O continues singing, her head severed from her body. The music video contains some mockery of horror in general; instead of blood, there is red glitter and confetti and Karen O keeps singing while decapitated. In the UK, there are two different versions of this video, the second replacing the violent conclusion with repeated clips from the previous section of the video, but it shows the confetti falling onto the band.

It was nominated for a VMA for "Breakthrough Video".[2]

  • The A-Trak remix of the song was featured in the 2010 video game DJ Hero 2.
  • In 2011, the song was performed as a mash-up with Michael Jackson's song "Thriller" on the American television show Glee for the episode "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle".[3] The song was also used in the promotional videos for Showtime Networks television series The Tudors.
  • The A-Trak remix of the song was also featured in the 2012 film Project X and 2015 film Goosebumps.
  • The Kid Kamillion edit of this song was featured in Diplo's Sway in the Morning trap mix.
  • The Little Vampire remix of the song appears in the game Gran Turismo 5.
  • On 23 May 2015, a remix of the song was made by American SoundCloud artist JVH-C,[4] which notably utilizes the lyric "dance 'til you're dead" multiple times throughout the track. It is currently the most recognized remix and has been used in meme remixes, usually accompanied by a dancing dog.
  • The song was used in the 2017 Netflix Original Series Atypical.

Track lists

CD, 7"[1]
No.TitleLength
1."Heads Will Roll"3:44
2."Heads Will Roll" (Passion Pit Remix)4:39
Digital Remix EP
No.TitleLength
1."Heads Will Roll" (Passion Pit Remix)4:37
2."Heads Will Roll" (Tommie Sunshine Remix)5:21
3."Heads Will Roll" (Little Vampire Remix)4:47
4."Heads Will Roll" (James Iha Remix)4:15

Chart performance

Chart (2009–12) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[6] 7
France (SNEP)[7] 45
Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 73
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 70
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 89

References

  1. 1 2 Amazon.co.uk - Heads Will Roll (Single)
  2. ↑ "MTV Video Music Awards | 2009 | Highlights, Winners, Performers and Photos from the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards". MTV.com. 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  3. ↑ "'Glee': On the set for the Super Bowl episode's huge 'Thriller' performance -- EXCLUSIVE". January 21, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Heads Will Roll (JHV-C Remix)". Soundcloud. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  7. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll" (in French). Les classement single.
  8. ↑ "Musicline.de – Yeah Yeah Yeahs Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  9. ↑ "Irish Singles Chart – Search for song". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
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