Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
| "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" | |||||||||
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| Single by Train | |||||||||
| from the album Drops of Jupiter | |||||||||
| A-side | "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" | ||||||||
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| Released | February 20, 2001 | ||||||||
| Format | CD single | ||||||||
| Recorded | 1999-2000 | ||||||||
| Genre | Pop rock | ||||||||
| Length | 4:20 | ||||||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||||||
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| Producer(s) | Brendan O'Brien | ||||||||
| Train singles chronology | |||||||||
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"Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" (simply "Drops of Jupiter" on the album) is a Grammy Award-winning song written and recorded by American rock band Train. It was released in February 2001 as the lead single from their second album Drops of Jupiter (2001). The song hit the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and also charted in the Top 40 for 29 weeks. The single from Europe had tracks "It's Love", "This Is Not Your Life", and "Sharks" as its B-sides. The song was ranked at No. 4 on Billboard's 2001 list of top singles of the year, a spot higher than the song peaked.
The recording features the signature strings of arranger Paul Buckmaster, who won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for Drops of Jupiter.
Lead singer Patrick Monahan has stated that the song was inspired by his late mother, who had died after a struggle with cancer, and that the opening lines "came to [him] in a dream." He said, "The process of creation wasn't easy. I just couldn't figure out what to write, but then I woke up from a dream about a year after my mother passed away with the words 'back in the atmosphere...It was just her way of saying what it was like – she was swimming through the planets and came to me with drops of Jupiter in her hair." The verse has a noted resemblance to the chorus of "Drift Away", a song most famously performed by Dobie Gray.
Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that it "demonstrates a truly artistic lyrical bent that merits instant acceptance of this credible rock-edged song." He sums up the review saying "add piano, a splendid orchestral backdrop, and a vocal shimmering with passion and personality, and this is a runaway track for Train."
"Drops of Jupiter" ascended to the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary chart in its 49th week, marking the longest climb to the top 10 on that tally by any act. The song has spent over 100 weeks on the Adult Contemporary charts, and is still charting on the Recurrents chart. Although the song was released years before digital download became commonplace, the song has sold over 1,000,000 downloads (it was also certified Gold by the RIAA), and hit the top 50 of the Digital Downloads charts five years after its release due to Ace Young singing it on the fifth season of American Idol.
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