"If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It" | ||||
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7" vinyl
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Single by Snow Patrol | ||||
from the album A Hundred Million Suns | ||||
B-side | "In a Dream I Saw Satellites" | |||
Released | 8 March 2009 (See release history) |
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Format | 7" vinyl, digital download | |||
Recorded |
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Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 4:19 (album version) 3:37 (radio edit) |
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Label | Fiction/Interscope | |||
Writer(s) | Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, Paul Wilson , Jonny Quinn and Tom Simpson | |||
Producer(s) | Jacknife Lee | |||
Snow Patrol singles chronology | ||||
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"If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It" is a song from alternative rock band Snow Patrol's fifth album A Hundred Million Suns. It was released as the follow-up single to "Crack the Shutters" on 8 and 9 March 2009. It was the third single taken from the album. The music was composed in collaboration between the band members of Snow Patrol, and frontman Gary Lightbody serving as lyricist. The song is a departure from Lightbody's frequent attempts at diagnosing his less positive personal issues, which often focus on his romantic breakups, and instead celebrates a newfound love outside human relationships.
The song, though critically lauded upon the album release, was generally not received well as a single. The single was a commercial failure, failing to reach the Top 100 in the United Kingdom, and failing to chart in any other country. The single was later released in the Netherlands but failed to chart as well.
At the time of the release of the album, Snow Patrol.com posted a section featuring a discussion of the song with the band's lyricist, Gary Lightbody discussing the new songs, which was initially a Lightbody interview to RTÉ. About "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It", he said that the song "was a love record rather than a break up record". He continued to say that the song was "set in the context of a world that's as terrifying as it is beautiful, which is why a lot of the imagery refers to space." He maintained the positivity of the song, saying "I don't think we're doomed, but there's darkness here, looming over me rather than in me". The album's lyrics were influenced by Lightbody's newly discovered love of science. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said "I didn't have any aptitude for it at school, but I've become very interested in science over the past couple of years." He commented on the positive lyrics, adding "in the past, my lyrics have sometimes been bogged down by my own self-flagellation — can't see past my fingertips. This time, the opposite has happened. It's about realizing that we're just dots."
To promote the single, the band made an appearance on Channel 4's show T4 on 7 February. The performance was aired between 9am and 2 pm.