"Northern Downpour" | ||||
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Single by Panic at the Disco | ||||
from the album Pretty. Odd. | ||||
B-side | "The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know" (Alternate Version) | |||
Released | November 14, 2008 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Recorded | 2007–08 | |||
Studio | Studio at the Palms (Las Vegas); Abbey Road Studios (London); Legacy Recording Studios (New York) | |||
Length | 4:07 | |||
Label | ||||
Writer(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Rob Mathes | |||
Panic at the Disco singles chronology | ||||
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"Northern Downpour" is a song by American rock band Panic at the Disco from their second studio album, Pretty. Odd. (2008). The song was released on November 14, 2008, as the fourth and final single from the album. The song was written by guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, and was their final single with the band.
The lyrics were based on the band's touring cycle, their girlfriends, and "everything that's been important to us in the past few years." In an interview, Ross noted that "There's a line in the song that goes, 'I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home.' I told Brendon Urie to pay special attention to that line." He characterized it as the album's "most meaningful" song.
Sarah Rodman at The Boston Globe wrote that the song "combine[s] trippy imagery and dreamy melodies that pay homage without naked, outright theft."The Washington Post's J. Freedom du Lac interpreted the "plaintive ballad" as a reference to the Beatles' "A Day in the Life". Rob Harvilla of The Village Voice felt it "actually quite stirring." Andrew Blackie of PopMatters praised Urie's vocal performance, writing that "he peels off a new timbre to his panting swank entirely, serving an emotionally bare, Robert Smith-esque performance that doesn’t sound like him at all."
James Montgomery of MTV News ranked it among the best songs of 2008, writing that the song is "genuinely pretty [...] and probably the best thing Panic will ever do."
At the MTV Video Music Awards on September 7, 2008, the band stated that "Northern Downpour" would be the next single released from Pretty. Odd. and that they were working on the concept for the music video. The black and white video was directed by Behn Fannin and produced by Refused TV. It was filmed in Los Angeles in late September 2008.