Amazing (Alex Lloyd song)
| "Amazing" | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Single by Alex Lloyd | |||||||
| from the album Watching Angels Mend | |||||||
| Released | 17 September 2001 | ||||||
| Format | CD, digital download | ||||||
| Genre | Soft rock | ||||||
| Length | 3:22 | ||||||
| Label | EMI | ||||||
| Writer(s) | Alex Lloyd | ||||||
| Producer(s) | Magnus Fiennes, Alex Lloyd | ||||||
| Certification | Gold (ARIA) | ||||||
| Alex Lloyd singles chronology | |||||||
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"Amazing" is a song written by Australian singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd. The song was released in September 2001 as the second single from his second studio album, Watching Angels Mend. It was a successful single, which reached the top of the New Zealand chart, and topped the poll in youth radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 in 2001. The song is an example of the evergreen 'four chords of pop' progression.
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2002, the song was nominated for Single of the Year and Highest Selling Single, losing out on both to "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue.[1][2]
At the APRA Music Awards of 2002 the song won the 'Song of the Year' award.[3]
Music video
The video clip of this song was filmed around the Southern Highlands in New South Wales. It features a schoolgirl named Sarah living in the year 1976. One day while travelling to school by bus, Sarah notices a young man walking near the road. Desperately, she decides to skip school and have her own freedom including writing her name in a local toilet, rowing a boat, drawing a picture and walking around the streets in her local town. Unfortunately, Sarah's chance of freedom was cut short when her mum caught her in a library. At the end, Sarah is back in uniform the next day and waits for a bus to get to school.
Track listing
- CD single[4]
- "Amazing" — 3:24
- "Downtown" — 4:45
- "My Way Home" (XFM live session) — 4:20
- "What a Year" (XFM live session) — 4:00
Charts
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[5] | 14 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[6] | 1 |
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
| Dutch Singles Chart[7] | 91 |
| UK Singles Chart[8] | 176 |
Certification
| Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[9] | Gold | 35,000^ |
|
^shipments figures based on certification alone | ||
Other uses
In 2004 the song was licensed for use in advertisements for the Ford Territory 4-wheel drive (SUV) vehicle. It has been used in two other TV advertisements, reportedly earning Lloyd payments of "hundreds of thousands of dollars". In 2008, truck driver Mark O'Keefe sued Lloyd, claiming that the two of them wrote the song together on "a series of beer coasters" at a hotel in 1991 when Lloyd was 16, and that accordingly Lloyd owed him royalties. Lloyd denied ever meeting O'Keefe.[10]
"Amazing" is used in the international trailer for the 2005 film Imagine Me & You, the same year saw Alex Lloyd perform the song live outside the Sydney Opera House during the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami fundraising concert.
Jessica Mauboy covered the song on her 2016 album, The Secret Daughter: Songs from the Original TV Series.
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia[4] | 17 September 2001 | EMI | CD single | 8798972 |
Personnel
The following people contributed to "Amazing":
- Magnus Fiennes – keyboards
- Shawn Lee – drums
- Alex Lloyd – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
- Ged Lynch – percussion
References
- ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2002: 16th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ↑ "Australia 2002 ARIA Awards". ALLdownunder.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ↑ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- 1 2 "New Releases Singles - Week Commencing 17th September 2001". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Alex Lloyd – Amazing". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Alex Lloyd – Amazing". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- ↑ "Amazing - Dutch top 100 chart run". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ↑ "Chart Log UK - DJ Steve L. – LZ Love". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
- ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ↑ "Truckie changes his Amazing story". The Age. 27 August 2008.
External links
| Preceded by "My Happiness" by Powderfinger |
Triple J Hottest 100 song of the year 2001 |
Succeeded by "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age |
| Preceded by "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira |
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single 10 March 2002 |
Succeeded by "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira |