User:Tomica/Sandbox/Payphone (song)

"Payphone" is a ballad performed by the American pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was released on April 17, 2012, as the lead single from their fourth studio album Overexposed (2012). It features American rapper Wiz Khalifa. It was written by Adam Levine, Benny Blanco, Ammar Malik, Robopop, Shellback and Khalifa, and produced by Blanco and Shellback. The song is a pop ballad and it talks about a romance that is no more. The song has received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who praised the catchy melody and named it "a radio success", but some others dismissed Khalifa's appearance and its title.

The official music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, finds Levine taking down some bank robbers and attempting to become the "hero" in a hail of bullets as he makes his escape, steals a gun from a robber and then gets mistaken for one. Because of this, he must escape from a fleet of policemen, which he does with ease. The video was positively received from critics, who considered it an enjoyable mini-action movie. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video, but lost out to "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction.

The song has proved to be a success. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at the number three spot before peaking at number two. The song sold 493,000 copies in its first week, becoming the best sales week for a digital song by a group and also the eighth-best sales week overall. It also reached number-one on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and has stayed at the top for eight consecutive weeks. It also topped the UK Singles Chart, making it their first ever to do so.

Writing, production and release
In 2011, Maroon 5 re-released their third studio album Hands All Over. The lead single from the re-issue of the album, "Moves Like Jagger" featured American recording artist Christina Aguilera and was commercial success, managing to reach the number-one on 18 national charts including the US Billboard Hot 100. In middle 2011, the band started working on their following fourth studio album. One of the members of Maroon 5, spoke to Billboard and revealed their plans are to release their fourth studio album in early 2012. On March 22, 2012, the band posted a video on YouTube featuring numerous scenes from the band in the studio, recording the album. On July 17, 2012, the album was released under the title Overexposed.

Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, Dan Omelio and Cameron Thomaz wrote "Payphone" together with Benny Blanco and Savan Kotecha, the producers. Blanco also co-wrote and co-produced the band's previous single "Moves Like Jagger". The writing process started when he convened together with Malik and Omelio in the studio; the latter constructed a piano line and demo track that Blanco compiled into a proper melody. Then, it was given to Levine who wrote the lyrics. Meanwhile, Blanco recalled rapper Wiz Khalifa with an idea to throw a wrench into the Maroon 5 works by adding hip-hop flavor to the its sound, "I love when things don't make sense, like, 'Holy fuck!' You don't hear him on the song at all. I like when bands dip into a whole different genre." Wiz Khalifa wrote and rapped his verse on "Payphone". In an interview with Rolling Stone, Blanco told that five minutes before Khalifa arrived at the studio, he prepared "the sound beds for the finger snap-driven portion of the jam". However, producer Max Martin, who was the executive producer of Overexposed, adjusted the chorus, because he felt it should be a "little different".

"Payphone" was recorded at Conway Studios in Los Angeles by Noah "Mailbox" Pasovoy and Shellback, while Eric Eylands served as the assistant engineer. John Hanes mixed the song at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach and Phil Seaford was the mixing assistant. The programming, additional bass, keys, acoustic guitars and the background vocals were provided by Shellback and Blanco. Jeremy "Jbogs" Levin and David "D Silb" Silberstein served as production coordinators. Khalifa appears as courtesy of Rostrum Records. "Payphone" was released as a lead single from Overexposed. On April 17, 2012, it was digitally released in most territories. A&M/Octone Records serviced the song to contemporary hit radio in the United States on April 24. A CD single containing the album version of the song together with a Thomas Penton/Barry Huffine remix was released on June 8 in Germany.

Composition
"Payphone" is a pop and R&B song that contains hip hop influences and has duration of 3 minutes and 51 seconds. Its instrumentation, which consists of funk guitars, bass and synths is accompanied by Levine's high falsetto. "Payphone" is written in the key of Bb major, in common time, with a tempo of 112 beats per minute. Levin's vocal range spans from the low note of A4 to the high note of B5. Thomas Chau from AOL Radio Blog commented that the song "is one of the band's more mellow singles similar to 'She Will Be Loved' and 'Won't Go Home Without You.' Andrew Unterberger agreed, writing that "it's got that same kind of mid-tempo blandness that’s caused casual fans to mix up ballads like "Won’t Go Home Without You" and "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" in our heads for years.

The song kicks off with Adam Levine performing an upper register read-through of the chorus backed by a simple keyboard. On the chorus, he sings: "I’m at a payphone trying to call home / All of my change I spent on you / Where have the times gone? / Baby, it’s all wrong / Where are the plans we made for two? / If happy ever after did exist / I would still be holding you like this / All those fairytales are full of shit / One more fucking love song, I’ll be sick". "Shit" and "fucking" are replaced with "it" and "stupid", respectively, in the song's clean version. When Khalifa serves his verse, his rhymes don't speak of his love life, but rather his "haters": "I'll be out spending all this money while you sittin' 'round wondering why it wasn't you who came up from nothin' / Made it from the bottom now when you see me I'm stunnin'." Amy Sciarretto from "Pop Crush" and Bill Lamb from About.com pointed out that the lyrics are "almost mirroring Levine’s current romantic situation with former girlfriend Anne Vyalitsyna and their very public split.

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Payphone" is written in the key of B major with a moderately fast tempo of 110 beats per minute. It follows the chord progression E sus2 –B 5 –G♯m 7 –F♯ sus –F♯–E sus2 –B–G♯m 7 –F♯ 5, and the vocals span from A♯4 to C♯6.

Critical reception
The song received positive reviews from music critics. Bill Lamb from About.com gave to the song 4 out of 5 stars, praising the "full band arrangement on second and third choruses", "Adam Levine's soulful vocals" and the "melodic pop feel", but dismissed Wiz Khalifa's rap, calling it "unnecessary." Crystal Bell from Huffington Post called it "definitely one of the band's most pop-y singles to date." Amy Sciarretto from Pop Crush commented that the song is "buoyant, airy and catchy" and wrote that it is "yet another melodically blithe single that will be dominating the airwaves." Robbie Daw from Idolator wrote that the song is "extremely Top 40-friendly." Melinda Newman from HitFix wrote that the song "is a straight-ahead pop ditty, that, like everything else these days, seems to take a page from Bruno Mars’ "Grenade" for its shiny, military-like precise beat that still manages to sound convincingly warm. It's melodic and catchy, and but not overly aggressive. Rick Florino of Artist Direct commented that the song "merges one of the band's biggest hooks with clever lines." Robert Copsey from Digital Spy described it as "a shining example as an addictive head-nodder."

Chris Payne from Billboard wrote that "The pop/R&B fling is far from a classic Maroon 5 cut, yet it serves as a testament to the band's continued rebranding and a reminder of how much the airwaves have changed since 'This Love' hit in 2004." Andrew Unterberger from "Pop Dust" criticized Khalifa's verse, writing that "the group’s first rapper guest of note, can’t do much to spice up the proceedings, and it’s unclear if he even knows what the song he’s rapping on is about." He also criticized the song's title, writing: "nobody’s seriously used a payphone in a dramatic life moment in a decade." Another mixed review came from Entertainment Weekly ' s Marc Snetiker, who commented that "it’s pretty easy to replace the band’s signature electronic meta-funk with any of the boy band’s impish members, for example One Direction." However, he concluded that "it's catchy, infectious, and overwhelmingly mellow." Fraser McAlpine from BBC Music criticized his voice, writing: "Adam Levine fires up that nasal yelp as soon as the song begins, and does not let up until the fadeout." McAlpine also wrote that "Wiz Khalifa gets more space at the front of the stage than the rest of his band do."

Adam Markovitz from Entertainment Weekly concluded: "Payphone is an alchemy of elemental pop-rock building blocks that conjures virile longing in the same corny-graceful way as past M5 hits like She Will Be Loved. Levine's voice soars, the piano and guitar hit notes of bitter nostalgia, and for once the words' hurt feels real. And whether by Pro-Tooled magic or old-fashioned sweat, the song also sounds remarkably like it was recorded in a studio by musicians who actually came together to play as a band — even if one of them was only dropping by on his way to the soundstage."

The song ranked number 46 on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 best songs of 2012.

Chart performance
In the United States, the song debuted on the Pop Songs chart at number 21, making it the highest-charting debut by a group since 'N Sync's "Pop" debuted at the same position in June 2001. "Payphone" peaked at number one on the Billboard's Pop Songs chart, becoming their fourth number one. On Pop Songs, the group makes it to back-to-back toppers, as its last entry, "Moves Like Jagger," featuring Christina Aguilera, reigned for six weeks beginning in October. The band had likewise led consecutively with its first two number ones, "This Love" (three weeks) and "She Will Be Loved" (four) in 2004. Wiz Khalifa, featured on the pop edit of "Payphone," scores his first Mainstream Top 40 number one. On the Adult Pop Songs chart, "Payphone" debuted at number 17, the highest-ever debut by a group and the third-highest overall. It also topped the Adult Pop Songs, becoming their fifth leader. On Adult Pop Songs, Maroon 5 - whose number one ledger on the list includes its four Pop Songs leaders plus 2010's "Misery" - ties Nickelback for the most commanding titles among groups in the chart's 16-year history.

"Payphone" sold 493,000 digital downloads in its first week and subsequently debuted at number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, the best sales week ever for a digital song by a group, surpassing The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", which topped the chart with sales of 464,000 units in April 2009. It is also the eighth-best sales week overall since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital downloads in 2003. The song debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It failed to reach number one, peaking at number two on that chart for six non-consecutive weeks, being blocked from the top spot by Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Carly Rae Jepsen's smash hit "Call Me Maybe". On its 18th week in the top ten, "Payphone" dropped to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first time the song was not a part of the top five. It also spent its first nineteen weeks in the top ten. As of January 2013, the song had sold 4,760,000 digital copies in the United States.

On the Canadian Hot 100 chart, the song debuted at number 2, for the issue dated May 5, 2012. The following week, the song fell to number 3, where it remained for a further week. The following week, the song climbed to number 2 and on the chart issue dated June 2, 2012, the song topped the Canadian charts. For the following seven weeks, the song remained at the top, spending a total of eight weeks at the top.

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number one on the The Official Singles Chart, becoming their first number one single. It sold over 141,000 copies, which marks the third week in a row that the number one single broke the 100,000 barrier after Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole. The song has sold 725,000 copies in the UK in 2012, and was the 9th best-selling single of 2012.

"Payphone" had sold 68,000 digital copies in Italy.

Live performances
On April 16, 2012, Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa performed the song for the first time on The Voice, a reality talent show, on which lead singer Adam Levine is one of the judges and coaches. "Payphone" was also performed, for the first time at a proper Maroon 5 concert, during the band's special performance for the Grand Opening of the Microsoft Store in Palo Alto, California, on April 21, 2012. Adam Levine sang the lines from the alternative version of the song, without the rap, released officially on April 18, 2012, just two days after its world premiere on The Voice and also on iTunes: "Now, baby, don't hang up / So I can tell you what you need to know / Baby, I'm begging you / Just, please, don't go / So I can tell you what you need to know." in lieu of Wiz Khalifa's rap verse. They also performed the song, in a medley with "Moves Like Jagger", on the UK final of the 1st series of The Voice on 2 June 2012. The band performed the song on the Today Show, on June 29, 2012. They also performed previous hits "One More Night, "Moves Like Jagger" and "Harder to Breathe".

Lyric video
A lyric video was released on April 16, 2012.

The clip is designed to look like an animated graphic novel and features a cartoon of frontman Adam Levine. The video opens with the marker-sketched Levine gazing at a photo of a former love wistfully while sitting on top of a payphone, then crumpling it up in a blue-tinged flame of anger at the chorus. The dark-haired gent looks back on his relationship, perhaps revisiting history, making himself into a hero: fighting monsters, rescuing hapless old women from muggers, etc. He envisions himself and his former love nearly kissing and in front of the Eiffel Tower, but she fades each time his lyrics get jaded. Wiz appears in a hoodie, acting as cartoon Levine's crime-fighting sidekick.

Official video
On April 19, 2012, Levine was spotted shooting the video, making a call from a Los Angeles phone booth, fleeing from the police with Victoria's Secret model Bregje Heinen and speeding away in a classic sports car. The official music video was directed by Samuel Bayer and was released on May 10, 2012. The video was reportedly similar to high-action FPS video game, Payday: The Heist. The car used in the video, a custom 1967 Shelby Cobra, was a kit-car hand built by Levine in the band's practice space during the band's inactive winter months.

Synopsis
The video begins with a flashforward that starts with a beleaguered Levine torching his ride and dialing (possibly) his lost love's telephone number at a payphone. Another typical day at a Las Vegas (seen from the decals on the police cars) bank for Levine is shown next, which turns into chaos when some bandits enter and take charge (one of them is played by the band's lead guitarist – James Valentine – and some of the other bank robbers are probably played by drummer Matt Flynn, bassist Mickey Madden and current keyboardist, originally a touring-only band member, PJ Morton) – all of this happens while the song plays in the background. Levine grabs a gun from one of the robbers and threatens to get rid of them. He and his female co-worker (played by Dutch model Bregje Heinen) escape unscathed, but when some cops mistake him for one of the robbers, Levine tells the female co-worker to hide in a car and steals a AC Cobra 427 that belongs to Wiz Khalifa to get away from them. A car chase follows and when Levine is almost caught by the police, he steers the stolen convertible onto the wrong side of the road and causes a huge explosion, which destroys one of the police cars. When he finally reaches his destination in Los Angeles, he passes by a place where Wiz, the owner of the car, performed his rap earlier. After Levine gets out of the convertible, it also explodes and he enters a booth, injured, with the titular payphone, probably to call for help (It is also likely that he is calling Heinen) – this connects to the beginning of the video.

Reception
Amy Sciarretto of Pop Crush wrote that "This vid unfolds like a mini-movie, with lots of thrills, action and hot pursuit. Bring on the summer blockbusters!" Natalie Finn of E! News gave a positive review for the video, writing that "Adam Levine looks just as good as a buttoned-up bank employee as he does as a dirty, wounded fugitive trying to outrun the cops." Becky Bain of Idolator wrote that "The clip is an enjoyable mini-blockbuster, but it’s still missing one important ingredient: Adam Levine without a shirt." Rebecca Ford of Hollywood Reporter gave a mixed review, writing: "Although it's fun to see such a big-budget clip from the band, the story line doesn't make complete sense. Since Levine's character didn't rob the bank, why does he keep running from the cops? And why does he leave the pretty lady behind?"

The video was nominated for an MTV VMA for Best Pop Video.

Covers
On 7 May 2012, singing sisters Cimorelli posted a cover on YouTube, which has been watched over 10 million times but Dani and Lauren changed up the rap. Tanner Patrick, Dave Days, Megan Nicole, Tiffany Alvord and Avery also posted cover versions of "Payphone". Recently, the band Boyce Avenue have also released a cover of the song. Also, Canadian Indie group Walk off the Earth released a cover on Youtube where many of the instruments being played are looped live, allowing one member to effectively play six instruments over the course of the song, with the recorded loops all playing at once. American post-hardcore group Crown The Empire has done a heavy cover of the song as well for Fearless Records' compilation album Punk Goes Pop 5

Credits and personnel

 * Recording
 * Engineered at Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California, at Downtown Studios, New York City, New York, and at Jon Mann Studios, Reston, Virginia
 * Recorded at Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California
 * Mixed at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach, Virginia


 * Personnel
 * Adam Levine – songwriter
 * Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco) – songwriter, producer, engineer, programming, additional keyboard
 * Ammar Malik – songwriter
 * Dan Omelio (Robopop) – songwriter, additional production, additional keyboard and guitar
 * Shellback – songwriter, producer, recording, programming, additional bass, keyboards, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
 * Cameron Thomaz – songwriter
 * Bradford Smith – engineer
 * Chris Sclafani – engineer
 * Jonathan Mann – engineer
 * Noah "Mailbox" Passovoy – recording
 * Eric Eylands – assistant engineer
 * John Hanes – mix engineer
 * Phil Seaford – assistant mix engineer
 * Andrew "Muffman" Luftman – assistant engineer
 * Scott "Yarmov" Yarmovsky – assistant engineer
 * Sam "Såklart" Holland – assistant engineer
 * Jeremy "Jboogs" Levin – Production Coordination
 * David "D Silb" Silberstein – Production Coordination

Precision Tunes version
In April 2012, a cover of the song by "Precision Tunes", a karaoke cover group of popular music, was released for digital download. Due to the original Maroon 5 version of the song not being available for purchase in the United Kingdom at the time, with the release date for their version set in June 2012, the Precision Tunes version of the song was met with a large influx of downloads there. Downloads of the cover caused this version of "Payphone" debut at number 83 on the UK Singles Chart. The following week, it hit the top ten of the chart, peaking at number nine.

Chart performance
On June 10, 2012 the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 83, The following week it climbed to number 9 a week before the track official release.