Fuck You!
Encyclopedia
"Fuck You!", also titled "Forget You" or "FU" for clean versions, is a single by American recording artist Cee Lo Green. It was released on August 19, 2010 as the first single from his third studio album, The Lady Killer
.
, calling his former girlfriend things such as a "gold digger
" and painting the new boyfriend in a profanity-laced, extremely negative light.
"Fuck You!" was released in various different versions. The clean version of the song, which is broadcast in the music video on UK television stations is called "Forget You", while the UK radio edit is entitled "FU". All three versions differ in lyrical content, with "Fuck You!" being completely uncensored, "Forget You" only removing major profanties such as "fuck", "shit" and "nigga", and "FU" censoring all profanities, including those at the start of the bridge. All three versions can be found on iTunes
and both "Fuck You!" and "Forget You" are included in an extended play, which features the music video and lyric video, and was released on August 19, 2010, whereas "FU" did not appear in the store until September 21. A fourth version of the song, featuring American rapper 50 Cent
, was released to iTunes
in March 2011. The version was entitled "Fuck You! (Heartbreaker)!", and was released only in America. The video for this version of the song incorporates scenes from the original video with extra shots of 50 Cent performing. Cee Lo performed a remix of the song, featuring an all-female backing band named "Scarlet Fever
", on the The Colbert Report on November 9, 2010. The remix was entitled "Fuck You! (Fox News)". The first full verse of the song was a satirical parody of Fox News Channel controversies
. A fifth version of the song, entitled "Thank You", was released on May 9, 2011. The song was re-written with new lyrics as a tribute to firefighters. The lyrics mention that Cee Lo's mother was a firefighter. A new version of the video was released with scenes of Cee Lo visiting a fire station.
on August 19, 2010, featuring kinetic typography, with the lyrics of the song appearing on different colored backgrounds with film grain
overlaid on the video. The same thing was done in the German
and Spanish
versions of the video, translating the lyrics, although the vocals remained in English
.
The official music video was released on September 1, 2010. The video was directed by Matt Stawski and was filmed at a movie prop diner located in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles
. Taking place in a diner
, the video chronicles Cee Lo's misadventures with a girl he has a crush on, known as "The Heartbreaker" throughout the video. In the beginning, a young Cee Lo goes into the diner with his parents and goes up to the Heartbreaker, who is sitting with another boy. He offers to let the Heartbreaker play with his toy garbage truck, but she ignores him and walks away with the other boy, who has a toy Ferrari F40
. In his high school years, Cee Lo works at the diner as a chef. He attempts to woo the Heartbreaker with a bouquet of flowers but slips on fries deliberately dropped by another boy. The flowers fly out of his hand and land on a much younger girl's lap. During his college years, Cee Lo studies in the diner with another woman, implied to be his music tutor. He then attempts to woo the Heartbreaker by having the waitress draw a heart-shaped ketchup mark on her hot dog plate, but the Heartbreaker approaches him with a basket of fries and spills them on his shirt, leaving a large ketchup stain on it. Cee Lo then goes through an epiphany in his life and the video fast-forwards to present day, when Cee Lo is now known as "The Lady Killer" and has a fancy Cadillac Eldorado
with his backup singers in the back seat. He drives past the diner to find the Heartbreaker working there, sweeping the front entrance while others are dancing behind her. Cee Lo waves at the Heartbreaker before driving away. The final shot is of him waving at the camera and the words "The Lady Killer" appearing on screen, before the shot freezes, thus ending the video.
The clean version of the video contains re-shot elements which have been mixed with parts from the original, most notably when Cee Lo is on screen and he is singing alternative lyrics, but he is not shown singing the clean lyrics in the titular chorus. Some parts of the video tend to freeze for a split second when a bowdlerized
lyric is being mouthed to prevent the lips from being read.
song, a combination that fits the singer's sky-high vocals and offbeat sense of humor well. Over a twinkling piano line, bumping bass and steady percussion, Green shakes off a failed relationship with a gold digger by packing the simple pleasures of old-school soul music into tongue-in-cheek verses and a suitably soaring chorus." Nick Levine of Digital Spy
gave the song four out of five stars writing: "As its title suggests, 'Fuck You' is essentially a middle finger extending from the fist of a pop single—and a gloriously catchy Motown stomper of a pop single at that."
, "Fuck You!" was nominated for Record of the Year
and Song of the Year
, and won Best Urban/Alternative Performance
. The video was also nominated for Best Short Form Music Video
. It was named the #1 song of 2010 by Time
, and made the top of Metacritic
's users poll. In October 2011, NME
placed it at number 112 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
, performing "Fuck You!" on
Taratata
,
Reeperbahn
Festival,
Later... with Jools Holland,
BBC Radio
,
Late Show with David Letterman
,
the 19th annual Children in Need telethon,
the Christmas edition of BBC1 chart show Top of the Pops,
Saturday Night Live
,
and many other venues. Cee Lo also performed February 13, 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards with Gwyneth Paltrow
and several puppets provided by The Jim Henson Company
.
On February 15, he sang at the 2011 BRIT Awards alongside Paloma Faith
.
On August 14, Cee Lo sang at WWE's 2011
SummerSlam
pay-per-view in Los Angeles
, with the addition of WWE Diva
s dancing to "Fuck You!" at the event's venue
.
CD Single
Maxi-Single
Digital Single
12" Vinyl single
and No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100
. The song originally peaked at number 9 in 2010, but following Cee Lo's performance of the song at the 53rd Grammy Awards
, "Fuck You!" had a resurgence in popularity and climbed back up the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 2 in its 26th chart week (making it one of the slowest climbs ever into the number 2 position). The song remained at No. 2 for four consecutive weeks, kept from the top spot by Lady Gaga
's "Born This Way
." However, the song did reach No. 1 on American Top 40
, knocking off "Born This Way" as it fell to No. 4. It was certified Gold on November 5, 2010. By February 2011, "Fuck You!" had sold over three million digital copies in the U.S. since its release. The week of March 24, 2011, the song was the best-selling song in the USA of 2011, having been sold 1,865,000 times in 2011 only, despite the song never reaching No. 1 and being released in August 2010. In the subsequent week, the song surpassed 2 million copies in sales in 2011 alone, bringing its total to 3,707,000 copies. As of late July 2011, it has sold over 5,000,000 digital copies.
Pentatonix paired this song with "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson on Season 3 of "The Sing Off"
The Lady Killer (album)
The Lady Killer is the third studio album by American recording artist Cee Lo Green, released November 5, 2010, on Elektra Records. Production for the album was handled by Salaam Remi, Element, The Smeezingtons, Fraser T...
.
Versions
The original version of "Fuck You!" is a young man's angry expression of frustration over a failed relationship, blaming things on his inability to afford his ex-girlfriend's material desires. His rant begins after seeing his ex-girlfriend riding in a car with another man, who apparently has more to offer her. The song's hero then fumes to himself the title line, noting that if he had more money, the two would still be together. However, he is now left to express sour grapesSour grapes
The phrase sour grapes is an expression originating from "The Fox and the Grapes," one of Aesop's Fables. It refers to pretending not to care for something one does not or cannot have.Sour grapes may also refer to:-Music:...
, calling his former girlfriend things such as a "gold digger
Gold digger
A gold digger is someone who likes or takes interest to someone who is rich. It may also refer to:*"Gold Digger", 2005 single by Kanye West*"Gold Digger" , 2009 single by the British group The Dolly Rockers...
" and painting the new boyfriend in a profanity-laced, extremely negative light.
"Fuck You!" was released in various different versions. The clean version of the song, which is broadcast in the music video on UK television stations is called "Forget You", while the UK radio edit is entitled "FU". All three versions differ in lyrical content, with "Fuck You!" being completely uncensored, "Forget You" only removing major profanties such as "fuck", "shit" and "nigga", and "FU" censoring all profanities, including those at the start of the bridge. All three versions can be found on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and both "Fuck You!" and "Forget You" are included in an extended play, which features the music video and lyric video, and was released on August 19, 2010, whereas "FU" did not appear in the store until September 21. A fourth version of the song, featuring American rapper 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, was released to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
in March 2011. The version was entitled "Fuck You! (Heartbreaker)!", and was released only in America. The video for this version of the song incorporates scenes from the original video with extra shots of 50 Cent performing. Cee Lo performed a remix of the song, featuring an all-female backing band named "Scarlet Fever
Scarlet Fever (band)
Scarlet Fever is an all-female backing band touring with Cee Lo Green. Originally formed for promotional tour events, popularity of the "Fuck You" single and The Lady Killer album led to multiple television appearances reaching an audience of millions in Europe and North America...
", on the The Colbert Report on November 9, 2010. The remix was entitled "Fuck You! (Fox News)". The first full verse of the song was a satirical parody of Fox News Channel controversies
Fox News Channel controversies
Critics of Fox News Channel have accused the network of having a bias favoring the political right and the Republican Party. Fox News has publicly denied such charges, stating that the reporters in the newsroom provide separate, neutral reporting....
. A fifth version of the song, entitled "Thank You", was released on May 9, 2011. The song was re-written with new lyrics as a tribute to firefighters. The lyrics mention that Cee Lo's mother was a firefighter. A new version of the video was released with scenes of Cee Lo visiting a fire station.
Music video
Initially, a lyric video for "Fuck You!" was released to YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on August 19, 2010, featuring kinetic typography, with the lyrics of the song appearing on different colored backgrounds with film grain
Film grain
Film grain or granularity is the random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. While film grain is a function of such particles it is not the same...
overlaid on the video. The same thing was done in the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
versions of the video, translating the lyrics, although the vocals remained in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The official music video was released on September 1, 2010. The video was directed by Matt Stawski and was filmed at a movie prop diner located in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Taking place in a diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
, the video chronicles Cee Lo's misadventures with a girl he has a crush on, known as "The Heartbreaker" throughout the video. In the beginning, a young Cee Lo goes into the diner with his parents and goes up to the Heartbreaker, who is sitting with another boy. He offers to let the Heartbreaker play with his toy garbage truck, but she ignores him and walks away with the other boy, who has a toy Ferrari F40
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. From 1987 to 1989 it was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car...
. In his high school years, Cee Lo works at the diner as a chef. He attempts to woo the Heartbreaker with a bouquet of flowers but slips on fries deliberately dropped by another boy. The flowers fly out of his hand and land on a much younger girl's lap. During his college years, Cee Lo studies in the diner with another woman, implied to be his music tutor. He then attempts to woo the Heartbreaker by having the waitress draw a heart-shaped ketchup mark on her hot dog plate, but the Heartbreaker approaches him with a basket of fries and spills them on his shirt, leaving a large ketchup stain on it. Cee Lo then goes through an epiphany in his life and the video fast-forwards to present day, when Cee Lo is now known as "The Lady Killer" and has a fancy Cadillac Eldorado
Cadillac Eldorado
The 1953 Eldorado was a special-bodied, low-production convertible . It was the production version of the 1952 El Dorado "Golden Anniversary" concept car, and borrowed bumper bullets from the 1951 GM Le Sabre show car...
with his backup singers in the back seat. He drives past the diner to find the Heartbreaker working there, sweeping the front entrance while others are dancing behind her. Cee Lo waves at the Heartbreaker before driving away. The final shot is of him waving at the camera and the words "The Lady Killer" appearing on screen, before the shot freezes, thus ending the video.
The clean version of the video contains re-shot elements which have been mixed with parts from the original, most notably when Cee Lo is on screen and he is singing alternative lyrics, but he is not shown singing the clean lyrics in the titular chorus. Some parts of the video tend to freeze for a split second when a bowdlerized
Expurgation
Expurgation is a form of censorship which involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive, usually from an artistic work.This has also been called bowdlerization, especially for books, after Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work that he...
lyric is being mouthed to prevent the lips from being read.
Critical reception
Jason Lipshutz from Billboard (magazine)Billboard gave "Fuck You!" a positive review stating, "it's as sunny as a '60s Motown hit and as expletive-laden as an early EminemEminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
song, a combination that fits the singer's sky-high vocals and offbeat sense of humor well. Over a twinkling piano line, bumping bass and steady percussion, Green shakes off a failed relationship with a gold digger by packing the simple pleasures of old-school soul music into tongue-in-cheek verses and a suitably soaring chorus." Nick Levine of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
gave the song four out of five stars writing: "As its title suggests, 'Fuck You' is essentially a middle finger extending from the fist of a pop single—and a gloriously catchy Motown stomper of a pop single at that."
Accolades
At the 53rd Grammy Awards53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
, "Fuck You!" was nominated for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
and Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
, and won Best Urban/Alternative Performance
Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality urban/alternative performances...
. The video was also nominated for Best Short Form Music Video
Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos...
. It was named the #1 song of 2010 by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, and made the top of Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
's users poll. In October 2011, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed it at number 112 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Live performances
Cee Lo toured with an all-female backing band named Scarlet FeverScarlet Fever (band)
Scarlet Fever is an all-female backing band touring with Cee Lo Green. Originally formed for promotional tour events, popularity of the "Fuck You" single and The Lady Killer album led to multiple television appearances reaching an audience of millions in Europe and North America...
, performing "Fuck You!" on
Taratata
Taratata
Taratata is a French TV show showcasing live and pre-recorded footage of current rock acts. Presented by Nagui since its début in 1993, the show was initially shown on France 2. This show often involves surprise and unlikely duets, as well as brief interviews with the artists...
,
Reeperbahn
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
Festival,
Later... with Jools Holland,
BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
,
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
,
the 19th annual Children in Need telethon,
the Christmas edition of BBC1 chart show Top of the Pops,
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
,
and many other venues. Cee Lo also performed February 13, 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards with Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
and several puppets provided by The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...
.
On February 15, he sang at the 2011 BRIT Awards alongside Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith is a British singer-songwriter and actress. In 2009, she released her debut single "Stone Cold Sober", then her debut album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?, which was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Her debut album stayed within the top 40 album...
.
On August 14, Cee Lo sang at WWE's 2011
SummerSlam (2011)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on August 14, 2011. For the third consecutive year, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and it was the 24th annual SummerSlam event...
SummerSlam
SummerSlam
SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in August by professional wrestling promotion WWE. The inaugural SummerSlam took place on August 29, 1988 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and was broadcast via pay-per-view, unlike the Royal Rumble of that...
pay-per-view in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, with the addition of WWE Diva
WWE Diva
Diva is a term used by World Wrestling Entertainment , an American professional wrestling promotion, to refer to its female talent. The term is applied to women who appear as wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, or ring announcers....
s dancing to "Fuck You!" at the event's venue
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
.
Track listing
- Forget You
- "Forget You" – 3:42
- "Fuck You!" – 3:42
- FU
- "FU" (clean version) - 3:42
- "FU" (semi-clean version) - 3:42
- Fuck You!
CD Single
- "Fuck You!" – 3:42
- "Georgia" – 3:46
Maxi-Single
- "Fuck You!" – 3:42
- "Forget You" – 3:42
- "Forget You" (Le Castle Vania remix) – 4:38
- "Georgia" – 3:46
- "Grand Canyon" – 3:27
- "Fuck You!" (video) - 3:42
Digital Single
- "Fuck You!" – 3:42
- "Forget You" – 3:42
- "Fuck You!" (video) – 3:42
- "Fuck You!" (lyric video) – 3:42
12" Vinyl single
- "Fuck You!" - 3:42
- "Fuck You!" (Instrumental) - 3:42
- Fuck You! (Heartbreaker)
- "Fuck You! (Heartbreaker)" (featuring 50 Cent50 CentCurtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
) - 4:43
- Thank You
- "Thank You" - 3:55
Charts and certifications
"Fuck You!" became a top ten hit in Australia, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden. In the U.S., the song debuted at No. 69 on Hot Digital SongsHot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
and No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The song originally peaked at number 9 in 2010, but following Cee Lo's performance of the song at the 53rd Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
, "Fuck You!" had a resurgence in popularity and climbed back up the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 2 in its 26th chart week (making it one of the slowest climbs ever into the number 2 position). The song remained at No. 2 for four consecutive weeks, kept from the top spot by Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
's "Born This Way
Born This Way (song)
"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album, Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour...
." However, the song did reach No. 1 on American Top 40
American Top 40
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
, knocking off "Born This Way" as it fell to No. 4. It was certified Gold on November 5, 2010. By February 2011, "Fuck You!" had sold over three million digital copies in the U.S. since its release. The week of March 24, 2011, the song was the best-selling song in the USA of 2011, having been sold 1,865,000 times in 2011 only, despite the song never reaching No. 1 and being released in August 2010. In the subsequent week, the song surpassed 2 million copies in sales in 2011 alone, bringing its total to 3,707,000 copies. As of late July 2011, it has sold over 5,000,000 digital copies.
Charts
| Chart (2010–11) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| France (SNEP) Download Chart | 33 |
Year-end charts
| Year-end Chart (2010) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 23 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 72 |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 77 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 39 |
| Germany Singles Top 100 (Media Control Charts Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... ) |
97 |
| Hungarian Airplay Chart | 45 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) | 12 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
2× Platinum |
| Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
3× Platinum |
| Denmark British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Gold |
| New Zealand | Platinum |
| United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
4× Platinum |
Cover versions
- Jonny CraigJonny CraigJonathan Monroe Craig is a Canadian-American singer. He is currently the lead vocalist for the band Dance Gavin Dance, and former vocalist of the bands Emarosa and Ghost Runner on Third. He has an eponymous solo project, with which he has released one studio album and a live album to date...
did a coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Fuck You!" during the September 2010, during his "White Boys with Soul Tour", which featured support from Mod Sun, Trees Above Mandalay and Fight Fair.
- Another cover of the song was released by American hip hopHip hop musicHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group Chiddy BangChiddy BangChiddy Bang is an American alternative hip hop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin. The duo was introduced through former band member Zachary Sewall in late 2008 during their freshman year at Drexel University, in...
. This version topped the charts in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
- Singer-songwriter Sara BareillesSara BareillesSara Beth Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records in the United States alone and has been...
featured "Fuck You!" as an intro to her song "Gonna Get Over You" during some shows of her Kaleidoscope Heart TourKaleidoscope Heart TourKaleidoscope Heart Tour was the concert tour by American singer–songwriter Sara Bareilles , in support of her second studio album, Kaleidoscope Heart.In February 2011, it was announced that the tour will go with round 2 in April 2011.-Support acts:Leg 1...
that began in late September 2010.
- ChiptuneChiptuneA chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
artist Brendan "Inverse Phase" Becker released a parody written for 8-bit NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
hardware on September 27, 2010. The lyrics were changed to that of a forlorn NESNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
singing to its owner that had forsaken it for a Sega Genesis. An accompanying video featured an intro sequenceIntro sequenceAn intro sequence is a non-interactive introductory sequence for a computer or video game. Previously, intro sequences were very often prerendered, hand drawn, or otherwise outside the main game engine...
to display the "sung" lyrics.
- The contestants of the seventh seriesThe X Factor (UK series 7)The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The seventh series started on ITV on 21 August 2010 and ended on 12 December 2010. The winner was Matt Cardle and...
of British TV talent contest The X FactorThe X Factor (UK series 7)The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The seventh series started on ITV on 21 August 2010 and ended on 12 December 2010. The winner was Matt Cardle and...
performed the "Forget You" version of the song on the episode broadcast on 24 October 2010. Cee Lo's response was, "I saw it; I thought it was cool."
- The song was also used at the end of the No Ordinary FamilyNo Ordinary FamilyNo Ordinary Family is an American television series on ABC. The 45-minute science fiction comedy-drama was produced by ABC Studios for the 2010–11 television season. The series ran from September 28, 2010 to April 5, 2011, on Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT...
episode entitled "No Ordinary Visitors", originally broadcast November 9, 2010.
- The song was featured on the November 16, 2010 episode of GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, "The SubstituteThe Substitute (Glee)"The Substitute" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 29th episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Ryan Murphy, and premiered on Fox on November 16, 2010...
", whereon Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
sang lead. This version reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and helped propel the original to a new peak at No. 9. Paltrow later dueted the 'clean' version of the song with Cee-Lo (with a pupet ensemble playing backup) on the 2011 Grammy Awards.
- William ShatnerWilliam ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
performedWilliam Shatner's musical careerActor William Shatner has yielded a unique, much-criticized, and much-parodied body of work during his musical career. Shatner typically merely speaks the lyrics instead of singing them, often as an exaggerated interpretive reading.-The Transformed Man:...
his own rendition of the song on the November 3, 2010, broadcast of Lopez TonightLopez TonightLopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...
, substituting a few words in the song. The Pretty RecklessThe Pretty RecklessThe Pretty Reckless are an American rock band from New York. The current members are Taylor Momsen , Ben Phillips , Mark Damon and Jamie Perkins ....
performed a part-coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
-part-mash-upMashup (music)A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
on BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Live LoungeLive LoungeThe Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...
show in December 2010.
- Fall Out BoyFall Out BoyFall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist, guitarist and composer Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five studio albums from 2003–2008...
vocalist Patrick StumpPatrick StumpPatrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...
covered the song in an a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
style. A video was posted to YouTube of Stump covering all of the nominated singles of the year, featured by the Grammys. An American Sign LanguageAmerican Sign LanguageAmerican Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
version has also appeared on YouTube. Vains of JennaVains of JennaVains of Jenna are a rock band formed in Falkenberg, Sweden during January 2005. They have since relocated to Los Angeles, California. They will be performing around the States with the help of and -History:...
released cover versions of both "Fuck You" and "Forget You" on their new covers album Reverse Tripped.
- Derek WebbDerek WebbDerek Walsh Webb is an American singer-songwriter who first entered the music industry as a member of the band Caedmon's Call, and later embarked on a successful solo career....
released the song as the first single from his upcoming album Democracy Vol. 2. The track was released as a downloadable single for those who had pre-ordered the album.
- Australian rock band Sick PuppiesSick PuppiesSick Puppies is an Australian rock band, formed in 1997. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin....
also began covering the song live as both plugged-in and acoustic versions.
- Ricky Minor and the Tonight Show Band followed up a Jay LenoJay LenoJames Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
skit about the autocorrect function of smart phones with a humorous cover called "Text You" in which the lyrics describe comedic misunderstandings caused by mistyped messages.
- The Kidz BopKidz BopKidz Bop is a brand of compilation albums featuring child session musicians performing contemporary music. The series was developed by Razor & Tie co-founders Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam in 2001...
Kids covered "Forget You" for their 20th albumKidz Bop 20Kidz Bop 20 is the latest album in the Kidz Bop series. It was released on July 19, 2011. This CD celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Kidz Bop Kids.-Track listing :All songs are performed by the Kidz Bop Kids...
with some lyric modifications.
- A version of the song sung by Camilla the Chicken and other Muppet chickens is featured in The MuppetsThe Muppets (film)The Muppets is a 2011 American musical and comedy film, and the first Muppets theatrical release in 12 years, as well as the first Disney-produced Muppets film since 1996's Muppet Treasure Island...
- American post-hardcore band Sleeping with SirensSleeping with SirensSleeping with Sirens is an American post-hardcore band from Orlando, Florida currently residing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Formed in 2009 by members of For All We Know, Broadway and We Are Defiance...
did a cover on a compilation album Punk Goes Pop 4Punk Goes Pop 4Punk Goes Pop 4 is the twelfth compilation album in the Punk Goes... series. It is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2011 through Fearless Records. It is the fourth album in the Punk Goes Pop series. It contains a collection of modern pop music covers performed by various metalcore,...
.
Pentatonix paired this song with "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson on Season 3 of "The Sing Off"
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | August 19, 2010 | CD single CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s... |
Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
| United Kingdom | October 4, 2010 |
See also
- List of number-one singles from the 2010s (Netherlands)Dutch Top 40 number-one hits of 2010This is a list of the Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 2010.The Dutch Top 40 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the Netherlands...
- List of number-one singles from the 2010s (Scotland)
- List of number-one R&B hits of 2010 (UK)
- List of number-one singles from the 2010s (UK)