By Will Folks || I’ve always wanted to write one of these articles …
Seriously … dozens of times I’ve found myself searching the web for “that song from the (insert company name) commercial.” And invariably … somewhere … somebody much hipper than me has the answer I’m looking for. Of course the search process has turned me onto all sorts of great bands – Interpol, Neon Trees, Phoenix, Pocket Submarine (just to name a few) – so it hasn’t been all bad.
But this time it’s my turn …
“That song” in Apple’s new iPad Air commercial is “England” by The National.
Who is The National? They’re a Brooklyn-based indie rock band I’ve been listening to since way back in 2007. Yup. Cool points to me. Hand ’em over.
Anyway, the iPad’s new ad features a deaf travel writer named Cherie King who uses her Air to write her “verse.”
You can learn more about the 25-year-old’s journey (and the iPad Air, obviously) on the company’s official site …
Meanwhile, here’s the spot …
(Click to play)
Pretty girl, pretty spot … although Apple has been criticized for featuring “exotic” jobs in its ads, leading some to infer the iPad Air is “too good” for regular folk.
“What about people who hold regular jobs and still own iPads, such as store clerks, nurses or even housewives?” writes ad critic Parikshit Vivekanand. “Perhaps Apple doesn’t think it’s cool to be just playing Candy Crush Saga or surfing Facebook, because, generally speaking, that is what most users do with their mobile devices.
Hmmmm …
I’m still on the third generation iPad and definitely don’t have $800 to drop on one of the new high-end Airs (or even $500 to drop on one of the new low-end models). But that doesn’t mean these devices are “too good” for people like me … or that King’s story isn’t compelling.
Especially when set to one of my all-time favorite bands …
17 comments
Shazam!
One of the coolest apps ever.
Soundhound.
I know how it sucks to not be able to identify a tune you hear, now matter how and where you look. I wish someone could tell me the name of the instrumental tune that plays at the end of each episode of ABC’s “Rookie Blue” (so far in every season the show has aired) and the name of the artist or band.
“What Have I Done That Made You Go Away” — Moon Mullican (1932)
Uhhhhh…… no…. not even close. Thanks for trying, though.
The last iphone commercial was a Pixies cover.
There’s a web site for that: http://www.whatisthatsong.net/commercials/apple.html
I love my air.
Jesus Tapdancing Christ! I’m gonna play me a set of chord changes, back-end it with a cool beat, and call it a “song.” The chord changes that make up “England” are a pleasant blend, but it’s not a SONG, for God’s sake. At least Blues Travaler had the integrity to tell everybody their song, “Hook,” was a knockoff of Pachelbel’s “Canon in d major.” “Hook” has better production values, too.
Can you link us to the commercial?
Seriously … dozens of times I’ve found myself searching the web for “that song from the (insert company name) commercial.”
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http://evolver.fm/2012/10/10/top-5-apps-for-identifying-songs/
Will, you missed the real story on this one Bro… Apple using the Pixies’ song “Gigantic”on their TV commercial.
The song’s about a big black phallus…
“According to Deal, the main inspiration for the song was the film Crimes of the Heart, in which a married woman falls in love with a black teenager[2] and the song “Gigantic” is credited to Mrs John Murphy (Kim Deal’s pseudonym at the time of Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa as an ironic feminist joke).
The song’s voyeuristic lyrics mostly revolve around a woman’s observation of an attractive black man making love to another woman, culminating in the oddly light-hearted but sexual chorus: “Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic / A big, big love”.”
-Wikipedia
The National is pure genious. Your argument is invalid or you are just basic. Hearing London for first time on Apple commercial was awesome, love that band. Love love love.
I was putting my kids to bed last night and I heard it on the TV, I ran back in to rewind. I was SO happy to hear them on a commercial. LOVE LOVE that band.
Nothing against The National, but I heard the piano riff of this song years before…when it was called “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois” on Sufjan Steven’s amazing “Illinois.” When I saw this iPad spot, at first I couldn’t quite put my finger on the track. Then it occurred to me, Oh yeah, Sufjan, from Illinois. I was off by a few notes. Not accusing The National of a blatant rip off. They’re a good band, and this kind of thing happens in the arts a lot. But check out Illinois, just the same. Brilliant album.
Weird, this sounds like a song to me. Is there some specific combination of traits that magically make this not a song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIMdTbouL64
thank you so much for helping me find out what song it is – it’s also used in the movie ‘The Vow’ and ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’… thank you!!