Budapest (George Ezra song)

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"Budapest"
Single by George Ezra
from the album Wanted on Voyage
B-side "Angry Hill"
Released 13 December 2013
Format
Recorded 2013
Genre Folk rock
Length 3:21
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Cam Blackwood
George Ezra singles chronology
"Did You Hear the Rain?"
(2013)
"Budapest"
(2013)
"Cassy O'"
(2014)
Alternate cover

"Budapest" is a song by British singer-songwriter George Ezra, from his debut studio album, Wanted on Voyage (2014). It was released as the album's second single on 13 December 2013 in Italy, and on 13 June 2014 in the United Kingdom. The song was co-written by Ezra with Joel Pott and produced by Cam Blackwood.

The single was released on Columbia Records, and distributed by Sony Music, and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart. "Budapest" has also been a major hit for Ezra in Austria and New Zealand, topping the charts in both countries, while reaching the top ten in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland. It was the 13th-best-selling single of 2014 in the UK.[1] The song was released in the U.S. in 2015 and has peaked at number 32.[2]

Background

Ezra told The Daily Telegraph that "Budapest" was "[his] first attempt to write a love song, and it uses the first three guitar chords [he] ever learned. There's a lot to be said for that simplicity."[3] Ezra has also insisted that, despite its title, the lyrics of "Budapest" do not have anything to do with the city in Hungary and that he had never even been there before. He said, "I was in Malmö in Sweden and the Eurovision Song Contest was being held in Malmö on that night, and I didn't have a clue about it but everyone there seemed to be really excited about it and having parties. But I didn't know you couldn't buy alcohol after 10 o'clock at night. So I ended up buying a bottle of like, rum, or something like that from a guy in a park so I could have something to drink at this party. Anyway, I was meant to be getting a train to Budapest the next day, and I never got it because I was too hungover and didn't fancy it. So I wrote the song about being miles from Budapest."[4]

"Budapest" was originally released as part of Ezra's EP Did You Hear the Rain?, which contains the song of the same name. When asked about how the song became popular, Ezra revealed, "At first we gave it away as a free track off the my EP for like a month, and then in Italy it just kicked off for some reason. I've never even been over there, but [the song] was just huge on the radio. It kind of happened overnight. Then it went over [to] Germany and when we released it in the UK, it took off there as well."[5]

Composition

With a tempo of 128 bpm, the song "Budapest" is composed in the key of F major. [6]

Music video

An official music video for "Budapest" was first released onto YouTube on 21 April 2014. The deceptively simple video demonstrates the link between inaction and inactivity. It consists of a large crowd of people all with different styles and accessories all standing motionless together in a tight-knit crowd, occasionally being intercut with footage of one of them doing something minor like shifting slightly where they stand, one of them sneezing gaining the attention of everyone around and George playing his guitar and singing to the camera with a smile. As the video goes on, the people start to move and interact by passing their accessories around, a group of three young men having one of them bite into a very spicy chilli pepper, a hen party attendee in a sash and tiara talking on the phone to someone, the crowd looking up together and putting on 3-D glasses, all intercut with George crowd-surfing them and playing and singing to the camera again.

As the video starts to come to an end, George begins to crowd-surf standing up instead, taking off his guitar and passing it down to join all the other accessories being passed around, this time with people interacting more and dancing together. The video ending with George singing with his guitar standing in the crowd which is now motionless again, when the song ends he simply stops and becomes motionless too. In a small epilogue, some members of the crowd are all on the floor silently cheering, laughing and clapping together.[7]

Critical reception

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Chris Willman of Billboard called it an "acoustically inclined, eminently hummable single".[8]

Track listings

Digital download (United Kingdom)[9]
  1. "Budapest" – 3:20
CD single (Germany)[10]
  1. "Budapest" – 3:23
  2. "Angry Hill" – 4:11

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[53] 3× Platinum 210,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[54] Gold 15,000
Belgium (BEA)[55] Platinum 30,000
Canada (Music Canada)[56] Platinum 80,000
Germany (BVMI)[57] Platinum 300,000
Italy (FIMI)[58] 3× Platinum 90,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[59] 2× Platinum 30,000
Norway (IFPI Norway)[60] Platinum 10,000
Sweden (GLF)[61] Platinum 40,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[62] Platinum 30,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[63] 2× Platinum 1,200,000
United States (RIAA)[64] Platinum 1,000,000[2]
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[65] Platinum 2,600,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Italy[66] 13 December 2013 Contemporary hit radio Sony
Germany[10] 18 April 2014 CD single
United Kingdom[9] 13 June 2014 Digital download
United States[67][68][69] 25 August 2014 Adult album alternative radio Columbia
23 September 2014 Modern rock radio
27 October 2014 Hot adult contemporary radio

References

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  6. George Ezra "Budapest" Sheet Music musicnotes.com
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  11. "Australian-charts.com – George Ezra – Budapest". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – George Ezra – Budapest" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  13. "Ultratop.be – George Ezra – Budapest" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  14. "Ultratop.be – George Ezra – Budapest" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  15. "George Ezra – Chart history" Brasil Hot 100 Airplay for George Ezra. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  16. "George Ezra – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for George Ezra. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  17. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Canada Rock for George Ezra. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  18. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201426 into search. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  19. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201433 into search. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  20. "Danishcharts.com – George Ezra – Budapest". Tracklisten. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  21. "Lescharts.com – George Ezra – Budapest" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  22. "Officialcharts.de – George Ezra – Budapest". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  23. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  24. "Chart Track: Week 33, 2014". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  25. "George Ezra – Budapest Media Forest". Israeli Airplay Chart. Media Forest. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  26. "Italiancharts.com – George Ezra – Budapest". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  27. "Nederlandse Top 40 – George Ezra search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  28. "Dutchcharts.nl – George Ezra – Budapest" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  29. "Charts.org.nz – George Ezra – Budapest". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  30. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. "Archive Chart: 2014-07-12". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  32. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201427 into search. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  33. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201434 into search. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  34. "EMA Top 10 Airplay: Week Ending 2014-09-16". Entertainment Monitoring Africa. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  35. "Swedishcharts.com – George Ezra – Budapest". Singles Top 60. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  36. "Swisscharts.com – George Ezra – Budapest". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  37. "Archive Chart: 2014-07-12" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  38. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for George Ezra. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  39. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for George Ezra. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  40. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for George Ezra. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  41. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for George Ezra. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  42. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for George Ezra. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  43. "George Ezra – Chart history" Billboard Rock Airplay for George Ezra. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
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External links