"If I Rise"
Single by A. R. Rahman and Dido
from the album 127 Hours: Music from the Motion Picture
Released2 November 2010
Recorded2010
GenreAmbient pop
Length4:38
LabelInterscope Records
Songwriter(s)A. R. Rahman
Dido
Rollo Armstrong
Producer(s)A. R. Rahman
Music video
"If I Rise" on YouTube

"If I Rise" is a song performed by A. R. Rahman and Dido, composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Dido and Rollo Armstrong. The song featured as the main theme for the Danny Boyle film 127 Hours.

The song won numerous awards including Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and Denver Film Critics Society Award. It was also nominated for Best Song Award at the Academy Awards and World Soundtrack Awards.

Background

The song was featured in the climax scene of the film.[1] The chorus portion of the song is sung by The Gleehive Children's Choir, Mumbai.[2] The choir includes Jervis Dias, Kristen Fernandes, Alisha Pais, Jessica Dmello, Sherize Alveyn, Evania Cerejo, Jemima Fernandes, and Aidan D'silva. The portion was recorded at Octavious Studio, Bandra, Mumbai.[3] The song was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song.[4]

Music video

The song was first picturised in the climax scene of the film.[1] The official music video, featuring Dido and A. R. Rahman, was released in February 2011. Dido first confirmed on her official website that she and Rahman were going to film a video for the song.[5] The music video was premiered on the Wall Street Journal website on 17 February.[6] It has A. R. Rahman playing harpejji, which was the major instrument used in the track,[7] and Dido singing the track along with Rahman. A few scenes from the film, mainly featuring James Franco, are also used in the video.[8]

Live performances

A. R. Rahman performing the song live at the Oscars

Florence Welch was asked by Dido, who was pregnant at the time, to perform "If I Rise" at the Academy Awards. She was joined by A. R. Rahman for the first live performance of the song.[9][10]

Accolades

Award Result
Academy Award for Best Original Song[11] Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song[12] Won
Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Song[13] Won
Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Song[14] Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Song[15] Nominated
Satellite Award for Best Original Song[16] Nominated
World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film[17] Nominated

The song was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song. However, it lost to Randy Newman's "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3.[18][19] The Academy's decision not to award Rahman for the song evoked widespread criticisms in India. Apart from public responses, several actors also commented on it. Shabana Azmi said, "A. R. Rahman truly deserved the Oscar for Best Song this year."[19] Konkona Sen Sharma also tweeted the same opinion. Sandhya Mridul said, "A.R Rahman stands apart he deserves every win".[20] However, Rahman himself has stated that he personally believes Newman deserved the award.[21]

Cover version

Katie Campbell single cover

A single titled "Hours - If I Rise (vocal) Remix"[22][23] was released on 4 February 2012. This is credited as performed by Katie Campbell[24] (an artist with credits including a wide variety of cover versions of original famous and semi-popular movie songs) & Brian "Hacksaw" Williams, and notes a runtime of 3:03.

References

  1. ^ a b "Best Song and Score is not cool enough for Reznor and Ross". AwardsDaily. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  2. ^ Supriya Nair (7 January 2011). "A score for the peaks". Livemint. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  3. ^ Collin Rodriguez (27 February 2011). "Mumbai choir voice of Oscar-nominated song". The Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  4. ^ "List". Chicago Sun-Times.
  5. ^ "Rahman, Dido to shoot music video". The Times of India. 10 February 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Exclusive: Dido and A.R. Rahman's 'If I Rise' Video". Wall Street Journal. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  7. ^ Burlingame, Jon (11 February 2011). "Eye on the Oscars: Music". Variety. p. A3.
  8. ^ "Watch the Video For AR Rahman and Dido's "If I Rise"". Artistdirect.com. 23 February 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Florence and the Machine singer to play at Oscars". BBC. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  10. ^ Renuka Vyavahare (13 February 2011). "Why Dido won't perform with Rahman at Oscars". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  12. ^ Susan King (14 January 2011). "'The Social Network' wins Critics' Choice Movie Award for best film". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  13. ^ "Denver Film Critics Society 2011 Award Winners". Denver Film Critics Society. 28 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  14. ^ "Precursor: Houston Film Critics Society Nominations". Cinema Sight. 12 December 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
  15. ^ "The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards". Awards Daily. 17 December 2010.
  16. ^ "15th Satellite Awards to be held December 19, 2010 in Los Angeles". Satellite Awards. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011.
  17. ^ "Rahman's 'If I Rise' nominated for WSA". Deccan Herald. 25 August 2011.
  18. ^ "AR Rahman loses out on Oscars". OneIndia. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  19. ^ a b "AR Rahman with winner Randy Newman at Oscars". OneIndia. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  20. ^ "Bollywood feels sorry for Rahman". OneIndia. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  21. ^ "Randy Newman deserved the Oscar: Rahman". The Times of India. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  22. ^ "Amazon.com cover single". 4 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  23. ^ "iTunes cover single". 4 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  24. ^ "iTunes artist profile".

External links

Dido
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song
Authority control databases
Categories