Amazing (Alex Lloyd song)

"Amazing"
Single by Alex Lloyd
from the album Watching Angels Mend
B-side
  • "Downtown"
  • "My Way Home" (live)
  • "What a Year" (live)
Released17 September 2001 (2001-09-17)
StudioTown House (London, England)
Length3:22
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Alexander Wasiliev
Producer(s)
Alex Lloyd singles chronology
"Downtown"
(2001) 		"Amazing"
(2001) 		"Green"
(2002)
Audio sample

"Amazing" is a song written by Australian singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd. The song was released on 17 September 2001 as the second single from his second studio album, Watching Angels Mend (2001). It was a success in Australia, reaching number 14, and in New Zealand, where it topped the singles chart in March 2002. It was also ranked number one on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2001, Australia's largest annual music poll.[1] The song is an example of the evergreen 'four chords of pop' progression.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2002, the song was nominated for Single of the Year and Highest Selling Single, losing out on both to "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue.[2][3] At the APRA Music Awards of 2002 the song won the 'Song of the Year' award.[4] In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Amazing" was ranked number 80.[5] Lloyd was interviewed on Double J for the 20th anniversary of the song topping Triple J "Hottest 100". He stated that the song was written as a "beautiful goodbye" to a relationship with an older, more experienced partner.[6]

Music video

The video clip of this song was filmed around the Southern Highlands in New South Wales. It features a schoolgirl named Sarah living in the year 1976. One day while travelling to school by bus, Sarah notices a young man walking near the road. She decides to skip school and have her own freedom including writing her name in a local toilet, rowing a boat, drawing a picture and walking around the streets in her local town. Sarah's freedom is cut short when her mum sees her in a library. At the end, Sarah is shown in uniform waiting for a bus to get to school.

Track listings

  • Australian CD single[7]
  1. "Amazing" – 3:24
  2. "Downtown" – 4:45
  3. "My Way Home" (XFM live session) – 4:20
  4. "What a Year" (XFM live session) – 4:00
  • UK CD single[8]
  1. "Amazing"
  2. "My Way Home" (XFM live session)
  3. "What a Year" (XFM live session)

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the Australian CD single liner notes.[7]

Studios

  • Recorded and mixed at the Town House (London, England)
  • Additional recording at Dubshack
  • Engineered at the Town House (London, England)

Personnel

  • Alex Lloyd – writing (as Alexander Wasiliev), acoustic guitar, electric guitars, bass, production, additional recording, programming
  • Magnus Fiennes – keyboards, string arrangement, production, additional recording, programming
  • Shawn Lee – drums
  • Ged Lynch – percussion
  • Brian Gascoigne – string conducting
  • Jeremy Wheatley – mixing
  • Niven Garland – engineering
  • The Weatherman – additional Pro Tools
  • Rick Featherstone – additional Pro Tools
  • Kevin Wilkins – art direction

Charts

Certification

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[14] Gold 35,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Catalogue Ref.
Australia 17 September 2001 EMI CD 8798972 [15]
United States 19 August 2002 Nettwerk Triple A radio 0 6700 32037 2 2 [16]

Other uses

In 2004 the song was licensed for use in advertisements for the Ford Territory 4-wheel drive (SUV) vehicle. It has been used in two other TV advertisements, reportedly earning Lloyd payments of "hundreds of thousands of dollars".[17] In 2008, truck driver Mark O'Keefe sued Lloyd, claiming that the two of them wrote the song together on "a series of beer coasters" at a hotel in 1991 when Lloyd was 16, and that accordingly Lloyd owed him royalties. Lloyd denied ever meeting O'Keefe.[17]

In 2024 Woolworths used the song as the background to their 'Fresh Fuels The Best In All Of Us' campaign featuring Paralympic swimmer Col Pearse. [18]

References

  1. ^ "Hottest 100 2001". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  2. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2002: 16th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Australia 2002 ARIA Awards". ALLdownunder.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  4. ^ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  6. ^ Condon, Dan; Rowe, Zan (23 January 2022). "Alex Lloyd won the Hottest 100 in 2001. He appreciates it now more than ever". Double J. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b Alex Lloyd (2001). Amazing (Australian CD single liner notes). EMI Records. 8798972.
  8. ^ Alex Lloyd (2002). Amazing (UK CD single liner notes). EMI Records. CDEM 614, 7243 5 50951 2 1.
  9. ^ "Alex Lloyd – Amazing". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Alex Lloyd – Amazing" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Alex Lloyd – Amazing". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  12. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2001". ARIA. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  13. ^ "End of Year Charts 2002". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  14. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  15. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 17th September 2001" (PDF). ARIA. 17 September 2001. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1466. 16 August 2002. p. 31. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Truckie changes his Amazing story". The Age. 27 August 2008.
  18. ^ "Woolworths launches new 'Fresh Fuels the Best in All of Us' campaign via M&C Saatchi Australia". 10 July 2024.