Broken Arrows (song)

"Broken Arrows"
Single by Avicii
from the album Stories
Released	29 September 2015 (2015-09-29)
Length	3:52
Label	Universal Music
Songwriter(s)	Tim Bergling Zac Brown Rami Yacoub Carl Falk Niko Moon Eric Turner
Producer(s)	Avicii
Avicii singles chronology
"For a Better Day" / "Pure Grinding" (2015) "Broken Arrows" (2015) "Taste the Feeling" (2016)
Music video
"Avicii - Broken Arrows" on YouTube

"Broken Arrows" is a 2015 single by Avicii featuring uncredited vocals from Zac Brown of American country music group Zac Brown Band, released on Universal Music.[1][2][3] The track appears on his album Stories.[4]

Composition

"Broken Arrows" combines Brown's vocals with "thumping bass and twinkling synth lines".[5]

Like one of Avicii's previous singles, "Hey Brother", "Broken Arrows" is a dance song containing elements of country music. It is written in the key of G major.[5]

Reception

"Broken Arrows" received positive reviews from critics. Chris Parton of Rolling Stone described Brown's vocals as "crystal-clear" and the song's hook as "a cross between a game-show theme song and something from Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers",[5] while Marcus K. Dowling noted similarities between this song and the Kenny Rogers song The Gambler in a review for Insomniac.[6]

Music video

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Julius Onah.[7] It was released on 23 November 2015. It is inspired by the life of Dick Fosbury, who revolutionized the high jump by introducing a new technique known as the Fosbury Flop.[8]

The music video starts with the caption: "Inspired by a True Story" and is located in Fairmont, a fictitious location in California in 1967, where a struggling athlete lives alone with his daughter in a trailer. The athlete is chastised by his trainer for not achieving enough on the field. The athlete is shown descending into alcoholism and despair. But the athlete is inspired again by his daughter's zeal and acrobatics to invent a new technique in jumping, leading to a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Although talking about Fosbury, the video displays however a newspaper clipping, attributing it to a fictional American high jump Olympic athlete named Richard Radomsky in the video.[9] The athlete also has Avicii's signature AV sign tattooed on his back.

The role of Richard Radomsky is played by Joshua Fredric Smith, and his daughter is played by Emily Skinner. Richard Neil plays the coach in the video.[10]

Track listing

Digital download – Remixes

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Broken Arrows" (M-22 Remix)	3:58
2.	"Broken Arrows" (Aston Shuffle Remix)	3:39
3.	"Broken Arrows" (k?d Remix)	4:22
4.	"Broken Arrows" (Didrick Remix)	2:55
Total length:		14:54

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Broken Arrows" Chart (2015–16) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[11] 30 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 70 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[13] 12 Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 16 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[15] 48 Belgium Dance (Ultratip Wallonia)[15] 1 Germany (GfK)[16] 82 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[17] 25 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[18] 1 Hungary (Single Top 40)[19] 21 Ireland (IRMA)[20] 74 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 86 New Zealand Heatseekers (Recorded Music NZ)[22] 7 Norway (VG-lista)[23] 38 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[24] 95 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 4 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 57 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[27] 10 2018 weekly chart performance for "Broken Arrows" Chart (2018) Peak position Hungary (Stream Top 40)[28] 39

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Broken Arrows" Chart (2015) Position Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 88 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[30] 82 Chart (2016) Position Hungary (Dance Top 40)[31] 86 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[32] 14 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[33] 79

Certification

Certifications for "Broken Arrows"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[34]	Gold	30,000^‡
Canada (Music Canada)[35]	Gold	40,000^‡
Sweden (GLF)[36]	3× Platinum	120,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

• Zac Brown Band discography

References

1. Times, Music (1 July 2015). "Avicii Premieres 'Stories' Zac Brown Band Collaboration "Broken Arrows"". MusicTimes.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
2. "New Avicii Single \"Broken Arrows\" featuring Zac Brown Band". EDM Chicago. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
3. "Listen to Avicii's New Collab with Zac Brown Band, 'Broken Arrows'". Billboard.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
4. "Stories - Avicii". iTunes. 2 October 2015.
5. "Hear Zac Brown Band and Avicii's Sparkling 'Broken Arrows'". RollingStone.com. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
6. Dowling, Marcus (October 2, 2015). "Avicii 'Stories': A Track-by-Track Review". Insomniac. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
7. "Avicii - Broken Arrows (2015) - IMVDb". IMVDb. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
8. Stutz, Colin (23 November 2015). "Avicii Releases Inspirational New 'Broken Arrows' Video: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
9. EDM Topics: Avicii tells a new story with “Broken Arrows”
10. IMDb.com: Avicii: Broken Arrows (2015)
11. "Avicii – Broken Arrows". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
12. "Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
13. "Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
14. "Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in Dutch). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
15. "Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
16. "Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
17. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Dance Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
18. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
19. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
20. "Chart Track: Week 4, 2016". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
21. "Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
22. "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 2 November 2015. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
23. "Avicii – Broken Arrows". VG-lista. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
24. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201551 into search.
25. "Avicii – Broken Arrows". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
26. "Avicii – Broken Arrows". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
27. "Avicii Chart History (Hot Dance/Electronic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
28. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
29. "Årslista Singlar – År 2015" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
30. "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
31. "Dance Top 100 - 2016". Mahasz. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
32. "Rádiós Top 100 - hallgatottsági adatok alapján - 2016". Mahasz. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
33. "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
34. "Brazilian single certifications – Avicii – Broken Arrows" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
35. "Canadian single certifications – Avicii – Broken Arrows". Music Canada. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
36. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 12, 2016 | Sverigetopplistan" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2017-11-09. Scroll to position 85 to view certification.