Rule the World

For the concept of a world government, see World government.
For the song of the same name by Canadian band Walk Off The Earth, see Walk Off The Earth § Singles.
"Rule the World"
Single by Take That
from the album Beautiful World and Stardust
Released 21 October 2007
Format Digital download, CD single
Recorded 2007
Genre Pop rock, adult contemporary
Length 3:58 (radio edit)
4:58 (album version)
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Take That[1]
Take That singles chronology
"Reach Out"
(2007)		 "Rule the World"
(2007)		 "Greatest Day"
(2008)
Music video
"Rule the World" on YouTube

"Rule the World" is a song by English pop band Take That. It was released as the fifth single from their fourth studio album Beautiful World (2006). It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2007 via digital download and as a CD single the following day.

Take That performed the song at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony whilst the Olympic Flame was extinguished. Because the song was written for the 2007 fantasy film Stardust, the song was submitted for consideration at the 80th Academy Awards for Best Original Song but was not nominated.

Background

"Rule the World" is the first song written by Take That specifically for a film. Matthew Vaughn, the director of Stardust, contacted Take That in the hope of getting them to write a song for the film. After seeing the film the band members agreed to write and perform a song. The band wrote the chorus of the song while they were in Spain. They played the song for Matthew Vaughn who included it in the end credits of the film. Gary Barlow performs lead vocals. The song is not included on the soundtrack for Stardust, nor on the original release of the album Beautiful World.

It was released internationally exclusively as a single in October 2007, and was premiered live by the band at the inaugural National Movie Awards on 28 September 2007 to rave reviews and critical acclaim. It ended 2007 as the year's 5th biggest-selling single in the UK, despite being released just two months from the end of the year.[2] The song was also the 44th best selling single in the UK of 2008, the following year, and the 16th best selling single in Ireland in 2007.

The full-length version appears exclusively on the Tour Souvenir Edition of the album Beautiful World. The song was the finale to the The Circus Tour in 2009. This song was also performed on 19 November 2009 for Children in Need on "Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall", where Gary Barlow dedicated it to his father, who had died 5 weeks earlier. Crossover singer Camilla Kerslake, a protégée of Gary Barlow, has recorded the song on her eponymous debut album as "Il Mondo è Nostro" ("The World Is Ours").

Chart performance

In October 2007, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at #46 and peaked at #2, being held off the #1 spot by Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love". The song became the 5th biggest selling single of 2007 and remained in the Top 100 until 12 April 2009, 1 year, 5 months and 21 days after the single's release. On 21 September 2008, the song managed to climb back up to #34 on the UK Singles Chart following a performance by contestants on BBC One's Last Choir Standing and on 30 November 2008 it managed to climb up the chart once again to #27 following its appearance on The X Factor, sung by Rachel Hylton.

The song spent twelve weeks inside the UK top ten, the longest of any Take That song. It re-entered the chart again in November 2009 following another X Factor performance, this time by Stacey Solomon, and again in November 2010, and has spent 75 weeks on the official UK Top 75 chart, making it the 5th longest runner of all time, and 100 weeks on the Top 100. It was the 30th biggest-selling single of the 2000s in the UK.

Critical reception

Digital Spy praised the song stating it is "a big, proper, important-sounding ballad – the piano chords tremor with passion, the strings sweep impressively and every strum of the guitar seems to quiver with emotion – it offers copious proof that Gary Barlow's flair for melody is still very much intact."[3]

The band's performance of the song during the London 2012 closing ceremonies was lauded as inspirational, in light of the loss of Barlow's stillborn daughter Poppy a week before. [4][5]

Music video

The music video was directed by Barney Clay and filmed at Abbey Road Studios.[6] It shows the band and the orchestra at the studios performing the song. Another version of the video features excerpts shown from the movie Stardust. It premiered on ITV on 22 September 2007.

Personnel

Track listing

UK CD single[7]
  1. "Rule the World" (radio edit) – 3:58
  2. "Stay Together" – 3:57
German CD single[8]
  1. "Rule the World" (radio edit) – 3:58
  2. "Stay Together" – 3:57
  3. "Rule the World" (video) – 4:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 50
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[10] 13
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[11] 74
Denmark (Tracklisten)[12] 32
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[13] 5
Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 15
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 3
Italy (FIMI)[16] 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] 57
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[18] 46
Portugal (AFP Charts)[19] 18
Russia (NFPF)[20] 56
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[21] 2
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[22] 26
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 25
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2007) Position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[25] 85
Irish Singles Chart 16
Italian Singles Chart[26] 47
UK Singles Chart[27] 5
Chart (2008) Position
UK Singles Chart[28] 44
Chart (2009) Position
UK Singles Chart[28] 123

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000–2009) Position
UK Singles Chart[28] 30

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Italy (FIMI)[29] Platinum 20,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Platinum 1,030,000[31]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=481586890&search_in=i&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=30&start=1
  2. ↑ "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007". BBC Music. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  3. ↑ Take That: 'Rule The World' - Music Review - Digital Spy
  4. ↑ Gary Barlow hides his grief as he leads Take That in spectacular Olympics Closing Ceremony performance | Mail Online
  5. ↑ London 2012: Gary Barlow braves personal tragedy to perform at closing ceremony - Telegraph
  6. ↑ Rushes Homepage - Rushes
  7. ↑ Take That Rule The World UK CD single (CD5 / 5") (416872)
  8. ↑ TAKE THAT"RULE THE WORLD"RARE 3TR.GERMAN CD P/S! | eBay
  9. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Take That – Rule the World" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  10. ↑ Take That - Rule The World - swisscharts.com
  11. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200746 into search.
  12. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Take That – Rule the World". Tracklisten.
  13. ↑ "Take That – Chart history" European Hot 100 for Take That.
  14. ↑ "Musicline.de – Take That Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  15. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 43, 2007". Irish Singles Chart.
  16. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Take That – Rule the World". Top Digital Download.
  17. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Take That – Rule the World" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  18. ↑ Lista Przebojów Trójki - Polskie Radio Online
  19. ↑ http://top40-charts.com/chart.php?cid=20&date=2008-01-26 Retrieved 2012.
  20. ↑ Take That – Rule The World Retrieved on 2011-09-30.
  21. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2007-10-28". Scottish Singles Top 40.
  22. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200807 into search.
  23. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Take That – Rule the World". Swiss Singles Chart.
  24. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2007-10-28" UK Singles Chart.
  25. ↑ Billboard - Google Books
  26. ↑ "Italian Single Chart". Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  27. ↑ http://www.bpi.co.uk/assets/files/yearly%20best%20selling%20singles.pdf BPI Best Selling singles 2007
  28. 1 2 3 "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  29. ↑ "Chart Run/ The Flood - Take That". Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  30. ↑ "British single certifications – Take That – Rule the World". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Rule the World in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  31. ↑ Myers, Justin (24 October 2015). "Quiz: Who sold more?". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
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