Wikipedia

Budapest (song)

For other songs, seeBudapest (disambiguation) § Music.

"Budapest"is a song by English singer-songwriterGeorge 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 withJoel Pottand produced byCam Blackwood.

"Budapest"
SinglebyGeorge Ezra
from the albumWanted on Voyage
B-side"Angry Hill"
Released13 December 2013
Recorded2013
GenreFolk rock[1]
Length3:21
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Cam Blackwood
George Ezrasingles chronology
"Did You Hear the Rain?"
(2013) 		"Budapest"
(2013) 		"Cassy O'"
(2014)
Alternate cover

The single was released onColumbia Records,and distributed bySony Music,and peaked at number three on theUK Singles Chart."Budapest" has also been a major hit for Ezra in Austria, New Zealand, and Slovenia, topping the charts in all three countries, while reaching the top ten in eleven additional countries. It was the 10th-best-selling single of 2014 in the UK.[2]The song was released in the U.S. in late 2014 and has peaked at number 32.[3]

Background

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Ezra toldThe Daily Telegraphthat "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."[4]Ezra has also insisted that, despite its title, the lyrics of "Budapest" do not have anything to do with thecity in Hungaryand that he had never even been there before. He said, "I was inMalmöin Sweden and theEurovision Song Contestwas 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. "[5]

"Budapest" was originally released as part of Ezra's EPDid You Hear the Rain?,which contains thesong 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."[6]

Composition

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With a tempo of 128 bpm, the song "Budapest" is composed in the key ofF major.[7]

Critical reception

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Chris Willman ofBillboardcalled it an "acoustically inclined, eminently hummable single".[8]

Chart performance

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In 2015, "Budapest" became asleeper hitin the United States. It debuted at number 81 on theBillboardHot 100in February 2015,[9]and peaked at number 32 in May. It charted for 30 weeks onAdult Alternative Airplay,10 of which were spent at the pole position;[10]in February 2021, for the chart's 25th anniversary,Billboardranked "Budapest" at number 12 on its list of the 100 most successful songs in the chart's history.[11][12]The song performed well on several otherBillboardairplay charts, reaching number 6 onAdult Top 40,[13]number 9 on the overallRock Airplaychart,[14]and number 14 onAdult Contemporary.[15]

Music video

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An official music video for "Budapest" was first released ontoYouTubeon 21 April 2014. 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 inter-cut 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 chili pepper, a 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 inter-cut 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 ends with George singing with his guitar standing in the again-motionless crowd; 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.[16]

Formats and track listings

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  • Digital download(United Kingdom)[17]
  1. "Budapest" – 3:20
  • CD single(Germany)[18]
  1. "Budapest" – 3:23
  2. "Angry Hill" – 4:11

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[78] 9× Platinum 630,000‡
Austria (IFPIAustria)[79] Gold 15,000*
Belgium (BEA)[80] Platinum 30,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[81] 3× Platinum 240,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[82] 3× Platinum 270,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[83] Platinum 300,000^
Italy (FIMI)[84] 3× Platinum 90,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[85] Platinum 60,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[86] Gold 10,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[87] 5× Platinum 150,000‡
Norway (IFPINorway)[88] Platinum 10,000*
South Africa (RISA)[89] 2× Platinum 40,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[90] Platinum 60,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[91] 2× Platinum 80,000‡
Switzerland (IFPISwitzerland)[92] Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[93] 6× Platinum 3,600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[94] 4× Platinum 4,000,000‡
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[95] Platinum 2,600,000†

*Sales figures based on certification alone.
^Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
†Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format Label
Italy[96] 13 December 2013 Contemporary hit radio Sony
Germany[18] 18 April 2014 CD single
United Kingdom[17] 13 June 2014 Digital download
United States[97][98][99] 25 August 2014 Adult album alternativeradio Columbia
23 September 2014 Modern rockradio
27 October 2014 Hot adult contemporaryradio

References

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