Pressure (Paramore song)

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Single: Pressure
Artist: Paramore
Album: All We Know Is Falling
Recorded: 2005
Writer: Hayley Williams, Josh Farro
Producer:
James Wisner
Genre: Pop rock, emo, power pop
Label: Fueled By Ramen

Pressure is the first single by American punk pop band Paramore from their debut studio album All We Know Is Falling.

[edit] Release history

Region	Date	Format
United States	July 26, 2005	Digital download, music video, airplay
Japan	September 02, 2005	Digital download, music video, airplay
World	April 17, 2006	Digital download, music video, airplay

[edit] Introduction

The single was released in the US on July 26 2005 to co-incide with the release of the album All We Know Is Falling, it was later released in Japan on 2 September 2005 in Japan to co-incide with the album's release over there. The Japanese version of the album has three exclusive bonus tracks. Pressure was finally released to other regions of the World on 17 April 2006 a week before the album release on 24 April 2006. The track is produced by James Wisner.

[edit] Track listing

Track	Title	Duration
1	Pressure	3:06

[edit] Chart performance

The single failed to chart on any major charts but did reach #107 on the Philippines Chart. In June 2007, the track made its way into the US Billboard Charts Hot Digital Songs Chart after the charting success of their breakthrough smash Misery Business. The song peaked at #62.

Chart (2007)	Peak position
U.S Billboard Hot Digital Songs	62

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Philippines N.U. Chart	107

[edit] Musical style and lyrics

The song's lyrics deal with general pressures in life especially those experienced by young people. The song runs on a up-tempo scale with prominent electric and rhythm guitar riffs from Josh Farro and Jason Bynum as well as a prominent drum riffs from Zac Farro. The bass is played by John Hembree. The song paces along at an up-tempo scale and all instruments are very prominent giving the song a power pop feel. Vocalist Hayely Williams uses her soprano voice to belt out the angst filled lyrics and singing out the hooky, catchy pop rock chorus. Josh Farro joins her on backing vocals in certain areas of the chorus.

[edit] Critical reception

Harriet Jennings from the website Clickmusic gave the song a positive review by stating that Pressure is "really good" and that "Hayley Williams belts out a vocal performance far superior to most of her male counterparts, and with a striking resemblance to Avril Lavigne save for the pop-production values" and also praised the "heavy guitar rates" and "pulsating basslines". She went on to say that it is "a great track to slam about to, drive to, or just sit and listen to". Her overall rating for the song was 4 stars.

[edit] Music video

Hayley Williams in the music video for 'Pressure'

The music video is about the pressure of being a teenager and was directed by Shane Drake who would go on to direct their future videos for Emergency, Misery Business, Crushcrushcrush and Decode. The video deals with two characters a boy and a girl (who are later in the video revealled to be a couple) interlaced with the band playing the song in an abandoned warehouse and flashes of a pressure gauge. The two of them dislike their part-time jobs. The boy works at a fast food restaurant where he receives poor treatment from his boss. The girl is a model who is refused things that she enjoys (such aspicking her own less-revealing dress and eating chocolate). Eventually, the boy quits his job and goes to meet his girlfriend, but she is busy preparing for a photoshoot. The boy decides to set off the sprinklers in the building, which coincides with the previously-mentioned pressure gauge bursting and the sprinklers in the warehouse that the band is playing in going off. Everyone in the building rushes out, except for the girl who stays in her chair enjoying the water. The boy and girl manage to get out and the video ends. The band which at the time consisted of Hayley Williams, Josh and Zac Farro, John Hembree and Jason Bynum who are seen singing and playing their instruments on stage, jumping around and also jumping and dancing as the sprinklers shower down on them.

[edit] Live performance

The band performed Pressure on BBC Radio 1 in the UK in May 2008. They also performed it on MTV in USA in 2008.

[edit] Appearances in other media

The band re-recorded the track so it could be used for the console versions of hit video game The Sims 2 which was released in November 2005 Worldwide. Williams had to sing the lyrics to the song in Simlish, a fictional language spoken by the characters in the game.

[edit] Credits

Hayley Williams-lead and backing vocals, lyrics
Josh Farro-backing vocals, lead guitar, songwriting
Jason Bynum-rhythm guitar
John Hembree-bass guitar
Zac Farro-drums
James Wisner-producer
Shane Drake-music video director

[edit] External links

[edit] Paramore single chronology

Last single	This single	Next single
-	Pressure (2005/2006)	Emergency (2005/2006)