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Thumbs (song)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Thumbs

| cover = Thumbs (Official Single Cover) by Sabrina Carpenter.png

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Sabrina Carpenter

| album = Evolution

| released =

| recorded = August 2016

| studio = Rokstone Studios (London, United Kingdom)

| venue =

| genre =

| length =

| label = Hollywood

| writer =

| producer =

| prev_title = On Purpose

| prev_year = 2016

| next_title = Hands

| next_year = 2017

| misc =

}}

"'Thumbs'" is a song recorded by American singer Sabrina Carpenter from her second studio album 'Evolution' (2016), included as the third track of the album. The track was written by Priscilla Renea and its producer Steve Mac. The song was originally released by Hollywood Records as the third promotional single from 'Evolution' on October 7, 2016, a week before the album's release. It was later released as the album's second single on January 3, 2017. "Thumbs" is an up-tempo electropop song with house and pop elements. Lyrically, the song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity.

It was accompanied by a music video directed by Hayley Young premiered on her Vevo channel on February 10, 2017. The music video was made in one take and it featured Carpenter and a lot of people in a subway. Carpenter promoted "Thumbs" with several live performances, including on Radio Disney Music Awards 2017, on 'Today' and on 'The Late Late Show'. It was the first song by Carpenter with a chart impact and it peaked at number one on 'Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. It was certified Platinum by United States (RIAA) and Norway (IFPI).

Background and recording



It was released initially as a promotional single and later released as a single. The song was written by Steve Mac and Priscilla Renea and was the only song in the album without Carpenter's writing credit. The song was the last recorded for the album, Carpenter says. "We'd finish the album, I then heard "Thumbs" which gave me these vibes of fame and black and gold and just like some of my favorite soulful songs." The song talks about embracing individuality and escaping mediocrity. She says that if people are falling into the same mistakes they are going to continue 'twiddling them thumbs', thus continuing to live in the mediocrity. Carpenter describes the other songs on the album as "children" of "Thumbs".

Composition and lyrical interpretation



Musically, "Thumbs" is a three minutes and thirty-six seconds electropop song with pop and house elements. In terms of music notation, "Thumbs" was composed using common time in the key of C minor, with a moderately fast tempo of 135 beats per minute. The song follows the chord progression of Cm-Csus-C5-Csus-CmA-Fm/A-A-Fm/A-A-Fsus7-F7-Bsus-B. Carpenter's vocal range spans from the low note F3 to the high note of G5, giving the song two octave and one note of range. The tempo has a Swing feel.

Lyrically, the song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity. The chorus' lyric "They gonna keep on twiddling them thumbs" is a metaphor for wasting time doing pointless things and making no real progress.

Music video



The music video, which was directed by Hayley Young, was uploaded to her Vevo account on YouTube on February 10, 2017. The video is set downstairs in a New York City Subway car and is shot in one take. The video features Carpenter singing the song with several people inside the subway doing their daily tasks. When the idea of the video was being processed, Carpenter thought of a subway because it's where you find different people, the line "Somewhere in the world" represents that people.

Critical reception



Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues of 'Andpop' said "the jazzy vibe of this song sold us, and the scatting just made us play it on repeat. With this tune Sabrina really makes us fall for her unique jazz vibes she sprinkles into her pop sound."

Live performances



Carpenter first performed the song on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016, along with other new music before the release of 'Evolution'. She performed the song on 'Today' on November 22, 2016. On April 17, 2017, she made her late night talk show debut by performing the song on 'The Late Late Show with James Corden.' On April 29, 2017, she performed the song at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards.

Track listing



Credits and personnel



'Recording and management'

* Recorded at Rokstone Studios (London, United Kingdom)

* Lead vocals recorded in North Hollywood, California

* Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)

* BMG Gold Songs/Rokstone Music (ASCAP), All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US), LLC, WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

'Personnel'

* Sabrina Carpenter  lead vocals

* Steve Mac  songwriting, production

* Priscilla Renea  songwriting, background vocals

* Chris Laws  engineering

* Dan Pursey  engineering

* Mitch Allan  lead vocals recording

* Phil Tan  mixing

* Chris Gehringer  mastering

Credits adapted from 'Evolution' liner notes.'Evolution' liner notes [CD] Hollywood Records (2016).

Charts



Certifications



Release history



References



Category:2016 songs

Category:2017 singles

Category:Sabrina Carpenter songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Steve Mac

Category:Songs written by Muni Long

Category:Songs written by Steve Mac

Category:Hollywood Records singles

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