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No Roots (song)

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"No Roots"
Single by Alice Merton
from the EP No Roots and the album Mint
Released2 December 2016 (2016-12-02)
Genre
Length3:55
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Alice Merton
  • Nicolas Rebscher
Producer(s)Nicolas Rebscher
Alice Merton singles chronology
"No Roots"
(2016) 		"Hit the Ground Running"
(2017)
Music video
"No Roots" on YouTube

"No Roots" is the debut song by German-Irish singer Alice Merton.[2][3][4] Merton co-wrote the song with producer Nicolas Rebscher.[5][6] The song was released in Europe through Paper Plane Records in 2016 and in the United States by Mom + Pop Music on 2 February 2018.[7]

The song has reached the top 10 in Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, and Israel, and reached the top 20 in Switzerland, and reached number 84 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song has been certified Gold in the United States (RIAA),[8] and Platinum in Germany (BVMI) and France (SNEP).[9][10] It was added to the 'A' List of the digital UK station Radio X in March 2018 and was also receiving airplay on BBC Radio 1 and the UK's most popular station BBC Radio 2.

Writing

[edit]

After moving from Canada to Germany, Merton wrote her first song, "Little Lighthouse", a song "about finding my way back home", she told Billboard.[11] Moving a total of 12 times in 24 years inspired her to write the song.[12] "No Roots" came together while she was visiting her parents in England. "I got to a point where I was feeling quite lost. So I decided to write a song that would make me feel better", she explained.[13]

Release and promotion

[edit]

The original release date of the single, "No Roots" was scheduled for 18 November 2016 but was delayed until 2 December 2016.[14][15] In the UK, Merton was part of the BBC Introducing radio programme on 18 March 2017.[16] She appeared on television, at prime time in the ProSieben show, Schlag den Henssler.[17] On 9 February 2018 she also appeared for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performing "No Roots".[18] Later, Merton featured on the Viva Top 100 and VIVA elevator music.[19] Beginning in May 2017, "No Roots" is used as the soundtrack for an official commercial of Vodafone Germany.[20][21][22][23] On 12 April 2018, Merton performed the song live during the German Echo Music Prize.[24]

Critical reception

[edit]

Mike Jones of WWDC (FM) exclaimed that "No Roots" is "the start of greatness".[25] The song received a similar reception on WGN-TV, with WGN Music Producer Tom Barnas claiming that Merton "slayed it".[26] Hype Machine and music blogs positively received Merton's single, "No Roots".[27] According to Nielsen Music, in the United States, the song had been streamed 922,000 times as of August 2017.[27] Eleanor Pettipher of Fortitude Magazine wrote that "track is kept fresh and catchy by the undulating baseline [sic] and backing vocal emphasis on 'roots'".[28] Front View Magazine remarks that with success, the song "seems to sum up the life of the English/German singer".[29] Matthew Kent of The Line of Best Fit remarks that the song is "brought together perfectly by the powerful, repeating refrain".[30] Indie Obsessive stated that "No Roots" is "the most recent humility check. The song was released months ago. It was interesting, but not blogworthy. Over time, the attraction to the song grew".[31]

Year-end lists

[edit]

Billboard magazine named "No Roots" the 81st best song of 2017.[32] Michael Kiwanuka - Cold Little Heart (Glastonbury 2019) is the guitarist on the studio version.

Usage in other media

[edit]

The song was featured in a Mini car commercial in 2018, as well as the fifth season of the television series The Blacklist.[33] It was also used by dancers in Dancing On Ice, a British TV show, and in week 2 of the U.K. show Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 where Kate Silverton and Aljaz Skorjanec danced a tango to it.

The song was featured in the Brazilian soap opera Segundo Sol. It was also featured during several Sunday Night Football games on NBC during the 2018 regular season.

An instrumental version of the song was used in a series of 2019 and 2020 Miracle-Gro advertisements that aired in the US.[34]

The song was also used in American television series "Deception".

The song was performed by Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer at the BBC Live Lounge.

In May 2021, the song started to go viral on TikTok, appearing in 1 million videos.

In 2022, the song was featured in the Polish Netflix film Heart Parade.

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[79] Platinum 30,000‡
France (SNEP)[80] Platinum 133,333‡
Germany (BVMI)[81] 2× Platinum 800,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[82] 2× Platinum 100,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[83] Platinum 20,000‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[84] Platinum 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[85] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[8] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fischer, Reed (15 March 2018). "Alice Merton on 'No Roots' Melancholy Inspiration". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. ^ Buschmann, Heiko. "Über 300 Gigs beim Eurosonic in Groningen" (in German). Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Eloy – The Vision, The Sword & The Pyre album review". Prog. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Track By Track: Alice Merton on her debut EP". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Alice Merton – No Roots Testo Canzone". Lyrics MTV (in Italian). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  6. ^ Villa, Mattia (1 December 2016). "Alice Merton – No Roots | Going Solo". Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Alternative Music Artist Info | New Information About Alternative Recording Artists | ..." All Access. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. ^ a b "American single certifications – Alice Merton – No Roots". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alice Merton)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Les Certifications – SNEP". SNEP (in French). 1 November 2013. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Alice Merton's Wanderlust Anthem 'No Roots' Heads to U.S. After Blowing Up in Europe". Billboard. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Chartbreaker: How Alice Merton Turned Her Nomadic Past Into A Pop Hit". Billboard. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  13. ^ "Singer-songwriter Alice Merton explores her nomadic past on "No Roots"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Alice Merton – No Roots". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Instagram post by Alice Merton • Nov 7, 2016 at 9:01am UTC". Instagram. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Alice Merton performs in the Solent Live Lounge, BBC Introducing: Solent – BBC Radio Solent". BBC. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Backstage Interview with Alice Merton". MySpass (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  18. ^ Cantor, Brian (10 February 2018). "Alice Merton Performed "No Roots" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"". Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  19. ^ Alice Merton – No Roots (VIVA Fahrstuhlmusik) – Artists – MTV (in German), archived from the original on 4 December 2017, retrieved 4 December 2017
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  21. ^ "Vodafone: Song aus der GigaDepot Werbung – MUSIKRADAR.DE". musikradar.de (in German). 21 April 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
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  24. ^ Schmidt, Axel (12 April 2018). "Skandal bei Echo 2018: Außenminister Maas meldet sich zu Wort – Farid Bang in Schlägerei verwickelt?". Tz. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  25. ^ "Mike Jones Talks With Alice Merton | Mike Jones | DC101". DC101. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Alice Merton performs 'No Root's' in studio 1 and slayed it". WGN-TV. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  27. ^ a b "Alice Merton's Wanderlust Anthem 'No Roots' Heads to U.S. After Blowing Up in Europe". Billboard. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Fortitude Magazine | Single Review: Alice Merton – No Roots – Fortitude Magazine". www.fortitudemagazine.co.uk. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  29. ^ "Listen to Alice Merton – "No Roots"". FrontView Magazine. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  30. ^ "Singer-songwriter Alice Merton explores her nomadic past on "No Roots"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  31. ^ D & D (25 October 2017). "Indie Obsessive: "No Roots" by Alice Merton – A Song Review". Indie Obsessive. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
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  33. ^ "Music from The Blacklist S5E09". Tunefind. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
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  73. ^ "Russia Top City & Country Radio Hits 2018". Tophit. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  74. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official Year-End singles chart". SloTop50. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  75. ^ "Adult Pop Songs – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  76. ^ "Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  77. ^ "Rock Airplay Songs – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  78. ^ "Greatest of All Time Adult Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  79. ^ "Austrian single certifications – Alice Merton – No Roots" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  80. ^ "French single certifications – Alice Merton – No Roots" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  81. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alice Merton; 'No Roots')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  82. ^ "Italian single certifications – Alice Merton – No Roots" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 10 December 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "No Roots" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  83. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2018 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  84. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('No Roots')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  85. ^ "British single certifications – Alice Merton – No Roots". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 July 2020.

Michael Kiwanuka - Cold Little Heart (Glastonbury 2019) IS THE GUITARIST ON THE STUDIO VERSION.

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