Cloud Number Nine
Encyclopedia
"Cloud Number Nine" or "Cloud #9" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams
from his 1998
album On a Day Like Today.
, and mixed by Adams' long time collaborator Bob Clearmountain
.
into more of a dance pop sound, with synthesizers added, as well as a drum sample from Gota Yashiki
's "Groove Activator". It was released as a single in May 1999
in Europe. The single reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart
, and became a Top 10 hit in Ibiza
. Chicane said upon its release in 1999, he'd turned down a previous offer of remixing a Bryan Adams single, due to a lack of time. Chicane later worked with Adams of the songs "Don't Give Up", "East Side Story", and "She's Got A Way".
Chicane's mix of the song was featured on Bryan Adams' compilation album The Best of Me
, however simply titled "Cloud Number Nine". It appeared again on his 2005 Anthology
album, this time titled correctly as "Cloud Number Nine (Chicane Mix)". The Chicane Mix has become the standard live version for Bryan. In 2000, Chicane joined Bryan onstage to perform this song and "Don't Give It Up", as can be seen on Bryan's DVD Live At Slane Castle.
to the single "The Best Of Me", in late 1999, and shows a significantly different arrangement from the later versions. It features a beat clearly inspired by Max Martin
's previous work for Backstreet Boys
and Ace Of Base
. The Max Martin-type computerized drum beat has been replaced by actual drumming on the album version and by a sample of Yashiki on the Chicane Mix. The Bascome Mix, however, is more closely to the demo version, using the arrangement of the album version with a similar beat as heard on the demo. It is presumed that the Bascombe Mix was actually meant to be the single version, but Adams changed his mind after being impressed by Chicane's remix. This resulted in a string of collaborations, as mentioned above.
Also, it contains two lines of lyrics not present on the final recording. When asked about the absence of the two lines in fall 2009, co-writer Gretchen Peters
commented that once she is "done writing a song, they'll lead a life of their own". She added; "I don't get too attached too Bryan's songs, because he'll change them a couple of times, until it's become something completely different." The demo version of "Cloud Number Nine" and its subsequent recordings illustrate Peters' comments well.
Original first verse in demo version:
Clue number one was when you on my door
Clue number two was the look that you wore
Back in your hand there was clue number three
I guess love wasn't all that I hoped it would be
Clue number four was when you said you were wrong
That I was the one that you loved all along
That's when I knew it was a pretty good sign
That something was wrong upon cloud number nine
First verse featured in final recording, remix, and live versions:
Clue number one was when you knocked on my door
Clue number two was the look that you wore
That's when I knew it was a pretty good sign
That something was wrong upon cloud number nine
Also, the second verse of the demo version differs by only one word, thus giving the song a different meaning:
Now you hurt him and you hurt me
And that wasn't the way it was supposed to be
So baby tonight let's leave the world behind
And spend some time upon cloud number nine
In the album version and all subsequent recordings, the first sentence of the second verse is:
Now you hurt you and you hurt me
This minor lyrical change no longer implies the protagonist's lover was romantically involved with someone else than him, leaving a more open interpretation of what could be "wrong on cloud number nine".
UK CD2
European CD
NOTES:
The Chicane Mix was sometimes dubbed "radio mix" or "radio edit" on some promotional discs. It was also a bonus track on the 1999 re-release on its mother album "On A Day Like Today", and featured on all of Bryan's compilation albums since.
The song "Let's Talk About Love" is actually the demo version of a song recorded by Celine Dion
on the album with the same title.
The acoustic version of "When You're gone" was recorded at TFI Friday Live in January 1999. It was one of the rare live versions by both performers. The Slane Castle live version appears on the Bryan Adams DVD "Live At Slane Castle", as well as on Melanie C's single If That Were Me
, both released in late 2000.
The full-length versions of all the songs edited in "Snippets" can be found on the album "On A Day Like Today".
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
from his 1998
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
album On a Day Like Today.
Original
The song was first released on Adams' 1998 album "On a Day Like Today", and is the only place it appears in its original form. This version has somewhat of a country rock feel, and seems inspired by Eagles. It is produced by noted rock producer Bob RockBob Rock
Robert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
, and mixed by Adams' long time collaborator Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
.
Chicane Mix
It was remixed by ChicaneChicane (recording artist)
Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
into more of a dance pop sound, with synthesizers added, as well as a drum sample from Gota Yashiki
Gota Yashiki
Gota Yashiki is both an independent acid jazz artist and drum player, as a member of the band Simply Red. He was born in Kyoto, Japan, on 26 February 1962, where at a young age he learned how to play traditional Japanese drums. This interest in drumming propelled him into the music scene, and he...
's "Groove Activator". It was released as a single in May 1999
1999 in music
-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....
in Europe. The single reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and became a Top 10 hit in Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
. Chicane said upon its release in 1999, he'd turned down a previous offer of remixing a Bryan Adams single, due to a lack of time. Chicane later worked with Adams of the songs "Don't Give Up", "East Side Story", and "She's Got A Way".
Chicane's mix of the song was featured on Bryan Adams' compilation album The Best of Me
The Best of Me
The Best of Me is a greatest hits album by Canadian singer Bryan Adams. It was released worldwide in 1999, and in the U.S. in 2002. It was his last release on A&M Records. Upon its initial release, a special edition 2-disc set was issued with live tracks...
, however simply titled "Cloud Number Nine". It appeared again on his 2005 Anthology
Anthology (Bryan Adams album)
- Disc two :- Disc one :- Disc two :- Personnel :* Bryan Adams - rhythm guitar, vocals, co-producer* Keith Scott - lead guitar* Tommy Mandel - Hammond organ* Dave Taylor - bass* Mickey Curry - drums* Brian Stanley - bass...
album, this time titled correctly as "Cloud Number Nine (Chicane Mix)". The Chicane Mix has become the standard live version for Bryan. In 2000, Chicane joined Bryan onstage to perform this song and "Don't Give It Up", as can be seen on Bryan's DVD Live At Slane Castle.
Demo
The demo for this song was released as a B-sideA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to the single "The Best Of Me", in late 1999, and shows a significantly different arrangement from the later versions. It features a beat clearly inspired by Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
's previous work for Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
and Ace Of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
. The Max Martin-type computerized drum beat has been replaced by actual drumming on the album version and by a sample of Yashiki on the Chicane Mix. The Bascome Mix, however, is more closely to the demo version, using the arrangement of the album version with a similar beat as heard on the demo. It is presumed that the Bascombe Mix was actually meant to be the single version, but Adams changed his mind after being impressed by Chicane's remix. This resulted in a string of collaborations, as mentioned above.
Also, it contains two lines of lyrics not present on the final recording. When asked about the absence of the two lines in fall 2009, co-writer Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters is a singer-songwriter in the folk/country genre. She was born in New York and raised in Boulder, Colorado, but moved to Nashville in the late 1980s...
commented that once she is "done writing a song, they'll lead a life of their own". She added; "I don't get too attached too Bryan's songs, because he'll change them a couple of times, until it's become something completely different." The demo version of "Cloud Number Nine" and its subsequent recordings illustrate Peters' comments well.
Original first verse in demo version:
Clue number one was when you on my door
Clue number two was the look that you wore
Back in your hand there was clue number three
I guess love wasn't all that I hoped it would be
Clue number four was when you said you were wrong
That I was the one that you loved all along
That's when I knew it was a pretty good sign
That something was wrong upon cloud number nine
First verse featured in final recording, remix, and live versions:
Clue number one was when you knocked on my door
Clue number two was the look that you wore
That's when I knew it was a pretty good sign
That something was wrong upon cloud number nine
Also, the second verse of the demo version differs by only one word, thus giving the song a different meaning:
Now you hurt him and you hurt me
And that wasn't the way it was supposed to be
So baby tonight let's leave the world behind
And spend some time upon cloud number nine
In the album version and all subsequent recordings, the first sentence of the second verse is:
Now you hurt you and you hurt me
This minor lyrical change no longer implies the protagonist's lover was romantically involved with someone else than him, leaving a more open interpretation of what could be "wrong on cloud number nine".
Music video
The music video made for this single, features mainly the color white. Bryan is dressed in all white, in a white room with an Asian woman who is body painted all white. Various images and things that are white are featured in the video such as milk, white paint, eggs, a dove, and a white dog. The video contains several elements seen in Adams' previous music video, "When You're Gone" - most notably the tape recorder and the apples. While being reviewed on the Saturday morning show Alive & Kicking on BBC 1, dance producer Norman Cook commented: "The most positive thing I can say about it, is that it's very white."Track listing
UK CD1- "Cloud Number Nine" (ChicaneChicane (recording artist)Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
Mix) - "Let's Talk About Love "
- "When You're Gone" (AcousticAcoustic musicAcoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
version) - featuring Melanie C
UK CD2
- "Cloud #9" (ChicaneChicane (recording artist)Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
mix) - "Cloud #9" (Bascombe Mix)
- "Snippets (C'mon C'mon/Inside Out/Where Angels Fear To Tread)"
European CD
- "Cloud Number Nine" (Chicane Mix)
- "Let's Talk About Love"
- "When You're gone" (Acoustic Version) - featuring Melanie C
- "Snippets (C'mon C'mon/Inside Out/Where Angels Fear To Tread)"
NOTES:
The Chicane Mix was sometimes dubbed "radio mix" or "radio edit" on some promotional discs. It was also a bonus track on the 1999 re-release on its mother album "On A Day Like Today", and featured on all of Bryan's compilation albums since.
The song "Let's Talk About Love" is actually the demo version of a song recorded by Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
on the album with the same title.
The acoustic version of "When You're gone" was recorded at TFI Friday Live in January 1999. It was one of the rare live versions by both performers. The Slane Castle live version appears on the Bryan Adams DVD "Live At Slane Castle", as well as on Melanie C's single If That Were Me
If That Were Me
"If That Were Me" is a 2000 single by Melanie C. It was the fifth and last single to be released from the triple platinum album Northern Star. The single entered the UK chart at #18.-Music video:...
, both released in late 2000.
The full-length versions of all the songs edited in "Snippets" can be found on the album "On A Day Like Today".
Chart positions
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 12 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 26 |
| German Singles Chart | 33 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 13 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 62 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 43 |