Songoftheday 6/26/24 - I know you think I shouldn't still love you or tell you that, but if I didn't say it well I'd still have felt it and what's the sense in that?

 

 

"White Flag" - Dido

from the album Life For Rent (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 31

 

Today's song comes from British singer/songwriter Dido, whose breakthrough single "Thank You" was co-opted for rapper Eminem's classic track "Stan", and then went on to be a top ten hit in its own right in the spring of 2001. Two years later, Dido returned with the lead single from her second album Life For Rent. "White Flag" was written by the singer with brother Rollo (the behind-the-scenes master of alternative dance act Faithless) and songwriter Rick Nowels, who was mostly known for his work with Belinda Carlisle ("Heaven Is A Place On Earth"). The lyrics have Dido mourning a failing relationship, admitting she had a hand in its demise but refusing to quit. Dido sings this coolly but with a frail emotion that's simmering under the surface. The production from Dido and Rollo is soothing to the point of lulling one away from the sense of loss, but does come ever so close to supermaket background material. The music video has David Boreanaz from Buffy The Vampire Slayer as her ex, which I would totally understand not wanting to give up on...

"White Flag" became Dido's second top-40 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart, reaching the top 20 in January of 2004 and spending a hefty 41 weeks on the list. On the radio, the song peaked at #19 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, spent five weeks at 2 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") list, and rose to #4 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format and #16 on the Adult Album Alternative (or "Triple-A") rock station list. The dance remixes of the track didn't make Billboard's Club Play chart, but got to #9 on the Dance Airplay radio chart. Internationally, the single topped the charts in Germany, Italy, Australia, Norway, Portugal, Croatia, and Czechia, while reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom (#2), Belgium (#2 Wallonia/#3 Flanders), Sweden (#2), Denmark (#2), Ireland (#2), Switzerland (#2), Hungary (#3), France (#5), the Netherlands (#5), Greece (#8), and Romania (#9). The Life For Rent album, released in September of 2003, climbed to #4 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to sell over two million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2004, "White Flag" was nominated for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance, which Christina Aguilera won for "Beautiful". 

Since "White Flag" took its time on the charts in America, the rest of the world was served up the title track "Life For Rent" as the second single. It ended up making the top ten in her British homeland (#8), as well as in Croatia (#6), Italy (#8) and Ireland (#8) and hit the top-40 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. That was followed by the ballad "Don't Leave Home", which again was an international hit, reaching the top-40 in the UK (#25) and a handful of other countries, but only made it to #22 on the Adult Top-40 chart in America. However, the "B-side" of that single (they still have CD singles overseas), "Stoned", was remixed by the Deep Dish production team. That version ended up going all the way to #1 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. The final single from the record was "Sand In My Shoes", which climbed to #24 on the Adult Top-40 chart and #15 on the Dance Airplay list, and itself sported dance remixes which gifted Dido with her fourth #1 Dance Club Play hit. 

 

After another long-ish break, Dido returned with her third disc Safe Trip Home, which had contributions from a myriad of prominent musicians and producers. The first single from the record, "Don't Believe In Love" which had Mick Fleetwood on the drums, stalled all the way down at #54 in the UK, while stiffing in the States entirely (it did make the top-40 in Austria and Switzerland). Nevertheless, the album came in at #5 in Britain, and #13 on the American Billboard 200, and was nominated for Best Non-Classical Engineered Album at the Grammy Awards, losing to Imogen Heap for her own work on her Ellipse album.  

Switching from Arista to RCA Records, Dido's fourth release, Girl Who Got Away came out in the spring of 2013. It went to #32 on the Billboard 200, with the lead single "No Freedom" stopping at #51 on the British singles chart and #28 in Switzerland. Her most recent album, Still On My Mind, arrived in 2019, coming in at #45 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the British Albums chart. From the set the ballad "Give You Up" got Dido back on the radio in America, rising to #13 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, while again a club music transformation helped it go to #1 on the Dance Club Play list. Most recently, dance production teams Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, Tiesto, and W&W came together to rework Dido's biggest hit into a new track, "Thank You (Not So Bad)", which peaked at #23 on the American Dance Airplay chart and hit #50 on the British singles list.

(7/10)

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Here's Dido performing on the CD:UK TV program...

Next up, from her Live At Brixton Academy concert DVD from 2005...

and lastly, from her Live 8 charity extravaganza performance...

Up tomorrow: California band goes back, back to the 80's.