Força

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Força"
Single by Nelly Furtado
from the album Folklore
B-side "Powerless (Say What You Want)"
Released 7 June 2004 (2004-06-07)
Format
Recorded 2003
Length 2:59
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Track & Field
  • Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado singles chronology
"Try"
(2004)
"Força"
(2004)
"Explode"
(2004)
Audio sample
file info · help

"Força" (Portuguese for "strength") is a pop folk song written by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado, and Gerald Eaton and Brian West for Furtado's second studio album, Folklore. It is sung mainly in English, with the chorus completely in the Portuguese language. It was produced by Track & Field and received a positive reception from music critics. Released in June 2004, the song was chosen as the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship held in Portugal.

Background and writing[edit]

Furtado said about the song: "When I was touring in Portugal, people would frequently say goodbye to me by saying "Força", which is Portuguese slang. It translates as "Keep going", or "Kick ass". It's also associated with sports, especially football. I put a feminine twist on the idea of how you feel when you’re watching your favorite team. When you tie that into nationality, it becomes pretty intense. So this is a happy song, a burst of energy. Plus, we have [banjoist] Béla Fleck playing on the song. His contribution here is amazing.".[1]

Music video[edit]

The music video was shot in Toronto, Ontario and directed by Ulf Buddensiek. It was released in 2005 to the iTunes music Store. The music video begins with Furtado wearing a pink top and loops gold earrings, and a necklace with her hair tied back, singing in an alley way while in front of the camera. In the back drop while Furtado is singing, a boy with the Portugal national football team shirt is playing with a soccer ball and doing tricks. It also shows Furtado sitting on a ledge in the video singing to the camera. In the middle of the video the boy accidentally kicks the ball too high and it gets stuck on the pipes in the corner of the apartment building where he's playing. As Furtado continues singing more and more people come to help the little boy and they end up building a human pyramid to lift and support him up the side of the building. Furtado finally joins the pyramid and the group lifts the boy up to his ball. The version of the song used in the video is different from the album version. It's the version that was prepared to be used on the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 (a.k.a. Swiss American Federation Mix Edit)[citation needed] in which Nelly Furtado was supposed to compete for Portugal. The second version of the video features a Radio Edit for the Album version.

Track listing[edit]

German 2-track single
  1. "Força" (Radio Edit) - 2:58
  2. "Força" (Swiss American Federation Mix) - 3:08
German 4-track single / UK CD single[2]
  1. "Força" (Radio Edit) - 2:58
  2. "Força" (Swiss American Federation Mix) - 3:08
  3. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Spanish Version, Featuring Juanes) - 3:54
  4. "Força" (Video) - 3:40

Charts[edit]

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[3] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] 14
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[5] 76
Denmark (Tracklisten)[6] 13
Germany (Official German Charts)[7] 9
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[8] 39
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 4
Norway (VG-lista)[10] 18
Portugal (Portuguese Singles Chart)[11] 1
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[12] 57
Russia (EMI)[13] 32
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 34
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 40

Release history[edit]

Country Date Format Label Ref.
Germany 7 June 2004 CD single Universal [17]
14 June 2004 Maxi single [18]
United Kingdom 12 July 2004 Digital download Polydor [19]
Maxi single [20]

References[edit]