Sing Along

Album: The Complex (2003)
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Songfacts®:

  • By 2003, the Blue Man Group had created a huge buzz with their shows in New York, Boston, and Chicago, and set out on their first tour, which they called The Complex Rock Tour. This was the first time they used vocalists on their songs, which they released on the soundtrack album The Complex. "Sing Along" features Dave Matthews, a big name that shows how notable these non-speaking blue guys had become. Also on the album are Tracy Bonham and Gavin Rossdale of Bush. On the tour, a member of the troupe sang "Sing Along."
  • The song deals with insecurity and identity. "The main vocal refrain, 'If I sing a song, will you sing along or should I just keep singing right here by myself?' means a lot to us," the group explained. "It kind of captures the vibe of both the character and the album. After the fact, it occurred to us that it also sums up how we feel about having singing on the album. We're excited about it, but some of our fans can only picture Blue Man Group making instrumental music. We hope that once they hear it they'll sing along, but you never know."
  • Dan the Automator of Gorillaz handled programming on this track. It was written by members of the Blue Man Group team. Many megastars would insist on a writing credit for their vocal contributions, but apparently Matthews didn't.
  • "Sing Along" was released as a single and got a music video where Dave Matthews joins Blue Man Group in an animated world populated by people represented by line drawings with no detail. Matthews toggles between real-life and his generic avatar.

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