The Promise

Album: Out of Control (2008)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was written and produced by the Xenomania production team, who have been responsible for most of Girls Aloud's hits.
  • When the girls debuted this '60s-tinged Pop number on the X-Factor Results show, their sloppy and off-key performance was criticized by many. However this didn't stop the quintet entering the UK charts at #1 giving them their 4th chart-topper and their first with an original song since their 2002 debut hit "Sound Of The Underground." Its weekly sales of 77,109 copies was the highest of any #1 single in 2008 at that point, beating the previous top tally of 72,724, achieved by Duffy's "Mercy" 34 weeks previously.
  • Girl Aloud Sarah Harding said of this song to MTV UK: "I like the '60s vibe and the retro thing is coming back! We wanted to stay upbeat but try something a bit different and advanced. I don't think anything we've ever done has ever sounded the same. But we have that same vibe whatever we do because of our vocals."
  • The British public voted for this as the 'Best British Single' at the 2009 BRIT Awards.
  • In the Trudy Bellinger directed music video, Girls Aloud are at a '50s and '60s drive-in movie theatre, which is showing a black-and-white film of the group performing this song. Bellinger told The Independent March 12, 2010 about the clip: "As soon as I heard the Girls Aloud track 'The Promise,' I thought it had the feel of old '60s films. I knew that I wanted to embrace that and that the girls would really be able to pull it off. Even though I included a section at a drive-in, I wanted to keep it British because the girls are intrinsically British. We based shots on iconic females, like Twiggy, from that time."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the Song

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the SongSong Writing

How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKennaSongwriter Interviews

Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.