Helicopter (Bloc Party song)

2004 single by Bloc Party

"Helicopter"

Single by Bloc Party
from the album  Silent Alarm
B-side| "Skeleton"
Released| 25 October 2004 (2004-10-25)[1]
Genre|

* Indie rock
* garage rock

Length| 3:40
Label| Wichita
Songwriter(s)|

* Russell Lissack
* Gordon Moakes
* Kele Okereke
* Matt Tong

Producer(s)|

* Bloc Party
* Paul Epworth

Bloc Party singles chronology
| "Little Thoughts/Tulips"
(2004)  | "Helicopter"
(2004)  | "Tulips"
(2005)

|
|

Audio sample

30-second excerpt of "Helicopter".

* file
* help

"Helicopter" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party, originally released as a stand-alone single in the UK in October 2004 and appeared later on the Little Thoughts EP; it was released two years later as a single from their debut album, Silent Alarm, in the US. The song received acclaim, reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart but failing to chart on the US Hot 100. It did however chart on the US Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart. Various remixes of the song have been produced. The song was included in the music video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Burnout Revenge, FIFA 06, [[FIFA 23], “Colin McRae DiRT 2” and the episode "Alma Matter" from the sixth season of The Crown.

## Composition

[edit]

"Helicopter" is an indie rock[2][3] and garage rock[4] song, written by all band members prior to their debut studio album, Silent Alarm. Composed in B minor, it was written in common time and has a quick tempo of 171 beats per minute.[5] The main riff was adapted from "Set The House Ablaze", a song by The Jam featured on the 1980 album Sound Affects.[6]

The song's critical references to the United States, and lines such as "just like his dad – the same mistakes", led to journalists believing that the song was an attack on George W. Bush, whose father George H. W. Bush had also led American military intervention in the Middle East.[7][8] Okereke denied these suggestions in an interview with Pitchfork in August 2005 saying "It's frustrating that people attribute something to certain songs and that's not what they're about at all. [...] It's kinda patronizing".[9]

## Music video

[edit]

The official video is displayed in black and white and shows the band playing in an old, empty house, intercut with surreal imagery. It has received the most views of any of Bloc Party's songs on YouTube, gaining over 30 million views.[10] A remastered version with HD video and audio can be found here.

## Track listings

[edit]

UK 7-inch

1. "Helicopter"
2. "Skeleton"

UK CD

1. "Helicopter"
2. "Always New Depths"
3. "Tulips" (Minotaur Shock mix)

US CD

1. "Helicopter" (Diplo remix)
2. "Helicopter" (Weird Science remix featuring Peaches)
3. "Helicopter" (Whitey remix)
4. "Helicopter" (Original version)

US 12-inch

1. "Helicopter" (Diplo remix)
2. "Helicopter" (Weird Science remix featuring Peaches)

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (2004-06)  | Peak
position

|

Sweden (Hitlistan)[11] | 51
UK Singles (OCC)[12] | 26
U.S. Hot Singles Sales (Billboard)[13] | 34

## Certifications

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

United Kingdom (BPI)[14] | Gold  | 400,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 23 October 2004. p. 23.
2. ^ Boydston, Joshua (17 February 2015). "A tribut to Bloc Party's Silent Alarm". Oxford Karma. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
3. ^ Taylor, Benji (14 August 2013). "Review: Bloc Party - 'The Nextwave Sessions'". Pretty Much Amazing. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
4. ^ Fleischer, Norman (2 February 2015). "Hoping For a Miracle: 10 Years of Bloc Party's 'Silent Alarm'". Nothing but Hope and Passion. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
5. ^ Commercial sheet music for "Helicopter". Wichita Recordings Music Publishing. Distributed by International Music Publications. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
6. ^ Thomas, Lou. "BBC - Music - Review of The Jam - Sound Affects: Deluxe Edition". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
7. ^ Connick, Tom (2 February 2015). "So Here We Are: Bloc Party's 'Silent Alarm' ten years on". DIY. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
8. ^ "Bloc Party : Silent Alarm". NME. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
9. ^ Warren, Jamin (28 August 2005). "Bloc Party". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
10. ^ Video on YouTube
11. ^ "Bloc Party discography". Swedishcharts. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
13. ^ "Bloc Party Chart History: Hot Singles Singles Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
14. ^ "British single certifications – Bloc Party – Helicopter". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Bloc Party

* Kele Okereke
* Russell Lissack
* Louise Bartle
* Harry Deacon

* Gordon Moakes
* Matt Tong
* Sarah Jones
* Justin Harris
* Daniel Pugsley

Studio albums|

* Silent Alarm
* A Weekend in the City
* Intimacy
* Four
* Hymns
* Alpha Games

Remix albums|

* Silent Alarm Remixed
* Intimacy Remixed

Extended plays|

* Bloc Party
* Little Thoughts
* The Nextwave Sessions
* The High Life

Singles|

* "She's Hearing Voices"
* "Banquet"/"Staying Fat"
* "Little Thoughts"/"Tulips"
* "Helicopter"
* "Tulips"
* ""So Here We Are"/"Positive Tension""
* "Banquet"
* "Pioneers"
* "Two More Years"
* "The Prayer"
* "I Still Remember"
* "Hunting for Witches"
* "Flux"
* "Mercury"
* "Talons"
* "One Month Off"
* "Signs"
* "One More Chance"
* "Octopus"
* "Truth"
* "Ratchet"

Other songs|

* "Like Eating Glass"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Songs
* Pin Me Down
* Young Legionnaire

Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work
* MusicBrainz release group

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template