"Five Nights at Freddy's"
Single by the Living Tombstone
ReleasedAugust 30, 2014
Recorded2014
Genre
Length2:47
LabelGhost Pixel Records
Songwriter(s)Yoav Landau
Producer(s)Yoav Landau

"Five Nights at Freddy's"[lower-alpha 1] is an electronic song by the Israeli-American band the Living Tombstone, based on the 2014 video game Five Nights at Freddy's. The song was produced and sung by Yoav Landau, and was released as a single in 2014. The song was popular on YouTube, reaching over 300 million views by 2024. It was featured in the end credits of the video game's film adaptation released in 2023, and has been credited with creating a musical sub-genre oriented around the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.

Background and release

The song was created by the Israeli-American band The Living Tombstone, who had previously been involved in creating songs based on the My Little Pony franchise. After previously being involved in that franchise's fandom, producer Yoav Landau learned about the release of the horror game Five Nights at Freddy's in 2014, and the popularity it gained. After Landau played the game for himself, he decided to create a song based on it. Landau primarily composed the song with synthesizers, which were described as being similar to those used by 100 gecs by CT Jones of Rolling Stone.[1] Commenting about the creation of the song, Landau said "the culture of the internet is about being there first, being the first one to make a meme about a thing. In the case of FNAF, when I started to see people talking about it, it was easy to make a post with a song and lyrics about the game, see this thing catch fire, and then it goes on YouTube."[2]

When the band asked game creator Scott Cawthon for permission to release the song due to being unaffiliated with the property, Cawthon gave them permission to publish the song as long as they gave some of their profit to charity.[3] The song was uploaded to YouTube only three weeks after the game, and garnered millions of views shortly afterwards.[1] In 2023, during the marketing of the game's film adaptation, the song was performed live during an event at Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Following fan speculation over its inclusion, the song was featured in the movie during the end credits.[1][4] On the day of the film's release in North America, The Living Tombstone released a new version of the song, titled the "Goth Remix".[4][5]

Reception and legacy

On YouTube, the song had gained around 69 million views by March 2016,[6] 220 million by June 2021,[7] and 312 million by 2023.[5] After the song's release, The Living Tombstone created songs based on the second and third games in the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, titled "It's Been So Long" and "Die In A Fire" respectively.[8] Jef Rouner of Houston Press considered the first song to be the weakest in this trilogy, but that it was still a "damned spooky bit of music and a worthy place to begin".[8]

According to CT Jones of Rolling Stone, the song started a sub-genre of music oriented around the franchise, "retain[ing] the hyper-pop influences popularized by Landau" – making the song a "defining part of the Five Nights at Freddy's fandom." The song was credited with inspiring several artists, such as JT Music and CG5. JT Music described creating songs based on the game to be "another way fans could recontextualize and reexperience the game and its story from a different perspective."[1] The song's inclusion in the game's film adaptation was described by /Film as "a testament to the grassroots popularity" alongside the inclusion of several YouTube Let's Players, writing further that the production team behind the movie "hasn't forgotten the people who made the IP such a valuable sensation in the first place."[4]

Charts

Chart performance for "Five Nights at Freddy's"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[9] 4

Certifications

Certifications for "Five Nights at Freddy's"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[10] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ↑ The song is also referred to as the "Five Nights at Freddy's 1 Song" or simply "FNAF Song".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jones, CT (October 30, 2023). "'Five Nights at Freddy's' Started as a Video Game — But Launched a Musical Subgenre". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  2. ↑ Callwood, Brett (October 25, 2023). "Living Tombstone at the Roxy". LA Weekly. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  3. ↑ Callwood, Brett (December 15, 2022). "It's Alive!: The Living Tombstone Is Creating Worlds For Its Fans To Play In". LA Weekly. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Colangelo, BJ (October 27, 2023). "Does Five Nights At Freddy's Feature Music From The Living Tombstone?". /Film. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Worby, Mike (October 28, 2023). "Is The Living Tombstone In The Five Nights At Freddy's Movie?". Looper. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  6. ↑ Guinness World Records 2017 Gamer's Edition. Guinness World Records. November 15, 2016. p. 47. ISBN 9781910561690.
  7. ↑ "Storia survival horror Archivi". Francesco Toniolo (in Italian). Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Rouner, Jef (June 11, 2015). "Five Songs Inspired by Five Nights at Freddy's". Houston Press. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ Rutherford, Kevin (November 9, 2023). "The Living Tombstone's 'Five Nights at Freddy's' Debuts in Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart Top 5". Billboard. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ "American single certifications – The Living Tombstone – Five Nights at Freddy's". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.