"Obey"
Single by Bring Me the Horizon and Yungblud
from the album Post Human: Survival Horror
Released2 September 2020 (2020-09-02)
Recorded2020
StudioCasa do Syko (United Kingdom)
Genre
Length3:40
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Oliver Sykes
  • Jordan Fish
Bring Me the Horizon singles chronology
"Parasite Eve"
(2020)		 "Obey"
(2020)		 "Teardrops"
(2020)
Yungblud singles chronology
"Lemonade"
(2020)		 "Obey"
(2020)		 "God Save Me, but Don't Drown Me Out"
(2020)
Music video
"Obey" on YouTube

"Obey" is a song by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon and English singer Yungblud. Produced by the band's vocalist Oliver Sykes and keyboardist Jordan Fish, it was released as the third single from the group's 2020 commercial release Post Human: Survival Horror on 2 September 2020.[1]

"Obey" was voted as Annie Mac's "Hottest Record of the Year" in 2020.[2]

Promotion and release

In May 2020, Yungblud tweeted out a cryptic tweet asking Oliver Sykes and Jordan Fish to check their inboxes. This led to a lot of speculation and teasing of a collaboration between the band and the singer. Sykes later revealed that the band and Yungblud "have something coming". The track was then officially teased when Sykes posted a QR code leading to a website with a snippet of the music video.[3]

Within a week until the song's release, both of the artists revealed promotional pictures for the collaboration which pictured Sykes and Yungblud being half naked and covered in blood, that would feature a caption that said "u ain't ready".[4]

Composition and lyrics

"Obey" has been described as a "massive, genre-bending call-to-arms" industrial metal,[5] nu metal,[6] alternative metal,[7] electronic metal,[8] pop metal,[9] pop punk[10] and a hard rock song,[11] including elements of electronic dance music and rave music.[12] It was written and composed by Oliver Sykes, Jordan Fish and Yungblud during quarantine times for the COVID-19 pandemic. The lyrics talk about the oppression that people suffer because of world leaders and politicians.[13] It is written mostly from the point of view of the oppressor, as Sykes told Forbes:

"It was written in April, May, of this year, and it was very much inspired by everything that's going on, and very much from the side of the oppressor. I think everyone has been stopped in their tracks, and I think a lot of people are realising that maybe the people in charge aren't looking out for our best interests. The way that we're fed traumatic and devastating news on a daily basis, I think the powers that be or whatever you want to call them, they've gotten very good at getting us desensitised to this information, and we have been sleepwalking for a while where we know all this horrible stuff is going on, but we didn't do anything about it."[14]

Music video

The music video for "Obey" was released on the same day as the single. Directed by Sykes himself, the video features two giant robots which look like a Power Ranger/Transformer hybrid, that are both controlled by Sykes and Yungblud. Before confronting, the two robots dance and then engage in a fight where the robot controlled by Yungblud knocks the other robot down. When the robot controlled by Sykes gets up, they both seem to lose control of their respective robots who then make out with each other and then stroll off into the sunset.[15]

The song surpassed 1 million views within the first 24 hours after premiering on YouTube. In its first week, the video for the song reached 4.4 million views.[16][17]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[18]

Bring Me the Horizon

Additional personnel

  • Yungblud – vocals
  • Mick Gordon – percussion, synthesiser, additional production
  • Jordan Baggs – backing vocals
  • Luke Burywood – backing vocals
  • Clayton Deakin – backing vocals
  • Tom Millar – backing vocals
  • Giles Stelfox – backing vocals
  • Sam Winfield – backing vocals
  • Chris Athens – mastering
  • Zakk Cervini – mixing, recording
  • Carl Brown – recording

In 2021, "Obey" was used as the theme song for WWE's NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day PPV.[19]

Charts

Chart performance for "Obey"
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[20] 99
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[21] 29
Scotland (OCC)[22] 31
UK Singles (OCC)[23] 37
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[24] 1
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[25] 49
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[26] 21

Certifications

Certifications for "Obey"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27] Gold 35,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "Bring Me the Horizon Unveil New Song "Obey" Featuring Yungblud: Stream". Consequence of Sound. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  2. ↑ Reily, Nick (11 December 2021). "Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud's 'Obey' voted Annie Mac's Hottest Record Of The Year". NME. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. ↑ "Is There A Bring Me The Horizon X Yungblud Collaboration On The Way?". Kerrang!. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  4. ↑ "Yungblud Teases New Bring Me The Horizon Collab With Bloody Picture". iHeartRadio. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  5. ↑ Goggins, Joe (29 October 2020). "iMetal Post Human review". iMetal. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Stylistically, it swaps that record's blend of electronica and pop-rock for something more straightforwardly aggressive, channeling late-era Deftones on Parasite Eve and Ludens, and industrial metal on the Yungblud collaboration Obey.
  6. ↑ Kasuma, Wildan Heri (7 September 2020). "Yungbuld Collaborates, BMTH Issues Single Obey" (in Indonesian). Moreschick. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021. Sykes explained, Obey Like catching the whole rage into a bottle. Full of nu-metal jitters and The Prodigy's apocalyptic rave, with a loud chorus the size of a shiny stadium.
  7. ↑ Swingle, Emily (3 August 2020). "Bring Me The Horizon Ft. Yungblud – Obey". Bittersweet Press. Retrieved 3 August 2021. Obey is a joy of an alt-metal track – it's heavy, whilst still brilliantly melodic and gloriously catchy.
  8. ↑ Knight, George (2 September 2021). "REVIEW: Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: Survival Horror". Thunderchord. Retrieved 19 September 2021. A song that will most certainly not be ignored is the cathartic electronic metal behemoth known as "Obey" which also stars the pop-punk heart-throb Yungblud.
  9. ↑ Trendall, Andrew (30 October 2020). "Bring Me The Horizon: "I'm like everyone else: confused, scared and angry"". NME. Retrieved 25 December 2020. Pop-metal banger 'Obey' sees the band implore the listener to "wake up and smell the corruption"
  10. ↑ Newton, Conrad (2 December 2020). "Bring Me The Horizon: Exploring a Post Human World". 25YearsLater. Retrieved 28 July 2021. We then move to "Obey", a pop-punk powerhouse of a song featuring brash upstart Yungblud.
  11. ↑ Rowley, Glenn (3 September 2020). "Watch Bring Me The Horizon & Yungblud Battle It Out as Giant Robots in 'Obey' Video". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2021. In the clip for the hard-rocking single, the band's frontman Oli Sykes goes head-to-head with the British rap-rocker as they helm the controls of a pair of giant robots.
  12. ↑ "Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud's new song 'Obey' is a massive, genre-bending call-to-arms". NME. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Bring Me The Horizon – Obey Lyrics". Genius.com. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "YUNGBLUD & Oli Sykes Talk New Single "Obey": The Generation's Next Best Rock Anthem". Forbes. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Watch Bring Me The Horizon & Yungblud Battle It Out as Giant Robots in 'Obey' Video". Billboard. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Bring Me The Horizon - Obey with YUNGBLUD". (Wayback Machine). 3 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ↑ "Bring Me The Horizon - Obey with YUNGBLUD (Official Video)". (Wayback Machine). 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ↑ "Credits / Post Human: Survival Horror / Bring Me the Horizon". Tidal. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "Obey (with @yungblud) is an #NXTLOUD theme for @WWE's #NXTTakeOver: Vengeance Day ⁠#WeAreNXT⁠ @WWE @WWEMusic". Twitter. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  20. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 14 September 2020". No. 1593. Australian Recording Industry Association. 14 September 2020. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  21. ↑ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  22. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  23. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  24. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "Bring Me the Horizon Chart History (Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  26. ↑ "Bring Me The Horizon Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  27. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
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