Força

"Força"
Single by Nelly Furtado
from the album Folklore
B-side"Powerless (Say What You Want)"
Released7 June 2004 (2004-06-07)
Studio
Length3:40
LabelDreamWorks
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Track & Field
  • Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado singles chronology
"Try"
(2004) 		"Força"
(2004) 		"Explode"
(2004)
Music video
"Força" on YouTube

"Força" (Portuguese for "strength") is a song by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado from her second studio album, Folklore (2003). Written by Furtado, Gerald Eaton, and Brian West, the track is sung mainly in English, with the chorus completely in Portuguese. The song was produced by Furtado and Track & Field and received a positive reception from music critics. Released in June 2004 as the album's third single, served as the official song of the 2004 European Football Championship held in Portugal.

Background and writing

Nelly Furtado said about the song: "When I was touring in Portugal, people would frequently say goodbye to me by saying 'Força', which is Portuguese slang. It translates as 'Keep going', or 'Kick ass'. It's also associated with sports, especially football. I put a feminine twist on the idea of how you feel when you're watching your favorite team. When you tie that into nationality, it becomes pretty intense. So this is a happy song, a burst of energy. Plus, we have [banjoist] Béla Fleck playing on the song. His contribution here is amazing".[1]

Music video

The music video was shot in Toronto, Ontario and directed by Ulf Buddensiek. It was released in 2005 to the iTunes music Store.

The music video begins with Furtado wearing a pink top and gold hoop earrings, and a necklace with her hair tied back, singing in an alley way while in front of the camera. In the back drop while Furtado is singing, a boy with the Portugal national football team shirt is playing with a football and doing tricks. It also shows Furtado sitting on a ledge in the video singing to the camera. In the middle of the video the boy accidentally kicks the ball too high and it gets stuck on the pipes in the corner of the apartment building where he's playing. As Furtado continues singing more and more people come to help the little boy and they end up building a human pyramid to lift and support him up the side of the building. Furtado finally joins the pyramid and the group lifts the boy up to his ball.

The version of the song used in the video is different from the album version. It's the version that was prepared to be used on the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 (a.k.a. Swiss American Federation Mix Edit)[citation needed] which Nelly Furtado composed for Portugal. The second version of the video features a Radio Edit for the Album version.

Track listings

European and UK CD maxi-single[2]

  1. "Força" (radio edit) – 2:58
  2. "Força" (Swiss American Federation Mix) – 3:08
  3. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Spanish version featuring Juanes) – 3:54
  4. "Força" (video) – 3:40

European 2-track CD single

  1. "Força" (radio edit) – 2:58
  2. "Força" (Swiss American Federation Mix) – 3:08

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Folklore album booklet.[3]

Studios

Personnel

  • Nelly Furtado – writing, lead and background vocals, production
  • Gerald Eaton – writing
  • Brian West – writing, engineering
  • Track & Field – production, programming
    • Field – stadium guitar
  • Béla Fleck – banjo
  • Dean Jarvis – bass
  • Gurpreet Chana – tabla
  • Luis Simao – accordion
  • Brad Haehnel – mixing, engineering
  • Joe Labatto – engineering
  • Steve Chahley – engineering assistance
  • Ian Bodzasi – engineering assistance
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Germany 7 June 2004 CD single DreamWorks [27]
14 June 2004 Maxi single [28]
United Kingdom 12 July 2004 Digital download [29]
CD single [30]

References

  1. ^ "Nelly Furtado Central – News Archives – Nellys descriptions of her new songs". Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
  2. ^ Enhanced
  3. ^ Folklore (US CD album booklet). Nelly Furtado. DreamWorks Records. 2003. B0001007-12.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  7. ^ "R&R Canada CHR/Pop Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1564. 16 July 2004. p. 31. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Oficiální Česká Hitparáda – Pro týden 39/2004" (in Czech). IFPI ČR. Archived from the original on 29 September 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força". Tracklisten.
  10. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  11. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  12. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força". Top Digital Download.
  13. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 28, 2004" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  14. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  15. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força". VG-lista.
  16. ^ "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 31, saptamina 2.08 – 8.08, 2004" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 17 January 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força". Singles Top 100.
  19. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Força". Swiss Singles Chart.
  20. ^ "Nelly Furtado: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  21. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2004". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  22. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2004" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  23. ^ "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 2004" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  24. ^ "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2004". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  25. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 2004" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  26. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2004". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Forca". Amazon Germany.
  28. ^ "Forca". Amazon Germany.
  29. ^ "Forca". Amazon UK.
  30. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 10 July 2004. p. 27.