"We Found Love" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, from her sixth studio album Talk That Talk (2011). The song features Scottish producer/singer Calvin Harris. "We Found Love" was released as the lead single from the album and premiered on October 21, 2011 on the Capital FM radio station and was made available to download on the same day. The track is a dance-pop and electro house song, with elements of techno and Europop. It is backed by repetitive synthesizers, alarm bells, and a keyboard. The song's lyrics speak of a woman who finds love in a hopeless place.
"We Found Love" was met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song's composition and Rihanna's vocal performance, however, some critics felt that the lyrical content was sparse and came second to Harris' production. "We Found Love" was a huge commercial success. In the United States, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten non-consecutive weeks, becoming the longest running number one single of 2011 and surpassing "Umbrella" as her longest running number one single. It became Rihanna's eleventh song to top the Hot 100, placing her in third place amongst female recording artists amassing the most number one singles. "We Found Love" topped the charts in twenty countries including Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It also attained top five positions in Australia, the Netherlands and Spain, and peaked in the top ten of charts in twenty-nine countries worldwide.
The song's accompanying music video, directed by Melina Matsoukas, depicts the singer as a drug abusing thrill seeker in a relationship that quickly spirals downward into addiction and violence. The video received a mixed response from critics, as they noted that it profoundly alludes to ex-boyfriend Chris Brown's assault on Rihanna, two years prior. It attracted criticism from political commentators, who questioned the video for its suggestive sexual nature. The song has been performed on both the UK and US versions of The X Factor, as well as at the 54th Grammy Awards and the 2012 BRIT Awards. Many artists have covered the song including British alternative rock band Coldplay and singer Jessie J at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. Both Flo Rida and R3hab made a remix of the song.
Music video[]
- Main article: We Found Love (music video)
The music video for Barbadian singer Rihanna's 2011 single "We Found Love" was directed by Melina Matsoukas. It was filmed on September 26–28, 2011, in the New Lodge area of Belfast and Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. People driving around the location of the set informed BBC that traffic in the area was congested as drivers wanted to see the singer. The video premiered on October 19, 2011, and was made available to download digitally three days later on October 22. As of July 2023, the video has amassed over 1 billion views on YouTube.
The video begins with a monologue given by fashion model Agyness Deyn. Scenes of Rihanna with her romantic interest (Dudley O'Shaughnessy) in both love and hate scenarios intersperse, as they experience mounting difficulties in their relationship. After enduring the overwhelming effects of recreational drugs and physical violence, she finds her boyfriend unconscious on the floor of his apartment, and leaves him, having had enough of the relationship. Images of the song's producer and featured artist Calvin Harris appear in outdoor DJ scenes, while the video has regular references to popular culture, such as themes of films and content of other singers' videos.
Many critics noted that the video resembled a short film, and compared it to the films Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream. Some critics also compared the thematic content to those of Rihanna's videos for "S&M" and "Man Down". Despite that, the video caused much controversy among activist groups. Christian youth pastor Brandon Ward, John Colonnello and the Ulster Cancer Foundation criticized the video for Rihanna's portrayal of her character having sex while under the influence of illegal drugs and smoking heavily. Consequently, the video was banned from being shown before 10 pm on French television. It won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video and MTV's VMA for Video of the Year. The video further managed to peak at number one on the Polish Top Airplay TV Chart and the Romanian TV Airplay Chart.
Lyrics[]
Yellow diamonds in the light
Now we’re standing side by side
As your shadow crosses mine
What it takes to come alive
It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny
But I’ve gotta let it go
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
Shine a light through an open door
Love a life I will divide
Turn away 'cause I need you more
Feel the heartbeat in my mind
It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny
But I’ve gotta let it go
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
Yellow diamonds in the light
Now we’re standing side by side
As your shadow crosses mine
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place