The Wind Blows
"The Wind Blows" is a song by American rock band The All-American Rejects, released as the second single from their third studio album When the World Comes Down on April 21, 2009.
Background
"The Wind Blows" was written by Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter, originally for American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani prior to the release of When the World Comes Down, but was ultimately turned down by her record label.During the recording sessions for When the Word Comes Down, the band's A&R manager Jeff Sosnow provided producer Eric Valentine with a digital audio library of The All-American Rejects demo songs, where in which the latter person discovered "The Wind Blows". Seeing its potential, Valentine reintroduced the demo to the band, who were uncertain on the song's sound at the time. The band decided to rewrite its chorus and eventually re-record it for the album.
Album-wise on When the World Comes Down, "The Wind Blows" is segued into by the previous track "Believe".
Reception
Critical reception
The song received mixed reviews from music critics. An examiner for the Billboard Hot 100 said that they were unsure about the song's soft and mellow sound "for a band that claims to be alternative rock" and compared it to ballad songs by Maroon 5 and Green Day. They however praised its lyrics, saying "the message about getting through ruff times is actually a good one."Chart performance
"The Wind Blows" peaked at number 13 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and the number 34 on the Mainstream Top 40, before slowly beginning to lose public interest.Music video
The All American Rejects music video for "The Wind Blows" was directed by Rich Lee and shot between March 30 and 31, 2009 in Malibu, California and was released a month later on April 27. It revolves around the relationship between a character played by lead singer Tyson Ritter and his girlfriend - eventually reaching a neutral ending - with scenes of the band performing the song on the shore of a beach overlapped through the video.A second version, featuring alternative scenes of the relationship between Ritter's character and his girlfriend, was later released in October 2009.