Laid (song)

"Laid" is the title song from 1993 album Laid by Manchester alternative rock band James. The song was a commercial success, charting in the US, UK, and Australia, and has received attention as a theme song for the American Pie film series.

"Laid"
Single by James
from the album Laid
Released	1 November 1993
Recorded	1993
Genre	Alternative rock, Britpop
Length	2:36
Label	Mercury
Songwriter(s)	Tim Booth, Larry Gott and Jim Glennie
Producer(s)	Brian Eno
James singles chronology
"Sometimes" (1993) "Laid" (1993) "Jam J/Say Something" (1994)

Composition and reception

Emotionally evocative and featuring the risqué opening lyrics, "This bed is on fire with passionate love, the neighbours complain about the noises above, but she only comes when she's on top", it quickly gained popularity on American college radio and remains the group's best-known song in the United States.[1] The American release of its music video replaced the ending of its opening lyrics with "she only sings when she's on top" (although Tim Booth is seen to lip-sync the original line, and is accompanied by a subtitle reading "hums"). Today, a number of alternative rock stations, including Boston's RadioBDC, WBOS, Maryland's WRNR-FM, Chicago's WXRT, Missoula's KDTR-FM and Philadelphia's WRFF will play "Laid" with the original controversial line. Along with Radio X in the UK.

The song peaked at number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, in part due to its cult status as a popular college song in the United States. The song was more successful in the band's native United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 25, becoming the band's ninth top-forty hit.

One Of The Three, the 'unofficial archive of the band James', has said this of the song:

Originally viewed by the band as a throwaway song and a possible b-side, Brian Eno soon convinced them of the potential of this track. Whilst only reaching a disappointing 22 in the UK charts, it made serious inroads for the band in the US where it lead [sic] to performances on prime-time TV shows such as Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno.[2]

In popular culture

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the song gained some additional exposure and popularity when it was used as the theme song for the American Pie films starring Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott.[3] A cover by Matt Nathanson was recorded exclusively for the third film, and was later included on the fourth film's soundtrack. When performed by Matt Nathanson live he often creates a lot of banter over the vocals after the second verse, where he encourages the audience to sing along with him. The seventh installment in the franchise, The Book of Love, contains a new cover of "Laid" by singer Aidan Hawken; as of 2012, it had yet to be released on any album or as a single. The eighth and final film, American Reunion, features the original version by James in the film for the first and only time in the series' history.

The song was featured at the end of an episode of the second series of E4 show My Mad Fat Diary, the film The To Do List and on an episode of Hindsight. It was featured in Episode 4 of the Netflix Original series Love. It was played on season 3 episode 4 of Broadchurch. It was featured in 2003's American Wedding, American Pie Presents: Band Camp and American Reunion. It was also featured in Season 2, Episode 6 of the Netflix Original series Friends from College.

"Laid" was covered by New Orleans alt-rock band Better Than Ezra on their 2005 greatest hits compilation. It has been covered by the Butch Walker-led band 1969 on a hidden track on their album Maya, and has also been covered by Thomas Ian Nicholas (an actor playing Kevin Myers in the American Pie franchise) on his Tnb EP. English band Palma Violets performed a version of the song in July 2015 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.[4] The New York City indie pop band The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart covered the song "Laid" on their November 16, 201, Hell EP.

Matt Nathanson covered the song, which was featured on the American Wedding soundtrack, as well as on American Pie Presents Band Camp.

It plays as the final song in the final episode of Shameless, broadcast on May 28, 2013. The main cast dance to the song in the Jockey pub as characters reunite.

The song was featured at the end of the season four premiere of the acclaimed AMC television series Halt and Catch Fire.

Charts

Chart (1993–1994)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[5]	40
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[6]	73
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[7]	25
US Billboard Hot 100[8]	61
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[9]	3

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[10]	Gold	400,000
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. "James: A Band Who is so Much More than "Laid"". These Subtle Sounds. 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
2. "Laid". One Of The Three. 1993-09-27. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
3. Krawczyk, Ashlee. "We Watch it for the Music | American Pie". Impact 89FM. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
4. Modell, Josh (21 July 2015). "Palma Violets cover James". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
5. "Australian-charts.com – James – Laid". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
6. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 48. 27 November 1993. p. 17. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
8. "James Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
9. "James Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
10. "British single certifications – James – Laid". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 September 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Laid in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.