Light On

"Light On" is the first official single released from American Idol season 7 winner David Cook's major label debut studio album, David Cook (2008).[1] It was released through RCA Records on September 30, 2008. The song reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

For other uses, see Light On (disambiguation).
"Light On"
Single by David Cook
from the album David Cook
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2008 (iTunes)
October 13, 2008 (Radio)
Recorded2008
GenreAlternative rock
Length3:46
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Chris Cornell, Brian Howes
Producer(s)Rob Cavallo
David Cook singles chronology
"The Time of My Life"
(2008)		 "Light On"
(2008)		 "Come Back to Me / Bar-ba-sol"
(2009)

Song information

"Light On" was co-written by Soundgarden and Audioslave front man Chris Cornell, as well as producer/songwriter Brian Howes. The song was produced by Grammy-winning producer Rob Cavallo, who has produced hits for Green Day and Kid Rock.[2] The song also displays Cook's upper register, with the singer hitting a high C at the end of each verse.

Release

The song's lyrics were posted on Cook's official website on September 22, 2008. "Light On" officially debuted on AOL Music's PopEater section on September 23, 2008. It became available for radio airplay later the same day, but officially went for adds on Mainstream Top 40, AC, and Rock radio on October 13, 2008. It was released via iTunes and Amazon on September 30, 2008.[3]

Reception

Reception of "Light On" was generally positive to mixed. Billboard's Chuck Taylor said that "melodically, there's no question that this bullet is heading right for the brain, where the only thing stickier than the chorus is Cook's appreciably sweaty performance". He predicted success for Cook, stating "Like Chris Daughtry before him, here's an Idol who is bound for true rock cred", summing it up with "Light On" is right on."[4]

Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times predicted chart success by saying the song was "sure to be inescapable this holiday season". He called it "full-on, cellphone-waving arena rock schmaltz, with husky, slow-moving guitars and a wallop of meaninglessly earnest vocals".[5]

Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly said that Cook "is poised to be part of a balanced, mainstream rock diet alongside artists like 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and Staind". He also called the song catchy, saying, "After two listens, the 'Light On' chorus got caught in my head like butter in the crannies of an English muffin". Though unimpressed with the song's lyrics, claiming they "feel more like a logjam of carefully focus-grouped words than anything deeply meaningful", he concluded that "the bottom line is: 'Light On' is probably going to be a major hit".[6]

Ken Barnes of USA Today, however, was unimpressed with the single, despite being a fervent supporter of Cook on American Idol. Barnes called the song "Daughtry lite" as well as "a paint-by-numbers rock-ballad tune".[7] Los Angeles Times writer, Ann Powers, also appeared unimpressed with the single, referring to it as a "banger in the worst sense of the word".[8]

Acclaims
  • Apr 21, 2010 - Honored at ASCAP's 27th Annual Pop Music Awards as Most Performed Song[9]
  • May 18, 2010 - BMI Pop Awards, Award-Winning Song[10]

Music video

The music video for "Light On" was shot on October 21 and 22 at the Los Angeles Valley College football stadium with Wayne Isham as the director.[11] The video was debuted on November 3 shortly after midnight. The video is a performance video of Cook and his band singing on a stage in the football stadium, and also features a plot of a teenage boy working at a diner. A teenage girl, portrayed by Mika Boorem, walks into the diner and he watches her, becoming jealous when her boyfriend comes to the diner. Near the end, the girl fights with her boyfriend in his car, after he hit on some girls at the diner before her eyes, and gets out of the car, but he drives away and leaves her stranded there, late at night. The boy from the diner shows up on his bike and gives her a ride home on the handlebars of the bike.

Chart performance

"Light On" sold 109,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability, leading to a number seventeen debut on the Billboard Hot 100. It is Cook's second top twenty hit on the chart and second top forty hit. On February 1, 2009, "Light On" reached number twenty on Mainstream Top 40 radio, becoming Cook's first top twenty hit in that format. It has become his second, consecutive top ten hit on the Adult Top 40, reaching number four. It has sold more than 1 million downloads in the U.S. to date.[12] The single would later receive its RIAA Gold and Platinum certifications on January 20, 2010.[13] In Canada, it debuted at number 61 on the Canadian Hot 100 based on downloads, but then fell off the chart the next week. A few weeks later it made a re-entry on the chart, finally peaking at number 27.

Charts and certifications
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References
  1. "First Single Title Announced - "Light On"". davidcookofficial.com. 2008-09-19. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26.
  2. ""Light On" is Released to Radio This Week and Will Premiere Exclusively on AOL Music on Wednesday". davidcookoficial.com. 2008-09-23. Archived from the original on 2008-09-24.
  3. "Exclusive: David Cook Turns the 'Light On' His Debut Single". PopEater. 2008-09-23.
  4. ""Light On" review". Billboard. 2008-10-27.
  5. "David Cook's review-proof 'Light On' hits Web in time". The Los Angeles Times. 2008-09-23.
  6. "David Cook's 'Light On': Resistance is futile!". Entertainment Weekly. 2008-09-25.
  7. "David Cook's new single: Rock 'Light'?". USA Today. 2008-09-23.
  8. "Jennifer Hudson, David Cook and the problem of big, empty voices". Los Angeles Times. 2008-09-26.
  9. "ASCAP Pop Awards 2010".
  10. "2010 BMI Pop Awards".
  11. "On the Set Of David Cook's 'Light On' Video". MTV. 2008-10-27.
  12. Your weekly Idol sales fix: The digital tracks
  13. "RIAA Search". Archived from the original on 2015-11-02.
  14. "David Cook Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  15. "David Cook Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  16. "David Cook Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  17. "David Cook Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  18. "David Cook: Light On" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  19. "David Cook Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  20. "David Cook Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  21. "David Cook Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  22. "David Cook Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  23. "Adult Contemporary Songs : Page 1" (Year End 2009). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  24. "Adult Pop Songs : Page 1" (Year End 2009). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  25. "American single certifications – David Cook – Light On". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 14, 2017. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  26. Paul Grein (July 10, 2013). "Week Ending July 7, 2013. Songs: The Actress in the Top 10". Chart Watch. Yahoo.
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