Thumbs (song)

"Thumbs" is a song recorded by American singer Sabrina Carpenter from her second studio album Evolution (2016), included as the third track of the album. The track was written by Priscilla Renea and its producer Steve Mac. The song was originally released by Hollywood Records as the third promotional single from Evolution on October 7, 2016, a week before the album's release. It was later released as the album's second single on January 3, 2017. "Thumbs" is an up-tempo electropop song with house and pop elements. Lyrically, the song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity.

For the M Huncho song, see Huncholini the 1st.

"Thumbs"
Single by Sabrina Carpenter
from the album Evolution
ReleasedJanuary 3, 2017 (2017-01-03)
RecordedAugust 2016
StudioRokstone Studios (London, United Kingdom)
Genre
Length3:36
LabelHollywood
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mac
Sabrina Carpenter singles chronology
"On Purpose"
(2016)		 "Thumbs"
(2017)		 "Hands"
(2017)
Music video
"Thumbs" on YouTube

It was accompanied by a music video directed by Hayley Young premiered on her Vevo channel on February 10, 2017. The music video was made in one take and it featured Carpenter and a lot of people in a subway. Carpenter promoted "Thumbs" with several live performances, including on Radio Disney Music Awards 2017, on Today and on The Late Late Show. It was the first song by Carpenter with a chart impact and it peaked at number one on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. It was certified Gold by United States (RIAA) and Platinum by Norway (IFPI).

Background and recording

It was released initially as a promotional single and later released as a single. The song was written by Steve Mac and Priscilla Renea and was the only song in the album without Carpenter's writing credit. The song was the last recorded for the album, Carpenter says. "We'd finish the album, I then heard "Thumbs" which gave me these vibes of fame and black and gold and just like some of my favorite soulful songs."[1] The song talks about embracing individuality and escaping mediocrity. She says that if people are falling into the same mistakes they are going to continue twiddling them thumbs, so they are going to live in the mediocrity. Carpenter describes the other songs on the album as "children" of "Thumbs".

Composition and lyrical interpretation

Musically, "Thumbs" is a three minutes and thirty-six seconds electropop song with pop and house elements. In terms of music notation, "Thumbs" was composed using 4
4 common time in the key of C minor, with a moderately fast tempo of 135 beats per minute.[2] The song follows the chord progression of Cm-Csus-C5-Csus-Cm–A♭-Fm/A♭-A♭-Fm/A♭-A♭-Fsus7-F7-B♭sus-B♭. Carpenter's vocal range spans from the low note F3 to the high note of G5, giving the song two octave and one note of range.[2] The tempo has a Swing feel.[2]

Lyrically, the song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity. The lyrics "They gonna keep on twiddling them thumbs" is a metaphor that means wasting your time doing pointless things and never making any real progress.

Music video

The music video, which was directed by Hayley Young,[3] was uploaded on her Vevo account on YouTube on February 10, 2017.[4] The set of the music video is downstairs in a New York City Subway car and it was made in one take. The music video features Carpenter singing the song with several people inside the subway doing their daily tasks. When the idea of the video was being processed, Carpenter thought of a subway because it's where you find different people, the line "Somewhere in the world" represents that people.

Critical reception

Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues of ANDPOP said "the jazzy vibe of this song sold us, and the scatting just made us play it on repeat. With this tune Sabrina really makes us fall for her unique jazz vibes she sprinkles into her pop sound."[5]

Live performances

Carpenter first performed the song on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016, along with other new music before the release of Evolution.[6] She performed the song on Today on November 22, 2016.[7] On April 17, 2017, she made her late night talk show debut by performing the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[8] On April 29, 2017, she performed the song at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards.

Track listing
Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Thumbs"3:36
Digital download – acoustic version[9]
No.TitleLength
1."Thumbs" (Acoustic)3:24

Credits and personnel

Recording and management

  • Recorded at Rokstone Studios (London, United Kingdom)
  • Lead vocals recorded in North Hollywood, California
  • Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)
  • BMG Gold Songs/Rokstone Music (ASCAP), All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US), LLC, WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Personnel

Credits adapted from Evolution liner notes.[10]

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 173
Australia Hitseekers (ARIA)[12] 18
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[13] 48
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[14] 63
Finland Download (Latauslista)[15] 26
Norway (VG-lista)[16] 19
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[17] 62
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 88
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[19] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[20] 28

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Norway (IFPI Norway)[21] Platinum 40,000
United States (RIAA)[22] Gold 500,000

sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States October 7, 2016 Digital download Hollywood [23]
January 3, 2017 Top 40 radio [24]
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References
  1. "Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs - Commentary".
  2. "Sabrina Carpenter "Thumbs" Sheet Music in C Minor". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  3. "Thumbs - Sabrina Carpenter". VEVO. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  4. "Official Video". YouTube. Hollywood Records. Retrieved March 4, 2017.Masters, Cayla. "Sabrina Carpenter drops music video for 'Thumbs'". CelebMix. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  5. Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues (October 14, 2016). "ANDPOP - Track By Track Review Of EVOLution By Sabrina Carpenter". ANDPOP. Channel Zero. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  6. "Sabrina Carpenter To Perform New Music at iHeartRadio Theater Show - Ryan Seacrest - On Air with Ryan Seacrest". iHeartRadio. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  7. "Sabrina Carpenter sings 'Thumbs' live on TODAY - TODAY.com". Today. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  8. The Late Late Show with James Corden (April 18, 2017), Sabrina Carpenter: Thumbs, retrieved April 21, 2017
  9. "Thumbs (Acoustic) - Single by Sabrina Carpenter on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  10. Evolution liner notes [CD] Hollywood Records (2016).
  11. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2017-03-07". imgur.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  12. "The ARIA Report" (PDF) (1408). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). February 20, 2017: 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. "Ultratop.be – Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  14. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201713 into search. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  15. "Sabrina Carpenter: Thumbs" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs". VG-lista. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  17. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201709 into search. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs". Singles Top 100. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  19. "Sabrina Carpenter Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  20. "Sabrina Carpenter Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  21. "Norwegian single certifications – Thumbs" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  22. "American single certifications – Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 15, 2017. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  23. "Amazon.com: Thumbs: Sabrina Carpenter: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  24. "Top 40/M Future Releases - Mainstream Hit Songs Being Released and Their Release Dates". AllAccess Music Group. January 3, 2017. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
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