Chasing Cars: quick facts
- Band: Snow Patrol, fronted by Gary Lightbody from Bangor, Co. Down.
- Released: 2006, from the album Eyes Open.
- Charts: number six in the UK and top five in the US, and it stayed in the UK top 100 for more than three years.
- The big break: the season two finale of Grey’s Anatomy in 2006.
- The record: in 2019 PPL named it the most-played song of the 21st century on UK radio.
It never reached number one. It didn’t need to. Chasing Cars, a quiet love song by a band fronted by a man from Bangor, Co. Down, has been played on UK radio more than any other song this century.
Here is the official video, from Snow Patrol’s own channel.
Who are Snow Patrol?
Snow Patrol started in 1994 at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where Gary Lightbody, from Bangor in Co. Down, was a student. For years they were an indie band with a small, loyal following and very little money. That changed in 2004 with the album Final Straw and the single Run.
The song that came out of a garden
Lightbody has said Chasing Cars came together quickly, one evening in producer Jacknife Lee’s garden in Kent, after a few glasses of wine. The lyric is plain and almost shy: lying still with someone and not needing anything else. That simplicity is exactly why it works at weddings, funerals and everything in between.
The Grey’s Anatomy moment
In 2006, the song played over the closing scenes of the Grey’s Anatomy season two finale. Millions of American viewers went looking for it the next morning, and it climbed into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. TV producers on both sides of the Atlantic have been using it for big emotional scenes ever since.
The most-played song of the century
In 2019, the UK licensing company PPL announced that Chasing Cars was the most-played song on UK radio since 2000, ahead of the Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling and Pharrell Williams’ Happy. Lightbody told the BBC he wasn’t sure how it had happened.
Chasing Cars FAQ
Is Snow Patrol Irish?
Snow Patrol formed in Scotland, but singer and songwriter Gary Lightbody is from Bangor, Co. Down, in Northern Ireland.
What year did Chasing Cars come out?
2006.
Was Chasing Cars on Grey’s Anatomy?
Yes, in the season two finale in 2006.
Did Chasing Cars reach number one?
No. It peaked at number six in the UK, but it is the most-played song on UK radio this century.
More Irish music
- Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl
- The Script’s Hall of Fame
- Hozier’s Take Me to Church
- Enya’s Only Time
- The Cranberries’ Linger
- The best viral Irish videos of all time
Featured image: still from Snow Patrol’s official YouTube channel.
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