The Call (Backstreet Boys song)

"The Call"
Song

"The Call" is a song by the Backstreet Boys, released as the second single from their album Black & Blue on February 6, 2001.

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	19
Austrian Singles Chart	23
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart	30
Dutch Singles Chart	9
Finnish Singles Chart	15
Italian Singles Chart	6
New Zealand Singles Chart	19
Norweigan Singles Chart	8
Swedish Singles Chart	5
Swiss Singles Chart	30
UK Singles Chart	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	52

Track listing

Standard

1. The Call
2. Shape Of My Heart (Soul Solution Radio Mix)
3. Shape Of My Heart (Soul Solution Club Mix)

Remixes EP

1. The Call (Album Version)
2. The Call (Fragma Remix)
3. The Call (Tom Novy Remix)
4. The Call (Neptunes Remix feat. Pharrell & Clipse)
5. The Call (Kruger Mix)
6. The Call (Thunderpuss Radio Edit)
7. The Call (Thunderpuss Club Mix)
8. The Call (Thunderdub)

Remixes vinyl

1. The Call (Thunderpuss Club Mix)
2. The Call (Destiny Mix)
3. The Call (Fragma Remix)
4. The Call (Kruger Mix [Shanks & Bigfoot])
5. The Call (Thunderpuss Radio Edit)

Urban Remixes vinyl

1. The Call (Neptunes Remix - w/ Rap)
2. The Call (Neptunes Remix - No Rap)
3. The Call (Marcus DL Remix)
4. The Call (Earthtone III Remix)
5. The Call (Aza's Blak Beatniks Club Mix)

Video

The music video for "The Call" was directed by Francis Lawrence in December 2000. For the video, the album version of the song was edited to extend the length of the song. Additional telephone rings were added at the start, and one measure was added to both the break following the second chorus, and the subsequent a cappella choral segment. A third repeat of the final chorus was also added. There were two cuts of the video released. One featured the modified album version, and the second featured the Neptunes Remix. The two versions were substantially the same, however the differing arrangements of the two song versions resulted in the video being slightly re-edited to match. The Neptunes video also adds flashes of early in the video as callbacks near the end of the video.

Band member A. J. McLean later admitted on the Oprah Winfrey Show (in an episode discussing his recovery from depression and drug and alcohol abuse) he tried cocaine for the first time on the set of this video.

The Music Video won MTV Asia Awards Favourite Video. MTV Video Music Awards Best Pop Video.

Plot

The video to "The Call", which complements the lyrics to the song, tells the story of a man who is unfaithful to his girlfriend. He meets another woman in a nightclub and leaves the club with her instead of going home to his girlfriend (whom he calls to make up an excuse for being late home). However, a twist in the tale is revealed at the end of the video, when it turns out that the man's girlfriend actually knows the woman he cheated on her with. This perhaps leads the viewer to the conclusion that the man's girlfriend sets him up as a test of his fidelity to her. This type of plot has been known to be used in other pop videos. In the video to "The Call", the man is portrayed progressively by the five members of The Backstreet Boys.

The video to "The Call" could be dismissed as an unlikely case of one partner in a relationship discovering that the other is going behind their back. However, the message behind the video is more likely to be an attack on unfaithful behaviour, and a warning against its consequences.

References