Such Great Heights

Infobox Single
Name = Such Great Heights


Cover size =
Border =
Caption =
Artist = The Postal Service
Album = Give Up
A-side =
B-side = "There's Never Enough Time"
Released = Start date|2003|1|21
Format =
Recorded =
Genre = Pop, Indie, Alternative, Electronic
Length =
Label = Sub Pop
Writer = Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello
Producer = The Postal Service
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single =
This single = "Such Great Heights"
(2003)
Next single = "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"
(2003)
Misc =

"Such Great Heights" is a single released on January 21, 2003 by The Postal Service, under the Sub Pop Records label. The single includes a previously unreleased track "There's Never Enough Time" and two cover tracks by The Shins and Iron & Wine of "We Will Become Silhouettes" and "Such Great Heights", respectively.

The tracks were recorded in early 2002, and were written by Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello, and include backing vocals in the studio recording by Jen Wood, whose other collaborations include work for The Black Heart Procession and Joan of Arc. It was the first CD released by The Postal Service, and a preview of "Give Up", which was released a month later. The cover artwork was designed by Kozyndan.

The title song "Such Great Heights" has exhibited unusual staying power. It has consistently been one of the weekly top 5 most frequently played tracks on social music site Last.fm since the website began, holding the top spot for the majority of 2005. The song's reign in the top 10 ended in March 2007, when after the release of the Arcade Fire album, "Neon Bible", the song did not make it as the top 10 was predominantly songs from "Neon Bible". The song was featured on an 2004 episode of "Veronica Mars". It has also been used in several television commercials, for organizations such as Ask.com, Kaiser Permanente, Target, UPS and M&M's. The song was also featured in the trailer for the 2004 film "Garden State" and the Iron & Wine cover version was featured in the film and its soundtrack. An instrumental version of the song is currently featured as part of UPS's " [http://whiteboard.ups.com/ Whiteboard] " ad campaign, which was launched 6 January, 2007, almost four years after the song was officially released. [cite web | url = http://pressroom.ups.com/mediakits/landing/0,2307,69,00.html | title = Whiteboard Advertising Campaign | accessdate = 2007-01-06 | year = 2007 | publisher = United Parcel Service ] The song was used in "Grey's Anatomy", and appears on its season one soundtrack, "Grey's Anatomy Original Soundtrack Volume 1".

Music video

The music video for "Such Great Heights", directed by Josh & Xander, premiered in April 2003. During the bridge of "Such Great Heights" the video zooms from a Skyworks Solutions chip in a satellite and down to the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. The block where the EnergySolutions Arena sits is modified to look like a computer chip, creating a recursive visual effect.

Skyworks Solutions is a real company and the video is filmed inside one of their fabrication plants. [cite web |url = http://www.skyworksinc.com/fab_video_400_325.asp |title = Fab Video |accessdate = 2007-12-25 |publisher = Skyworks Solutions, Inc. ] Recently when the video premiered on iTunes, the name and logo were blurred out during some scenes.

In early 2006, an Apple Computer ad that closely matched the music video of "Such Great Heights" sparked some controversy. (see "Such Great Heights" music video controversy)

Cover versions

*Ben Folds covered "Such Great Heights" on Australian radio station Triple J using a piano, forks, tin foil, and glass. He also played the song live during his Fall 2006 tour, including once in his MySpace webcast on October 24, 2006. He also covered it on the Summer 2007 tour with John Mayer.
* Iron & Wine did a cover and was featured on the single.
* Teddy Geiger did a cover of the song "Such Great Heights" exclusively in a live performance for Boston radio station KISS 108.
* Matt Nathanson has often covered part of "Such Great Heights" as an outro to his song "Bent". [cite web |url = http://www.prettytheworld.com/index.php?m=live&c=setinfo&idd=864 |title = 2005-10-02 Cornell University Ithaca, NY |accessdate = 2007-12-25 |publisher = prettytheworld.com ]
*Rilo Kiley did a live cover version.
*The Section Quartet did a cover version on their album Fuzzboxx.
*Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls has performed this song, solo on keyboard at live concerts.
*Firebrand Boy made a cover of "Such Great Heights" on his Gameboy.
*The Wrong Trousers recorded a cover on their 2007 album, "One And Counting".
*Sean Dempsey's Indie Project, Soaploaf, has covered it for his upcoming album, Better Than Toast.
*The Scene Aesthetic did a live cover on tour.

Track listing

# "Such Great Heights" – 4:27
# "There's Never Enough Time" – 3:33
# "We Will Become Silhouettes" (cover by The Shins) – 3:01
# "Such Great Heights" (cover by Iron & Wine) – 4:10

References

External links

* [http://www.eliteproductionswi.com/apple-ps.htm Side-by-side comparison of Apple's Intel-iMac ad and Postal Service's "Such Great Heights"]
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3jbsa9igw23a link]
*Pitchfork (6.3/10) 8/7/03 ^{dead link; view archive [http://web.archive.org/web/20060411234908/http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/p/postal-service/such-great-heights-district-sleeps.shtml here]}