Down to Earth (Peter Gabriel song)
2008 single by Peter Gabriel featuring The Soweto Gospel Choir
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"Down to Earth" is a song co-written and performed by English rock musician Peter Gabriel for the 2008 animated Disney-Pixar film WALL-E. It was released on June 10, 2008, by Walt Disney Records and Real World Records. Composed by Gabriel and Thomas Newman, with additional vocals from the Soweto Gospel Choir, the song is the 37th track on the soundtrack album to WALL-E, in which it is featured over the end credits.
| "Down to Earth" | ||||
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| Single by Peter Gabriel featuring The Soweto Gospel Choir | ||||
| from the album WALL-E: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | ||||
| Released | June 10, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
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| Length | 5:58 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters |
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| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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Background
Andrew Stanton, who served as the director of WALL-E, was a fan of Gabriel's work and approached him to contribute a song for the soundtrack. Gabriel collaborated with Thomas Newman, who supplied the melody of the song, while Gabriel worked on the song's lyrics and instrumentation.[1] Two instrumental compositions on the soundtrack, "Eve" and "Define Dancing", were also co-written by Gabriel.[2]
"As a kid I loved animation, so I'm a huge Pixar fan," Gabriel explained to Mark Blake. "I have seen WALL-E many times as I have young children. It was also great to work with the scorer Thomas Newman... He wrote the best TV theme tune ever: for Six Feet Under."[3]
"Down to Earth" consists of gentle piano-driven verses with more upbeat choruses, both of which are adorned with various electronic textures. The Soweto Gospel Choir appears on the song's bridge and outro. The song was engineered by Richard Chappell and mixed by Tchad Blake.[2]
The song saw release as a promotional single for the Pixar animated feature film WALL-E. In 2019, the song was included on Gabriel's Rated PG album, which consisted of ten songs written by Gabriel that were used in film scores.[4]
Awards
"Down to Earth" was nominated for the Best Original Song Award at the Golden Globes as well as the Best Original Song award at the 81st Academy Awards. It won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2009.[4] Another song from the film co-written by Gabriel titled "Define Dancing" won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement that same year.[5]
Gabriel originally planned to perform "Down to Earth" at the 81st Academy Awards, although he decided against it after learning that he would only be allotted one minute to play the song. He had assumed that the three nominated songs "would be performed in full", but production opted to truncate the length of these performances in an attempt to increase viewership. As such, Gabriel withdrew from the ceremony and John Legend performed the song instead.[1]
Accolades
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Academy Award[6] | Best Original Song (shared with Thomas Newman) | Nominated |
| Golden Globes[7] | Best Original Song (shared with Thomas Newman) | Nominated | |
| Grammy Award[8] | Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television (shared with Thomas Newman) | Won |
Chart performance
| Chart (2008) | Peak |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart[9] | 73 |
| UK Singles Chart[10] | 118 |