Symphony (Clean Bandit song)

"Symphony" was released on 17 March 2017, same day of Larsson's second studio album So Good's release. The album features the song as a bonus track. "Symphony" is a dance-pop^[1] and orchestral pop^[2] song which has a duration of over three-and-a-half minutes.^[3]

The music video for "Symphony" premiered the same day the song was released, on March 17, 2017. It was directed by Clean Bandit's members Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson. The directors have explained in the "Making of" video and in interviews that the video features a gay couple and "tells the tragic story of a conductor who loses his boyfriend in a bicycle crash. The conductor leads the symphony orchestra that [Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson] are part of."^[4] Larsson has spoken about why they wanted to specifically feature a black gay couple in the video,^[5] and she has said that she finds it ridiculous that people continue to illogically read the couple as being brothers or father and son.^[6]

The video begins at dusk near Rotherhithe, accompanied to sound of an orchestra tuning up; meanwhile a young man packs away his laptop and briskly rides away, with no lighting, on a pedal bike. At the hall, during a hiatus, Zara's gaze lowers as sirens penetrate silence from faraway at the static crash cordon aftermath observed by an aerial view. Subsequent scenes show the man and his partner engaged in various activities, intercalated by scenes of the surviving partner grieving and visiting the spots they used to go together. The surviving partner paints the departed partner's bike white all-over and fixes it somewhere nearby where the fatality happened. He also begins to write music again as we find out he is a composer and his late partner was his inspiration. By the end, he has composed a beautiful symphony in his late partner's memory. The video ends with him looking out into the crowd while his deceased partner looks on proudly.^[7] The conductor is played by Michael Akinsulire and his deceased partner / boyfriend is played by Josias Bertrand, while the orchestra scene takes place at the Royal Festival Hall.^[8]

As of June 2026, the video has over 1.4 billion views on YouTube.^[9]

Clean Bandit and Larsson gave their first live performance of the song on The Voice UK on 18 March 2017,^[10] and a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon followed on 21 April.^[11] On August 14, a live performance of the song at the Teen Choice Awards 2017 event was uploaded on the band's YouTube channel.^[12]

An edited version of the track was used in the BBC's Christmas 2017 short film and idents celebrating spending Christmas together. They were broadcast on BBC One during December 2017.^[13] It was covered by BAFTA-winning actress Suranne Jones, accompanied by a choir from the Youth Theatre group of the Half Moon Theatre, for a 2019 Children in Need charity album titled Got it Covered.^[14]

In 2021, the song performed by Strictly Come Dancing's house band, was used in week eight of the show to accompany a dance by Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice. The performance, which included a period of silence in reference to Ayling-Ellis's deafness, scored 39 points out of a possible 40 and received widespread praise, with judge Anton Du Beke described it as "the greatest thing (he had) seen on the show".^[15][16] They performed the routine again in the final, scoring a perfect 40 points and winning the competition.^[17] Their performance earned the dancers Heat magazine's 2021 Unmissables Award for TV Moment of the Year^[18] and the 2022 BAFTA TV Award for Must-See Moment.^[19]

Singer-songwriter Astrid S released a Norwegian-language version of the song called "Symfoni" as part of the 2025 series of the TV show Hver gang vi møtes.^[20] The show challenges artists to produce new interpretations of songs by other artists, with "Symfoni" performed in the context of the appearance of Ina Wroldsen, a co-writer of the original song. The cover, produced by Anders Kjær, reached position six on the Norwegian singles chart.^[21]

In August 2024, "Symphony" resurged in popularity more than seven years after its original release due to a viral meme on TikTok featuring a painting of "Enjoy Sunshine" by Christian Riese Lassen that shows a lively picture of dolphins and unicorns, often alongside Larsson's part in the song: "I just wanna be part of your symphony". The effect arose from the contrasting captions, such as "I have depression". Users found it amusing and commented on the irony of writing about personal problems while the upbeat song plays. The meme was inspired by TikTok posts showcasing diaries with cartoonish women on their covers doing ballet. When opened, these diaries play Larsson's part in the song.^[22]

Larsson reacted to the trend, posting a TikTok video with the same painting with the text, reading: "What the fuck is happening". Clean Bandit also responded to the meme calling it "inspiring".^[23][24] Due to the growing popularity of the meme, the song reached number one on the Tiktok Billboard Top 50 chart dated 31 August 2024.^[24][23]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

• List of number-one dance singles of 2017 (Australia)
• List of number-one dance singles of 2017 (U.S.)