The Last Man on Earth (song)
2021 single by Wolf Alice
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"The Last Man on Earth" is a song by English alternative rock band Wolf Alice. It was released on 24 February 2021 as the lead single for their third studio album, Blue Weekend.[1]
| "The Last Man on Earth" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Wolf Alice | ||||
| from the album Blue Weekend | ||||
| Released | 24 February 2021 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:21 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Producer | Markus Dravs | |||
| Wolf Alice singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "The Last Man on Earth" on YouTube | ||||
Background
"The Last Man on Earth" was the band's first single in almost 3 years, following an extensive tour through 2018 and early 2019 for their second album, Visions of a Life. Frontwoman Ellie Rowsell said this about the lyrics of the song:
"It's about the arrogance of humans. I'd just read Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle and I had written the line 'Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from god' in my notes. But then I thought: 'Uh, your peculiar travel suggestion isn't a dancing lesson from god, it's just a travel suggestion! Why does everything need to mean something more?'"[1]
Live performances
The band first played "The Last Man on Earth" live on 5 March 2021, as a pre-recorded video for Later... with Jools Holland.[2] A month later, on 13 April, they shared another performance of the track on their YouTube channel, in a room lit with candles and spotlights.[3]
Charts
| Chart (2021–2022) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[4] | 19 |
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[5] | 33 |
| UK Indie (Official Charts)[6] | 32 |
| UK Singles Sales (Official Charts)[7] | 25 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[8] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | February 24, 2021 | Dirty Hit | [1] | |
| United States | April 4, 2022 | Adult alternative radio | RCA | [9] |
| April 5, 2022 | Alternative radio | [10] |