Released June 22, 2010 Genre Pop rock Label Columbia | Format Digital download Length 3:59 | |
Writer(s) Pat Monahan, Gregg Wattenberg | ||
"If It's Love" is the second single from Train's fifth studio album, Save Me, San Francisco.
Contents
It debuted at #31 on Billboard's Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart. and has since become Train's second-consecutive #1 hit from the album, as well as their fourth #1 overall. This ties the band with Matchbox 20 and Daughtry for second-most chart-topping singles in format history, and trailing only Nickelback in total Adult Top 40 #1 placements. It is also the 100th single to go #1 in the format's history.
In addition, it has reached #34 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A music video was filmed for the song, which debuted on VH1.com on May 11, 2010.
Background
In a 2010 interview with The Post-Crescent, Pat Monahan confirmed "If It's Love" was written the same day as their hit "Hey, Soul Sister" and was intended as a thank-you song to long-time fans of the band:
This song was actually written on the same day as "Hey, Soul Sister" in New York City. I wrote this song first in the day, and I was thinking about all these people who have been supportive of the band Train for so many years. I had also made a solo record, and (fans) were really supportive to me and I was just like, "I wanna write a love song finally after all these years, but I wanna write it to our fans and just say thank you."
Much like "Hey, Soul Sister", the track features a handful of pop cultural references including Winger (an American hard rock band that enjoyed popularity in the late 80s and early 90s), and "The Rain in Spain" (a song featured in the musical My Fair Lady).
In addition, the lyrics "There's no happy endings, No Henry Lee" refer to the inscription and the main character in Jamie Ford's 2009 novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
In a 2010 interview, Monahan explained the lyric "I wanna buy you everything except cologne, 'cause it's poison."
Have you ever been in an elevator with a lady who just got done perfuming? If you have, you won't wonder why I wrote it.
Music video
As with the origins of the song, the music video is a thank-you to the fans. It references what the band supposedly did during their three-year hiatus, including clips of Jimmy pawning a guitar, Scott panhandling, and Pat sitting in bed as Train appears on Where are They Now?. The video also features the band performing on a red carpet and at the Oakland Theater, and appearing in a commercial where Jimmy and Scott are wearing chicken suits. The video was directed by Pete Wentz and Bill Fishman, with an cameo appearance by Hugh Jackman.