Format CD
digital download Length 3:10 (album version) | Genre Pop rock Label Interscope | |
Released June 16, 2014 (2014-06-16) Writer(s) Adam Levine
Ammar Malik
Benjamin Levin
Noel Zancanella
Ryan Tedder | ||
"Maps" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was released on June 16, 2014, as the lead single from their fifth studio album V. The song was written by Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, Benjamin Levin, Noel Zancanella and Ryan Tedder, and produced by the latter three. The song is a pop rock song with influences of dance-pop. "Maps" received mainly positive reviews from music critics, with praise going to the song's melody and chilled-out vibe. However, some criticized the song for being similar to their previous lead single on their last album, Overexposed.
Contents
The song was a commercial success, reaching number-one in Canada and peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached the top 20 in over 25 countries, including France, Germany and Denmark. A music video for the song was released on July 1, 2014. It was inspired by the film Irréversible, and shows the events that occur in the video in reverse. Maroon 5 has performed the song live multiple times, including on The Today Show and the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.
Composition
The song was written by Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco and Noel Zancanella, and produced by the latter three. Blanco and Malik have previously teamed with Maroon 5 on the songs "Moves like Jagger" and "Payphone", while Tedder and Zancanella have worked with the group on the songs "Love Somebody" and "Lucky Strike". "Maps" is an up-tempo pop rock track, composed in the key of C ♯ minor (with the main chord progression of A–B–C#m - both in the verses and the chorus - and F#m–G#m-G#7 in the pre-chorus), that contains a "breezy guitar lick". It marks Maroon 5's further departure from the funkier sound for which the band was originally known. The official remix features a new verse from Big Sean and new production beats.
Lyrically, the song is about "the search for love, particularly a love that has been lost and needs to be found". In the chorus, Adam Levine sings "All the roads you took came back to me / So I'm following the map that leads to you."
Critical reception
Idolator's Robbie Daw wrote that "similar to Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven", "Maps" has a "Sting/The Police vibe, particularly with the guitar licks and Levine's multi-tracked vocal harmonies on the chorus." He also added that the influence of Ryan Tedder (and OneRepublic's pop-rock anthems, such as "Counting Stars" and "Love Runs Out") is evident. Jeff Benjamin of Fuse compared the opening guitar licks to the "California-cool sound" of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Music Times commented, "With his [Levine's] singsong melody over the relaxed, plucked guitars and subtle drums, Maroon 5 create a chill vibe before building the song into something a bit more powerful. Though Levine's vocals remain constant, the song soon crescendos into a fuller sound, with a chorus that isn't so much explosive as it is, well, danceable," and compared the track to "Payphone", the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Overexposed (2012): "The more you think about the two lead singles versus each other, the more they feel exactly the same."
Commercial performance
Shortly after its release, "Maps" quickly reached number one on the Billboard Twitter Real Time Trending 140 chart, eventually staying within the upper ranks for several hours. The song also logged close to 1,800 first-day spins on radio which, according to the Nielsen BDS, would amount to a one-day audience impression of seventeen million. It has since peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached its million sales mark in August 2014 and had sold 1.6 million copies by the year's end.
The single debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart in late August 2014.
As "Maps" topped the eight biggest music charts in South Korea, Maroon 5 became the first foreign artist to top several charts at the same time in Korean music history.
Music video
The music video was directed by Peter Berg, later premiered on MTV and VH1 on July 1, 2014 and on Vevo, the day after. According to the band's bassist Mickey Madden, the story from the video is inspired by the 2002 film Irréversible, so the events shown in the video are reversed. The video begins when a worried Adam Levine enters a hospital and searches the emergency room until he finds a young woman, revealed to be his girlfriend (played by Tereza Kačerová), as the paramedics attempt to resuscitate her; but he is ushered out. The video follows while the woman walks into a street in tears as a man tries to get her attention, before she is hit by a truck. In the next scene, Levine and his girlfriend arrive at a house party and are greeted by guests. While the girls are having fun, Levine has drinks with his friends, becomes intoxicated and meets a woman (portrayed by Meghan Wiggins) and they share a kiss. However, his girlfriend notices them and she leaves, despite Levine's attempts to stop her. In another scene, Levine is helping his girlfriend choose which dress to wear and they watch television together. During the final scene at the hospital, the girl is shown flatlining, depicting that she died from the accident.
Live performances
The band performed the song live for the first time on June 20, 2014, during their concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Five days later, on June 25, 2014, Maroon 5 played "Maps" on The Today Show to promote their fifth studio album, V. They also performed at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards on August 24, 2014.