Train charted with “Drops of Jupiter”

Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) Train

Writer(s): Train, Patrick Monahan (see lyrics here) Released: February 20, 2001 First Charted: February 17, 2001 Peak: 5 US, 3 RR, 8 AC, 114 A40, 112 AA, 19 AR, 11 MR, 10 UK, 5 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.2 UK, 9.62 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.8 radio, 344.16 video, 817.16 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The rock band Train formed in San Francisco in 1993. Their self-titled debut came five years later with single “Meet Virginia” making a splash as a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. However, they really broke through with 2001’s Drops of Jupiter. The lead single, “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” was a top 5 hit in the United States, Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. It also went top 10 in Demark, Italy, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. The song also took the longest time to reach the top 10 – 49 weeks – of any song on the adult contemporary chart. WK Lead singer Patrick Monahan said the song was inspired by his late mother, who died from lung cancer in December 1998. When the band were working on their sophomore album, Monahan went back to his childhood home in Pennsylvania home and got the inspiration for “Drops of Jupiter.” He said, “I woke up from a dream…with the words ‘back in the atmosphere’…it was just her way of saying what it was like – she was swimming through the planets and came to me with drops of Jupiter in her hair.” WK In another interview, he said, “Loss of the most important person in my life was heavy on my mind, and the thought of ‘what if no one ever really leaves?” SF When he played a demo of the song Donnie Ienner, president of Columbia Records, Ienner told him it was his Grammy Song. It did, in fact, win two Grammys – for Best Rock Song and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s). It was also nominated for Grammys for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It won for Billboard’s Chuck Taylor said the song “demonstrates a truly artistic lyrical bent that merits instant acceptance.” WK He called it “a runaway track for Train” with its “splendid orchestral backdrop and a vocal shimmering with passion and personality.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Train SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 2/28/2021; last updated 4/16/2024.