Saturday, May 8, 2021

The Weeknd “Save Your Tears” hit #1 more than a year after it first charted

Save Your Tears

The Weeknd with Ariana Grande

Writer(s): Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Quenneville, Max Martin, Oscar Holter (see lyrics here)

Released: August 9, 2020

First Charted: April 4, 2020

Peak: 1² US, 1¹ DG, 2 AC, 1⁵ A40, 11 UK, 1¹ CN, 6 AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 1.8 UK, 8.58 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2255.50 video, 3381.63 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Singer/songwriter Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, was born in 1990 in Canada. He released a trio of mixtapes in 2011 and his first studio album, Kiss Land, in 2013. He experienced his first top-40 success on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014 with “Love Me Harder,” a top-10 hit with Ariana Grande. That year also some him hit the top 10 with “Earned It” from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack.

His next two studio albums, 2015’s Beauty Behind the Madness and 2016’s Starboy, both topped the album charts, fueled by the #1 songs “Can’t Feel My Face,” “The Hills,” and “Starboy.” This set up high expectations for his 2020 album After Hours and The Weeknd didn’t disappoint. “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights” both reached #1; the latter set the record for most weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and a full six months atop the Billboard airplay chart.

Third single “In Your Eyes” peaked at #13. “Save Your Tears” became the album’s official fourth single in August 2020, although it originally charted in April when the album was first released. The song originally peaked at #4 before a remix with Ariana Grande propelled the song to #1 more than a year after it first charted. It was the sixth chart-topper for each of them.

“Save Your Tears” “addresses a past relationship” with the Weeknd expressing “regret for running away from the romance and breaking her heart.” ^SF It was speculated that he was referencing his relationship with Bella Hadid. ^SF Billboard magazine called “Save Your Tears” the best song on the album. ^WK Joyce Ng from Complex magazine said “its production billows into an array of bright synths and ominous melodies. Lyrically, the Weeknd appears self reflective as he atones for his past. Ultimately, 'Save Your Tears' feels like the narrative arc of what the Weeknd envisioned for his reclusive protagonist all along, now emerging from the darkness but failing to resist temptation.” ^WK