Lean On (song)

## Lean On

"**Lean On**" is a song recorded by American electronic music group Major Lazer and French producer DJ Snake featuring vocals from Danish singer MØ, released as the lead single from Major Lazer's third studio album *Peace Is the Mission*, on March 2, 2015. It was produced by Major Lazer and DJ Snake, and written by MØ, Major Lazer member Diplo, and DJ Snake. It is a dance and electronic song being also described as ahouse ballad.

"Lean On" was a critical and commercial success, peaking at number four on the US *Billboard* Hot 100 chart and at number two on the UK Singles Chart. It reached number one in several other countries including Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Mexico, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark and Switzerland. In November 2015, "Lean On" was named by Spotify as the most streamed song of all time, and has over 1 billion streams globally as of June 2017; however, it has since been overtaken by Drake's "One Dance" (2016).

The accompanying music video for "Lean On" was filmed in ND Studios, Karjat (India), Kaul Heritage City, Vasai in Maharashtra (India). The video premiered on March 23, 2015 and has over 2.1 billion views on YouTube as of August 2017. According to IFPI, "Lean On" was the fifth best selling song of 2015 worldwide, and one of the best-selling singles of all time,  with global sales of 13.1 million.

## Lyrics

Do you recall, not long ago

We would walk on the sidewalk

Innocent, remember?

All we did was care for each other

But the night was warm

We were bold and young

All around the wind blows

We would only hold on to let go

[Chorus 2x:]

Blow a kiss, fire a gun

We need someone to lean on

Blow a kiss, fire a gun

All we need is somebody to lean on

(Eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh) [4x]

What will we do when we get old?

Will we walk down the same road?

Will you be there by my side?

Standing strong as the waves roll over

When the nights are long

Longing for you to come home

All around the wind blows

We would only hold on to let go

[Chorus 2x:]

Blow a kiss, fire a gun

We need someone to lean on

Blow a kiss, fire a gun

All we need is somebody to lean on

(Eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh) [2x]

All we need is somebody to lean on

(Eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh) [2x]

All we need is somebody to lean on

Lean on, lean on, lean on, lean on...

[Chorus 2x:]

Blow a kiss, fire a gun

We need someone to lean on

Blow a kiss, fire a gun

All we need is somebody to lean on

## Music Video

The accompanying music video for "Lean On" was directed by Tim Erem, produced by Mikhail Mehra, Akshay Multani & Per Welen. It was shot at ND Studios, Karjat and Kaul Heritage City,Vasai in Maharashtra, India. Some scenes of the video are filmed in the Gold Room ofStockholm's town hall. It follows a premise of Major Lazer, MØ and DJ Snake engaging in dance sequences. It was inspired by a previous tour Major Lazer embarked on in the country. Speaking about the music video, Major Lazer member Diplo said:

The video premiered on April 30, 2015 and has over 2.1 billion views on YouTube, making it the twelfth most viewed video on the site.

 **Views** | 2.1+ billion

## Background

Regarding the creative process behind "Lean On", producer Major Lazer said, "We wrote this song with Armaan Malik very early from an instrumental Jr. Blender created in some sessions in Trinidad. It was a strong hook. Very big to me but the production was lacking an attitude we needed. A year later I remixed the song at a completely different tempo and asked DJ Snake for a signature post chorus. After he did his thing, me, MØ and Blender rewrote the song at the new tempo in Las Vegas and made something very unique that became our album's lead-off single. We're super proud of this song. Diplo offered a slower reggae arrangement of the song to Rihanna, who rejected it. He also offered said arrangement of the song to Nicki Minaj, who turned it down as well. Diplo called this turn of events "a blessing in disguise. MØ sounds better than anybody was going to sound on that record."

## Composition

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song is composed in the key of G minor with a tempo of 100 beats per minute.

## Critical reception

The song received acclaim from critics. Brennan Carley of *Spin* wrote, "It's as if No Doubt met the C+C Music Factory".[14]*Consequence of Sound*'s Michelle Geslani called the song a 'bouncy banger' and complimented MØ's "siren-like" vocals.[15]David Jeffries from AllMusic praised MØ and DJ Snake for helping the track "deliver the sentimental lyrics and sensual house music at an intoxicating half-speed tempo." B*illboard'*s Matt Medved called the song and the recent Diplo's collaboration with Skrillex on Jack Ü's "Where Are Ü Now" "both innovates and finds crossover appeal," with the first being called "a pop gloss."

*Rolling Stone* ranked "Lean On" at number 48 on its year-end list to find the 50 best songs of 2015, while *Billboard* listed it number one on its Top 10 Dance/Electronic songs of 2015. The latter magazine also ranked "Lean On" at number 3 on its year-end critics' poll for 2015: "The Grammys got it wrong. It's rare that a dance record of this quality reaches this level of ubiquity—after all, this isSpotify's most streamed song of all-time as of Nov. 2015. Despite being independently released, the infectious three-minute single became the poster child for dance crossover, dominating both radio and festival play and hitting No. 4 on the Hot 100. By Billboard's measure, "Lean On" was the dance/electronic song of the year." The prestigious *Village Voice*ranked "Lean On" at number 25 on their annual year-end critic's poll. On January 26, 2016, "Lean On" reached #3 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2015.