"Down to Earth" is a song co-written and performed by English rock musician Peter Gabriel for the 2008 animated Disney-Pixar film WALL-E. It was released on June 10, 2008, by Walt Disney Records and Real World Records. Composed by Gabriel and Thomas Newman, with additional vocals from the Soweto Gospel Choir, the song is the 37th track on the soundtrack album to WALL-E, in which it is featured over the end credits.
| "Down to Earth" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Peter Gabriel featuring The Soweto Gospel Choir | ||||
| from the album WALL-E: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | ||||
| Released | June 10, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:58 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editAndrew Stanton, who served as the director of WALL-E, was a fan of Gabriel's work and approached him to contribute a song for the soundtrack. Gabriel collaborated with Thomas Newman, who supplied the melody of the song, while Gabriel worked on the song's lyrics and instrumentation.[1] Two instrumental compositions on the soundtrack, "Eve" and "Define Dancing", were also co-written by Gabriel.[2]
"As a kid I loved animation, so I'm a huge Pixar fan," Gabriel explained to Mark Blake. "I have seen WALL-E many times as I have young children. It was also great to work with the scorer Thomas Newman... He wrote the best TV theme tune ever: for Six Feet Under."[3]
"Down to Earth" consists of gentle piano-driven verses with more upbeat choruses. The Soweto Gospel Choir appears on the song's bridge and outro. Various electronic textures are also included throughout the song, which authors Alfredo Marziano and Luca Perasi described as a gentle "world/electro/pop lullaby" in their book The Rhythm Has My Soul. The song was engineered by Richard Chappell and mixed by Tchad Blake.[2]
The song saw release as a promotional single for the Pixar animated feature film WALL-E. In 2019, the song was included on Gabriel's Rated PG album, which consisted of ten songs written by Gabriel that were used in film scores.[4]
Awards
edit"Down to Earth" was nominated for the Best Original Song Award at the Golden Globes as well as the Best Original Song award at the 81st Academy Awards. It won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2009.[4] Another song from the film co-written by Gabriel titled "Define Dancing" won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement in 2009.[5]
Gabriel originally planned to perform the song at the 81st Academy Awards, although he decided against it after learning that he was only allotted 65 seconds to play the song. He said that there was an assumption that "the songs would be played in full" given that there were only three songs nominated in that category, but was told by the producers that the segment had to be abridged due to dwindling viewership. As such, Gabriel withdrew from the ceremony and John Legend performed the song instead.[1]
Chart performance
edit| Chart (2008) | Peak |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart[6] | 73 |
| UK Singles Chart[7] | 118 |
References
edit- ^ a b Easlea, Daryl (2013). Without Frontiers: The Life & Music of Peter Gabriel. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 342–343. ISBN 978-1780383156.
- ^ a b Marziano, Alfredo; Perasi, Luca (2024). Peter Gabriel: The Rhythm Has My Soul. Milan, Italy: L.I.L.Y Publishing. p. 238. ISBN 978-88-909122-5-2.
- ^ Blake, Mark (December 2011). "Cash for questions: Peter Gabriel". Q. p. 44.
- ^ a b Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. pp. 127–128. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.
- ^ Armitage, Helen (March 30, 2020). "WALL-E Soundtrack: Every Song In The Pixar Movie". ScreenRant. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
- ^ "Peter Gabriel and The Soweto Gospel Choir – Down To Earth – Music Charts". acharts.us. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ "Chart Log UK: G". Zobbel.de. Retrieved September 25, 2009.