Light Years Away (G.E.M. song)

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"Light Years Away"
Single by G.E.M.
Released30 December 2016 (2016-12-30)[1]
Recorded2016
GenreMandopop
Length3:55
LabelHummingbird Music
Songwriter(s)G.E.M.
Producer(s)Lupo Groinig
G.E.M. singles chronology
"Goodbye (Club Remix)"
(2016)
"Light Years Away"
(2016)
"Crossfire"
(2017)
Music video
"Light Years Away" on YouTube

"Light Years Away" (Chinese: 光年之外; pinyin: Guāngnián zhī wài) is a song recorded by Hong Kong singer-songwriter G.E.M. released on 30 December 2016.[1] It is the Chinese theme song for the American sci-fi film Passengers.[1] The music video for the song is the first by a Hong Kong artist to reached 100 million views on YouTube.[2] It is also the twelfth Chinese music video to reach 100 million views and the fastest music video by a Chinese female singer to reach 100 million views on YouTube.[3]

On 17 March 2019, it has become the most viewed Chinese music video among female singers on YouTube, with a view count of over 177M. The song reached 250 million views on YouTube by October of 2022.

Background[edit]

She was invited to write the song because of her influence in China and her songwriting skill.[4] After she watched few scenes of the film, she was touched by the love between the two characters. She then wrote different demos and chose this as the final work.[5]

Commercial live performances[edit]

Music video[edit]

The music video captures scenes from the film Passengers, and G.E.M. is singing in the Avalon. The music video starts with G.E.M. standing alone in the Avalon, then intersperses the scenes of Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt taken from the film, such as dancing together, playing games, watching films, etc. At the end, it shows the sleeper ship out of control and uses special effects to imitate giant spherical water flow caused by weightlessness.[12]

Breakthrough Prize Performance[edit]

On 4 November 2018, G.E.M. performed "Light Years Away" live at the Seventh Annual Breakthrough Prize at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Light Years Away – iTunes" (in Chinese). iTunes Store. 30 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Light Years Away reached over 100 million" (in Chinese). 18 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Light Years Away reached 100 million views, it became the fastest music video owned by Chinese female artist reached over 100 million views" (in Chinese). 18 January 2018.
  4. ^ "G.E.M. wrote the Chinese theme song for Passenger" (in Chinese). 27 December 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018.
  5. ^ "G.E.M. wrote Chinese theme song for American sci-fi film, Passenger" (in Chinese). 27 December 2016.
  6. ^ 2016–2017 Hunan TV New Year Concert.
  7. ^ Tencent Myapp Internet Festival.
  8. ^ Weibo Film Gala on YouTube
  9. ^ 2017 Migu Music Awards.
  10. ^ "13th KKBOX Music Awards" (in Chinese). 4 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  11. ^ 植植 (6 November 2018). "獲邀為「突破獎」頒獎 鄧紫棋NASA壓軸演唱". Wen Wei Po (in Chinese).
  12. ^ "Light Years Away" on YouTube
  13. ^ Prize, Breakthrough. "SEVENTH ANNUAL BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE – "THE OSCARS OF SCIENCE" – CELEBRATES TOP ACHIEVEMENTS IN PHYSICS, LIFE SCIENCES & MATHEMATICS; AWARDS $22 MILLION IN PRIZES AT GALA TELEVISED CEREMONY IN SILICON VALLEY". PR Newswire. Retrieved 8 November 2018.