"To the Moon and Back" | ||||||||
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File:Savage Garden TTMAB.jpg | ||||||||
Single by Savage Garden | ||||||||
from the album Savage Garden | ||||||||
B-side | "Memories Are Designed to Fade", "Santa Monica", "All Around Me" |
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Released | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Format | 7" vinyl, CD (AUS) 12" vinyl, CD, cassette (International) |
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Recorded | 1995 | |||||||
Genre | Pop rock, alternative rock | |||||||
Length | 5:41 (album version) 4:32 (1997 release edit) 3:44 (1998 release edit) |
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Label | Roadshow Music (AUS) Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment (International) |
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Writer(s) | Darren Hayes, Daniel Jones | |||||||
Producer | Charles Fisher | |||||||
Certification | Silver (France)[3] | |||||||
Savage Garden singles chronology | ||||||||
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"To the Moon and Back" is a single by Savage Garden from their debut album Savage Garden. One of the band's most popular songs, it deals with feelings of alienation from the modern world and the desire to find romantic love during adolescence. It has been described as one of the band's darkest songs.[4]
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"To the Moon and Back" was initially released as the album's second single in 1996 in Australia, where it became the band's first number one. After the international success of their debut single, "I Want You", there were high expectations for the song as it's follow-up. During the song's first charting in America, the song entered the Top 40 of the Hot 100 for only one week, peaking at #37 the final week of August 1997. In the UK the single was originally released in late September 1997 and there it failed to chart in the Top 40, stalling at #55 for one week. Subsequently, "Truly Madly Deeply" became an even bigger hit than their debut, hitting the number one spot in several countries including both the Hot 100 and the Hot Adult Contemporary charts in the United States, where it broke the record as the longest-running single to that time on the Adult Contemporary charts. In the wake of such success, the band decided the song had greater potential to become a hit than its first chartings had borne out, and so instead of mining a fourth single from the album as they had for the Australian market, they decided to mix a shorter edit of "To the Moon and Back" and re-release it internationally in 1998. This time the song peaked at #24 in America, an improvement upon its first release. yet still not the smash they had hoped it would be. In the UK, however, their faith was rewarded when the song debuted at number three, becoming Savage Garden's biggest UK hit. This prompted the UK re-release of their debut single, remixed as "I Want You '98". In 2004, the song was once again re-released, this time as a double A-side with "Affirmation", featuring remixes by Almighty.
There have been three different music videos for the song. The first, accompanying the Australian release of the song, was directed by Catherine Caines and Chris Bentley, and was shot in black and white. This version features Darren and Daniel performing on what appears to be a space vessel, whilst a female passenger watches on. A version of the video accompanied by a dance remix of the track was also released.[5] The second, accompanying the US and original UK release of the song, was directed by Nigel Dick in Los Angeles, and features Darren and Daniel performing in an apartment in Malibu whilst a female records the performance.[6] The third version, accompanying the 1998 re-release, was filmed in New York, and features a young girl making a journey across the city whilst making decisions regarding her future.
Chart (1996/1997) | Peak position |
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Australia | 1 |
UK Singles Chart | 3 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
U.S. Mainstream Top 40 | 2 |
End-of-year chart (1997) | Position |
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Australian ARIA Charts[7] | 17 |
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To the Moon and Back: The Amazing Australians at the Forefront of Space Travel Plus Fantastic Moon Facts is a 2004 book co-written by Australian author Jackie French and her husband, Bryan Sullivan. It won the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Eve Pownall Award for Information Books in 2005.
"To the Moon and Back" is a song by Australian group Savage Garden. It was released in Australia in November 1996 as the second single from their debut album Savage Garden. The song became a top 3 hit on the UK Singles Chart and a top 25 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was also the band's first number one in its native country.
After the international success of their debut single, "I Want You", there were high expectations for the song as its follow-up. During the song's first charting in America, the song entered the Top 40 of the Hot 100 for only one week, peaking at number 37 the final week of August 1997. In the UK the single was originally released in late September 1997 and there it failed to chart in the Top 40, stalling at number 55 for one week. Subsequently, "Truly Madly Deeply" became an even bigger hit than their debut, hitting the number one spot in several countries including both the Hot 100 and the Hot Adult Contemporary charts in the United States, where it broke the record as the longest-running single to that time on the Adult Contemporary charts.