Locked Away Explained

Locked Away
Cover:RCityLockedAway.png
Type:single
Artist:R. City featuring Adam Levine
Album:What Dreams Are Made Of
Recorded:December 2014
Chronology:Rock City
Prev Title:For Everybody
Prev Year:2015
Next Title:Make Up
Next Year:2015

"Locked Away" is a song by Virgin Islands production duo R. City featuring American singer Adam Levine, the lead singer of pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was released on June 29, 2015, by Kemosabe Records and RCA Records.[1]

The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the duo's first top ten hit and Levine's first single that he did not co-write.

Composition

Musically, "Locked Away" is a dancehall and reggae fusion song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing, the song is written in the key of D major with a tempo of 94 beats per minute. The chorus follows a chord progression of D–Bm–G–D–A, the verses follow a chord progression of B–Gm–D–Fm, the bridge follow the progression Gbmaj7-D-Bm-A and the vocals span from B2 to A4.[2] The melody in the chorus contains an interpolation of Do That To Me One More Time by American duo Captain & Tennille.

Meaning

The meaning of the song "Locked Away" seems to ask if you would truly love someone for your whole life despite all the flaws which may arise. As Theron—one of the song authors—explain:

“Locked Away” is based on our parents. Our dad went to jail for five years, came out and became a trash man. Then he worked at the legislature as a security guard. He didn’t make real money, he was on sweets, did all kinds of crazy shit. But our mom held him down. Our parents been together for 38 years—they’re still together.

With the success of being a songwriter, where you can get fly and have all this nice shit, we’re like, “You really like me? If I was fucked up, would you hold me down?"[3]

Remix

The official remix is titled "Locked Away Again (The Remix)" and features an additional verse from American rapper Lil Wayne. It cancels the bridge by R. City and replaces their first verse of the original song to the third verse. The second verse is the same as in the original song.

Music video

A music video for "Locked Away" was released on August 14, 2015.[4]

The music video features four different families, a soldier leaving his family to return to service, a man (Theron Thomas of R. City) and a woman (Chantel K Davis) fighting to make ends meet, a man (Timothy Thomas of R. City) returning home to his child and the child's mother, and a father and daughter torn apart by an unlawful act. All suffering from vignettes of love, loss, poverty, and imprisonment, all set over Levine's crooned chorus "If I got locked away / and we lost it all today / tell me honestly / would you still love me the same?"

In the beginning of the video, a woman gets arrested, and a police officer gives her a Miranda warning, telling her: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015–16)Peak
position
Colombia (National-Report)[5] 28
Lebanon (OLT 20)[6] 1
Lebanon Inglés (OLT 20)1
Mexico Airplay (Billboard)[7] 1
Slovenia (SloTop50)[8] 4
Venezuela Pop General (Record Report)[9] 18
Venezuela Top Anglo (Record Report)[10] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (2015)Position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 42
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 41
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 36
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] 31
France (SNEP)[15] 76
Germany (Official German Charts)[16] 48
Hungary (Single Top 40)[17] 74
Italy (FIMI)[18] 57
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19] 23
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 31
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 44
Poland (ZPAV)[22] 46
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23] 66
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 44
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 44
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[26] 51
US Billboard Hot 100[27] 40
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[28] 46
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[29] 26
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[30] 48
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[31] 22
Chart (2016)Position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[32] 80
Italy (FIMI)[33] 53
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[34] 90
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 100
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[36] 26

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Locked Away (feat. Adam Levine) – Single by R. City. 29 June 2015 . iTunes. July 30, 2015.
  2. Web site: Rock City feat. Adam Levine "Locked Away" Sheet Music – Download & Print. www.musicnotes.com. 2015-10-05. Thomas. Theron. 2015-08-05.
  3. Web site: If I got locked away / And we lost it all today / Tell me honestly, would you still love me the same?. Genius. en. 2019-10-11.
  4. Web site: Video: R. City feat. Adam Levine – 'Locked Away'. Rap-Up. August 14, 2015. September 6, 2015.
  5. Web site: National-Report – weekly . . 20 December 2015 . 3 December 2015 . dead . https://archive.today/20150904025448/http://national-report.com/externos/RYM-TopNacional.php . 4 September 2015 .
  6. Web site: The Official Lebanese Top 20. The Official Lebanese Top 20. August 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20140419200218/http://www.olt20.com/Charts#&panel1-4. April 19, 2014. dead.
  7. R. City Chart History (Mexico Airplay). Billboard. May 31, 2022.
  8. Web site: SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart. slotop50.si. 18 July 2018.
  9. Web site: Pop Rock . . October 1, 2015 . October 1, 2015 . May 19, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120519234544/http://www.recordreport.com.ve/publico/?i=poprock . Spanish . dead .
  10. Web site: Record Report – Top Anglo . . R.R. Digital C.A. . October 1, 2015 . October 1, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130512120212/http://national-report.com/forms/init100s.php . May 12, 2013 . Spanish . dead .
  11. Web site: ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2015. Australian Recording Industry Association. January 6, 2016.
  12. Web site: Jahreshitparade Singles 2015. austriancharts.at. January 8, 2020.
  13. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2015. Ultratop. November 2, 2019.
  14. Canadian Hot 100 Year End 2015. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 9, 2015.
  15. Web site: Top de l'année Top Singles 2015. SNEP. fr. July 3, 2020.
  16. Web site: Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts. German . . offiziellecharts.de . January 6, 2016.
  17. Web site: Single Top 100 - eladási darabszám alapján - 2015. November 2, 2019. Mahasz.
  18. Web site: Classifiche "Top of the Music" 2015 FIMI-GfK: La musica italiana in vetta negli album e nei singoli digitali. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Italian. January 13, 2016.
  19. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2015. Dutch Top 40. November 2, 2019.
  20. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Single 2015. MegaCharts. Dutch. November 2, 2019.
  21. Web site: Top Selling Singles of 2015. Recorded Music NZ. December 25, 2015.
  22. Web site: Airplay – podsumowanie 2015 roku. Polish. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. December 30, 2015.
  23. Web site: Top 100 Songs Annual 2015. Productores de Música de España. es. May 9, 2022.
  24. Web site: Årslista Singlar – År 2015. Sverigetopplistan. Swedish. November 2, 2019.
  25. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2015 – hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. November 2, 2019.
  26. Web site: End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2015 . Official Charts Company . January 10, 2016.
  27. Hot 100: Year End 2015. billboard. December 23, 2015.
  28. Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 2015. Billboard. September 16, 2019.
  29. Adult Pop Songs – Year-End 2015. Billboard. August 22, 2019.
  30. Dance/Mix Show Songs – Year-End 2015. Billboard. September 8, 2019.
  31. Pop Songs – Year-End 2015. Billboard. August 22, 2019.
  32. Canadian Hot 100 Year End 2016. Billboard. December 9, 2016.
  33. Web site: Classifiche "Top of the Music" 2016 FIMI-GfK: La musica italiana in vetta negli album e nei singoli digitali . Italian . . February 23, 2017 . Click on Scarica allegato to download the zipped file containing the year-end chart PDF documents.
  34. Web site: Top 100 Songs Annual 2016. Productores de Música de España. es. May 9, 2022.
  35. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2016 – hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. January 2, 2017.
  36. Adult Contemporary Songs: Year End 2016. Billboard. December 18, 2016.

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