Time to Pretend explained

Time to Pretend
Cover:200px-MGMT Time To Pretend 7inch.jpg
Type:single
Artist:MGMT
Album:Oracular Spectacular
B-Side:"Weekend Wars"
Released:March 3, 2008
Genre:
Length:4:19
Label:Columbia[2]
Producer:Dave Fridmann
Prev Title:Weekend Wars
Prev Year:2007
Next Title:Electric Feel
Next Year:2008

"Time to Pretend" is a song by the American indie band MGMT, released as the lead single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular (2007) on March 3, 2008. An earlier version had been released on their Time to Pretend EP. The single was released as a 7" and CD single featuring the B-sides "Weekend Wars" (BBC Radio 1 Session)[3] and "Metanoia", respectively.[4] In early 2009, the song was re-released in the UK. The song was ranked at number 493 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[5] and its parent album, Oracular Spectacular, was ranked at number 494 on the publication's additional list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[6] The song was also ranked at number 90 on NMEs list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Background

The track was originally recorded for the Time to Pretend EP (2005). It was re-recorded for the Oracular Spectacular album.

From a quote from live at Abbey Road:

Music video

The music video for the song contains references to Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 film The Holy Mountain[7] and the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. The video was directed by Ray Tintori. Tiscali Music gave the video a rating of 10 out of 10.[8] [9] A 3D version of the video with minor changes to the original was also produced.

Reception

Kevin O'Donnell wrote in Rolling Stone that "Time to Pretend is a space-rock gem that mocks the clichéd coke-and-hookers rock-star lifestyle, over big synth whooshes."[10]

The song hit #38 on the Mediabase Alternative chart.[11] Time critic Josh Tyrangiel named Time to Pretend the #8 song of 2008.[12] The song was #3 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008,[13] #4 on NME's Best Singles of 2008,[14] The song was ranked at number 493 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". NME ranked "Time to Pretend" as the 2nd best song of the 2000s. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 12 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[15]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2008)Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[16] 62
Canadian Hot 100[17] 64
Irish Singles Chart[18] 33
Japanese Singles Chart[19] 75
Switzerland Airplay (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 89
UK Singles Chart[21] 35
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles[22] 9
Billboard European Hot 100 Singles[23] 99

Year-end charts

Chart (2008)Position
UK Singles Chart[24] 145
Chart (2009)Position
UK Singles Chart[25] 193

Television performances

MGMT performed the song "Time to Pretend" in a 3.5 minute slot on Late Show with David Letterman on January 8, 2008, ending the performance with a nod to The Doors' "Light My Fire". The song subsequently hit #19 on the Mediabase U.S. Alternative chart.[26] They later performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on May 15, 2008. The band returned to Letterman for a 4-minute slot on May 11, 2010.

In popular culture

Television

"Time to Pretend" has featured in a number of TV shows, including HBO's show Pacquiao-Hatton 24/7, episode 2, which originally aired on April 18, 2009, the Season 1 finale of Gossip Girl on May 19, 2008, and featured prominently at the end of the second series finale of popular UK channel E4's Skins but was later omitted from the DVD release of the series due to issues acquiring the rights. It was also featured in the series premiere of 90210 on September 2, 2008 and in the pilot episode of HBO's Girls and the pilot episode of The Magicians. It has also appeared in ITV's live coverage of Champions League football. "Time to Pretend" was also used on the Argentine TV show Exitosos Pells, showing bloopers from the series. The song was also used in the series The Revolution Will Be Televised. It was also featured in the season one finale of The Imperfects.

Film

"Time to Pretend" has been used in the 2008 films (or in the trailers for) Sex Drive, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People and 21, an early trailer for the Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland, the 2011 film Warrior and the official trailer for .[27] The song (in a "Super Clean Version" that censors the profanity and drug references) was also featured on the soundtrack of the 2008 film 21. It also appeared in the films Changeland, Sex Drive and Saltburn.

Commercials

The song was the theme music for Manchester-based UK radio station Key 103/Piccadilly Magic 1152's new football show Total Football covering Manchester United and Manchester City games. It was also included in one of HMV's holiday commercials. The song was also used for the Polish TV commercial for the Ferrero SpA Duplo chocolate bar aired from December 2009.

Video games

Covers

Remixes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MGMT: Oracular Spectacular Album Review. Pitchfork. Harvey. Eric. 22 October 2007. 7 April 2023.
  2. Web site: Record of the Week . . Shaun . Keaveny . February 6, 2008 .
  3. Web site: MGMT Time To Pretend UK 7" RECORD (428836) . eil.com . October 24, 2008.
  4. Web site: MGMT Ready UK Debut Single Time To Pretend . Angry Ape . February 5, 2008.
  5. Web site: 'Rolling Stone' Updates '500 Greatest Songs' List . May 28, 2010 . CBS 2 Chicago . June 23, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100614061834/http://cbs2chicago.com/entertainment/rolling.stone.songs.2.1721498.html . June 14, 2010 .
  6. My Favorite Things, Part II . May 31, 2012 . Rolling Stone . November 26, 2018.
  7. Web site: Morrison . Kyle . MGMT . DEJOUR Magazine. Cultural Commentary. . Brash Publisher Network . November 7, 2012 . May 14, 2008 . January 23, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130123112055/http://dejourmagazine.com/wordpress/?p=235 . dead .
  8. Web site: Time to Pretend: video review . Tiscali Music . February 6, 2008 .
  9. Web site: Time To Pretend video . . February 14, 2010 .
  10. Artist to Watch: MGMT . https://web.archive.org/web/20071116051221/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17323914/artist_to_watch_mgmt . dead . November 16, 2007 . . Kevin . O'Donnell . November 14, 2007 .
  11. Web site: US Alternative Radio Airplay Monitor . Mediabase . February 5, 2008.
  12. Time, December 22, 2008, pp. 47–8.
  13. December 25, 2008 . The 100 Best Songs of 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081227111805/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24947047/the_100_best_singles_of_2008 . dead . December 27, 2008 . Rolling Stone . December 25, 2008.
  14. Web site: NME's Track Of The Year 2008 . . December 12, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121009093435/http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&title=title_271&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 . October 9, 2012 . dead .
  15. Web site: 150 best tracks of the past 15 years . NME . 6 October 2011 . July 7, 2016.
  16. Web site: The ARIA Report: Issue 981 . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20081219130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20081220-0000/issue981.pdf . dead . 2008-12-19 . webarchive.nla.gov.au . August 23, 2006 . June 2, 2010.
  17. https://www.billboard.com/charts/2008-05-03/canadian-hot-100 Billboard Artist Chart History – MGMT (Canada)
  18. Web site: Irish Charts Week 30. August 18, 2008.
  19. Web site: Billboard Artist Chart History – MGMT (Japan) . https://web.archive.org/web/20081211135453/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?keyword=MGMT&x=0&y=0&exposeNavigation=true&applicationName=bbcom&matchType=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&rangePropertyName=FORMATTED_DATE&rangeFilterType=BTWN . dead . December 11, 2008 . Billboard.
  20. Web site: Schweizer Airplay Charts 19/2008 - hitparade.ch . hitparade.ch . March 2, 2022.
  21. Web site: UK Singles Chart . The Official UK Charts Company . March 12, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071011004323/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php . October 11, 2007.
  22. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=mgmt|chart=Bubbling Under Hot 100}} Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ]. . November 1, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150621052956/http://www.billboard.com/artist/276872/mgmt/chart?f=344 . June 21, 2015 .
  23. Web site: European Hot 100 Singles . . April 30, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080322043837/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?configType=BBCOM_SIMPLEDEFAULT&pubList=Billboard&an=bbcom&action=Submit&kw=&exposeNavigation=true&keyword=mgmt&searchType=ARTICLE_SEARCH&submit.x=34&submit.y=18 . March 22, 2008.
  24. Web site: Official Singles Chart 2008 . UKChartsPlus.co.uk . July 7, 2016.
  25. Web site: Charts Plus Year end 2009 . Charts Plus . July 19, 2010.
  26. Web site: US Alternative Radio Airplay Monitor . Mediabase . February 7, 2008.
  27. News: Bradley. Bill. Does The New 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Trailer Give Too Much Away?. February 9, 2018. Huffington Post. March 28, 2017.
  28. Web site: 2K Beats: NHL 2K10. . March 4, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121119095513/http://2ksports.com/beats/games/nhl2k10. November 19, 2012.
  29. Web site: Janice Long - live session. Fri 22 Jan 2010. bbc.co.uk.
  30. Web site: Patience Hodgson and Broderick Smith . SBS.com.au.
  31. Web site: Why Kenny Mellman Needed to Revive Kiki and Herb . Mellman . Kenny . 2016-07-05 . Talkhouse . 2020-11-05.
  32. Web site: Black Country, New Road share raw cover of MGMT's 'Time To Pretend'. Rhian. Daly. 7 February 2021. 22 December 2021. NME.
  33. Web site: Black Country, New Road releasing covers of ABBA, Adele and more on vinyl. The Line of Best Fit. Cerys. Kenneally. 16 November 2021. 22 December 2021.
  34. Web site: Kenneally . Cerys . 21 March 2023 . Charlie Hickey releases cover of MGMT's "Time to Pretend" . 2023-06-04 . The Line of Best Fit.
  35. Web site: Charlie Hickey Finds The Emotional Core Of MGMT's 'Time To Pretend' . www.clashmusic.com. 21 March 2023 .
  36. Web site: MGMT Tracks / Remixes Overview . www.1001tracklists.com.
  37. Web site: MGMT - Time to Pretend (High Contrast Remix) . youtube.com.

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