"Circles" is a song by American rapper and singer Post Malone. It was released through Republic Records on August 30, 2019, as the third single from Malone's third studio album Hollywood's Bleeding (2019). It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of November 30, 2019, topping the chart for three weeks, marking Post Malone's fourth number-one song, as well as his first solo effort to top the chart.
The song also reached number one in Iceland, Malaysia, and New Zealand, as well as the top ten in 20 additional countries. It was the most played song of 2020 on adult contemporary radio in the US. It is also certified Diamond in the US and Canada, 10× Platinum in Australia, and Gold or higher in 11 additional countries. It was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2021 Grammy Awards.[1]
Post Malone premiered the song live during his Bud Light Dive Bar Tour show in New York City on August 5, where he claimed it would be released the following week.[2] A snippet of the track was posted to Malone's YouTube channel the same day.[3] He previewed the song in August 2019 on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[4]
Compositionedit
"Circles" is a downtemposoft rock song that draws from elements of pop rock and consists of a "bouncy, melancholy" melody, alongside a "gentle acousticgroove". The chorus has been described as "compulsory singalong".[5][6] It is written in the key of C major, in common time, at a tempo of 120 beats per minute. It follows a chord structure of Cmaj7–Em/B–Fmaj7–Fm, followed by Cmaj7–Em/B–Fmaj7–G6.[7]
Critical receptionedit
The song received critical acclaim. Billboard described it as being "backed by sunny acoustic guitars, swirling percussion, and infectious melodies",[8] and that while it has a "funky feel, the meaning is a bit more somber, detailing a relationship gone cold".[9]
R Dub, Z90.3 director of programming, told Billboard, "For me, the staying power of 'Circles' is due to a combination of an absolutely addicting, fun, emotional, and at the same time, non-fatiguing hook, combined with relatable lyrics. Who can't relate to going in circles in so many aspects of life? Young, old, rich, poor, black, white… We're all going through it".[10]
The song's musical backing has been frequently compared to that of Tame Impala – so much so, that Tame Impala's Kevin Parker was originally believed to be one of the song's co-writers prior to the song's release.[11]
Chart performanceedit
On the chart dated November 30, 2019, "Circles" became Post Malone's fourth number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and his first unaccompanied by another artist.[12] It also marked his second Hot 100 number one of 2019, following "Sunflower" with Swae Lee, which led the chart in January.[12] On the chart dated May 2, 2020, "Circles" broke the record for the most weeks spent in the Hot 100's top 10; 34 weeks – surpassing his own song, "Sunflower" (2019), Maroon 5 and Cardi B's "Girls Like You" (2018), and Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" (2017), which all logged 33 weeks each in that region.[10] It simultaneously passed the latter for the most weeks spent in the top 10 from a song's debut.[10] It later extended its record to 39 weeks.[13] "Circles" would keep the record for five more months before The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" broke the record by reaching 40 weeks (and then 57 in total); it would later be surpassed again in 2021 by Dua Lipa's "Levitating," which spent a total of 41 weeks in the top 10. "Circles" spent 61 weeks on the chart before leaving in November 2020. It was also the most-played radio song of 2020.[14]
Additionally, it became the first song to spend 30 weeks in the top 10 of Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart, where it also ranked at number one for 10 weeks,[10] becoming the first single by a solo male artist (no features) to achieve double-digit frames at number one on that chart.[15]
Elsewhere, the song also peaked at number one in Iceland, Malaysia, and New Zealand, number two in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Singapore, and Slovakia, number three in Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Slovenia, and the UK, while reaching the top 10 in several other nations.
Lawsuitedit
Malone filed a lawsuit against songwriter Tyler Armes for "falsely claiming that he is a co-author of the musical composition contained in the 'Circles' track". According to the complaint from Malone, he continued to work with songwriters Walsh, Gunesberk, and Bell in subsequent sessions after August 8, while Armes wasn't present in either of those sessions.[16] The issue was settled out of court in 2023.[17]
Music videoedit
The music video, directed by Colin Tilley, was released on September 3, 2019. As of March 2024, it has over 650 million views on YouTube. It is a medieval-style metaphor of the main theme of the song, "running in circles" in a relationship and failing to put an end to it, thus ending up getting hurt. Post Malone plays a knight in armor who has to rescue a princess locked up in a tower (but endowed with magical powers). The princess, seeing the future through a magic mirror, discovers that Post will be defeated by the enemies and burned alive. Meanwhile, Post has a hallucination in which he sees the same future and is then buried alive by zombies, but the princess awakens him with a magic blue rose (which symbolizes the unattainable). Post goes to rescue her, succeeding. But the director's choice to show again, at the end of the video, Post staring at that tragic future during the hallucination, suggests that it is bound to happen.
^Warner, Denise (November 24, 2020). "2021 Grammy Nominations: See the Full List". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
^Rossignol, Derrick (August 6, 2019). "Post Malone Performs A New Song Called 'Circles' And Shares Details About His Next Album". Uproxx. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^Shoemaker, Whitney (August 28, 2019). "Post Malone confirms "Circles" release date following previous live debut". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^"Post Malone Drops New Song Circles". Pitchfork. August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
^Arnold, Brendan (September 6, 2019). "'Hollywood's Bleeding' Exhibits Post Malone's Unique Affinity for Pop Artistry". Entertainment Voice. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
^Billboard staff (December 11, 2019). "The 100 Best Songs of 2019: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
^Post, Austin (September 3, 2019). "Post Malone "Circles" Sheet Music in C Major (transposable) - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
^Spruch, Kirsten (August 6, 2019). "Post Malone Debuts New Song 'Circles,' Shares New Album Details at Intimate Bud Light Concert". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^ abAniftos, Rania (August 28, 2019). "Post Malone Announces 'Circles' Single Release Date". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^ abcdTrust, Gary (April 27, 2020). "Post Malone's 'Circles' Breaks Record for Most Weeks in Hot 100's Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
^Gallagher, Alex (August 29, 2019). "Looks Like Tame Impala's Kevin Parker Co-Wrote And Produced The New Post Malone Song". Music Feeds. Evolve Media. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
^ abTrust, Gary (November 25, 2019). "Post Malone's 'Circles' Hits No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, Billie Eilish's 'Everything I Wanted' Blasts to Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
^Trust, Gary (June 29, 2020). "DaBaby & Roddy Ricch's 'Rockstar' Returns to No. 1 on Hot 100, Jack Harlow & Lil Mosey Earn Their First Top 10s". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
^"Post Malone – Circles" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
^"Post Malone – Circles" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
^"Post Malone – Circles" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
^"Top 100 Brasil – 04/05/2020 - 08/05/2020" (in Portuguese). Crowley Broadcast Analysis. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
^"Chile General" (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
^"Top 100 Colombia" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
^"Croatia ARC TOP 100". HRT. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 202011 into search. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201937 into search. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
^"Post Malone – Circles". Tracklisten. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
^"Top Semanal: 17/12/2019 - 23/12/2019" (in Spanish). SODINPRO. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
^"Post Malone: Circles" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
^"Mūzikas Patēriņa Tops/ 37. nedēļa" (in Latvian). LAIPA. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^"The Official Lebanese Top 20 - Post Malone". The Official Lebanese Top 20. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
^"Savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. September 16, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
^"Top 20 Most Streamed International & Domestic Singles In Malaysia" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Mexico Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 43, 2019" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
^"Post Malone – Circles" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
^"Post Malone – Circles". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
^"Post Malone – Circles". VG-lista. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
^"TOP#100 de canciones de SGP | TOP#100 de canciones de SGP". SGP (in Spanish).
^"Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
^"Puerto Rico General" (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
^"Airplay 100 – 9 februarie 2020" (in Romanian). Kiss FM. February 9, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
^"Russia Airplay Chart for 2019-11-11." TopHit. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
^"Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
^"RIAS International Top Charts Week 37". Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original on September 19, 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201951 into search. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201937 into search. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
^"SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
^"Digital Chart – Week 7 of 2020". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved February 20, 2020.
^"Post Malone – Circles" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
^"Post Malone – Circles". Singles Top 100. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
^"Ukraine Airplay Chart for 2019-11-04." TopHit. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ "Post Malone Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Dance Mix/Show Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^"Post Malone Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
^"Top 100 Songs, August 30 – September 5, 2019". Rolling Stone. September 5, 2019. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
^"ARIA End of Year Singles Chart 2019". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
^"Jahreshitparade Singles 2019". austriancharts.at. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
^"Jaaroverzichten 2019". Ultratop. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
^"Canadian Hot 100 – Year-End 2019". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
^"Track Top-100 2019" (in Danish). Hitlisten. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
^"Jahrescharts 2019". mtv.de (in German). Retrieved December 6, 2019.
^"Tónlistinn – Lög – 2019" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
^White, Jack (January 9, 2020). "Ireland's Official Top 50 biggest songs of 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
^"Digitālās Mūzikas Tops 2019" (in Latvian). LAIPA. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
^"Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2019". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
^"Jaaroverzichten – Single 2019". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
^"Top Selling Singles of 2019". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
^"TOP#100 de canciones de SGP | TOP#100 de canciones de SGP" (in Spanish). SGP. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
^"End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
^"Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2019". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
^"Pop Songs – Year-End 2019". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
^"Top 100 Songs of 2019". Rolling Stone. January 10, 2020. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
^"Chart Anual monitorLATINO 2020 – Del 1 de Enero al 30 de Noviembre de 2020 – Argentina General" (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
^"ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
^"Ö3 Austria Top40 Jahrescharts 2020". Ö3 Austria Top 40. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
^"Jaaroverzichten 2020". Ultratop. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^"Canadian Hot 100 – Year-End 2020". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
^"Track Top-100 2020". Hitlisten. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
^"Jahrescharts 2020". mtv.de (in German). Retrieved December 10, 2020.
^"Rádiós Top 100 - hallgatottsági adatok alapján - 2020". Mahasz. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
^"Single Top 100 - eladási darabszám alapján - 2020". Mahasz. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
^"Stream Top 100 - darabszám alapján - 2020". Mahasz. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
^White, Jack (January 10, 2021). "Ireland's Official Top 50 biggest songs of 2020". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
^"Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2020" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
^"Jaaroverzichten – Single 2020" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
^"Top Selling Singles of 2020". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
^"Airplay 100 Topul Anului 2020" (in Romanian). Kiss FM. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
^"Årslista Singlar, 2020". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
^"Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2020". hitparade.ch. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
^"End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2020". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
^"Top 40/M Future Releases". All Access Media Group. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
^"Hot/Modern/AC Future Releases". All Access Media Group. Archived from the original on September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
^""Circles" 7" Vinyl Single + Digital Single". Post Malone | Official Shop. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
^""Circles" CD Single + Digital Single". Post Malone | Official Shop. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
^"Circles. Cassette Single + Digital Single". Post Malone | Official Shop. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.