Rewritten

"Rewritten" is the debut single by electro-rock band Phoenix Rising, and the first single from the band's debut album "Eye Of The Beholder". The song features the band's early pop-rock style, prior to their artistic development. It was released on October 20th, 2008, and it entered the UK charts at #8, the start of Phoenix Rising's unbroken string of top 10 hits, and the biggest hit from their debut era.

Background
"Rewritten" was written in early 2008 by Victor Strong, after he, Alexei Monaghan and Tobias Strait had graduated from college. The song features metaphors relating to fiction and storytelling in order to detail the troubles of the protagonist's life, and what he is will to do in order to 'rewrite' his story and its ending. Victor composed the song's lyrics and melody on his piano, while Alexei contributed the guitar accompaniment. It was the first song recorded for Phoenix Rising's debut album, including drummer Benjamin McAllister and then-bassist Spike Williams. The public did not take well to Spike, and on the verge of the single's release, he was fired from the band and replaced at the last minute with James Moss.

The original cut of the video featured ex-member Spike Williams in a choreographed fight scene with "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. Sarah reportedly had such an unpleasant time working with Spike that she refused to return to the shoot in order to re-film her parts with Williams' replacement James. A new scenario was created for James with pop superstar Britney Spears appearing in the video with him. The band claims that ideas behind the video treatment were stolen by an unknown third party and brought to the attention of Christina Aguilera, who applied a similar concept in the music video of her Greatest Hits single "Keeps Gettin' Better". James re-recorded all of Spike's bass parts on the band's album, bar the bassline on "Rewritten". This makes "Rewritten" Spike's only performance credit with the band.

Reception
There was a lot of curiosity surrounding Phoenix Rising at the time of their premiere, as it had been a while since a band like them had been seen in the UK marketplace. The band managed to win over the public for the most part, but there was a backlash against bassist Spike Williams leading to a divide in the band that led to his departure. The song was mildly received with critics who deemed it a "safe" lead single, although the band was given credit for a catchy hit. The curiosity around the band greatly aided in its performance on UK radio where it became a chart-topper, and it also helped the band debut in the top 10 on the UK singles chart, something that was deemed a difficult achievement for a newcomer at that time.

Promo CD

 * 1) Rewritten (Album Version)
 * 2) Rewritten (Radio Edit)
 * 3) Rewritten (Instrumental)
 * 4) Rewritten (Call-Out Hook)

CD

 * 1) Rewritten
 * 2) Bitter Pill
 * 3) Rewritten (Cabin Crew Extended Club Mix)
 * 4) Rewritten (Moto Blanco Vocal Mix)
 * 5) Rewritten (Jody den Broeder Big Room Anthem Mix)

Digital EP

 * 1) Rewritten
 * 2) Bitter Pill
 * 3) Rewritten (Freemasons Radio Mix)

Music Video
The video opens in an empty room with a standard band set-up; amps, drums and mics. The band members all walk into frame and pick up their instruments, playing along as the music begins. Close-ups of each band member are shown during the intro, as well as inter-cut shots of an unseen person sitting in front of a massive computer with five screens; each showing a different band member in a separate scenario. As the first verse begins, we zoom into Tobias' scene, where he is a sharply-dressed spy at a highly glamourous ball. Tobias is chasing a leggy brunette who is wearing a long silver sequined dress. Her face is never revealed, but it is clear she has something important that Tobias is after. At the same time, an enemy agent (played by a heavily made-up Alexei) is trying to get at the same thing Tobias is. The two spies try to beat each other to the prize trying and failing with various tactics. Finally as the chorus approaches, the object of the two spies' attention vanishes from the ballroom. Throughout the sequence, we see shots of the computer operator manipulating the action so that Tobias' actions always have the wrong outcome.

During the chorus, the computer operator turns his attention to Alexei's screen; where he is sitting watching TV. A noise alerts him, and he gets up to investigate. We see him looking through various rooms but never finding the intruder, because the computer operator stays one step ahead of him, making sure the intruder is one step ahead of Alexei. The second verse begins with Alexei being knocked over the head with a bat. We cut to a shot of James falling onto the floor on his front. He rolls over to find his boss (played by Britney Spears in a black bob wig) shouting at him. We never hear what she says over the music, but James crawls back into his office chair where his boss continues to verbally assault him. The rest of the band plays other office workers who find the situation amusing, but try to hide their enjoyment. The boss gets more aggressive and physical with James, who clearly doesn't want the attention as she starts to flirt roughly with him. The computer operator is manipulating all of James' reactions making sure he can only have bad ones.

At the end of the verse, James makes a break for the elevator, and we see the doors closing in front of him. The chorus begins with another elevator shot, but as the doors open, Ben steps out wearing jeans and no shirt underneath a denim jacket. He tries to ignore being followed by a leggy brunette (the same from Tobias' spy sequence) by speeding up his walk and looking straight ahead, even making a few sharp turns around corners to try and lose his pursuer. He has no luck as he ends up in an empty parking lot, and he is surprised into falling backwards when the woman is right behind him. We see POV shots from the woman's perspective of him crawling backwards along the pavement before hitting a barrier and being trapped. Through this sequence, the computer operator has been making sure that no matter what moves Ben makes, he cannot get away from the woman. When the bridge starts, we switch over to the last screen showing Victor running down a foggy road with ghost-like beings lurking in the mist. Victor tries to ward off spirits tugging at his clothes and hair as he breaks into an abandoned house looking for a hiding place. No luck, as the spirits lift him off the ground and throw him backwards through the rotting wall.

During the final chorus, we review all five scenarios, where the band members have all gotten into more trouble. Tobias has been captured and is trying to make a hasty escape. Alexei is chasing the intruder from his home and down the street. James is glaring anxiously at the numbers on the elevator waiting for ground level. Ben has escaped into a building at the other end of the parking lot and is running through doors at random. Victor is still running from spectres, this time in a different house. One by one, the band members end up together in a small room with six doors; each has come from a separate door connected to their scenarios. Confused, they open the sixth and last door. They enter the computer room, only for the five screens to be blank and the room empty. The chair is turned around to face the group, and a card is sitting on the seat. We see a close-up of the card, which says 'YOU LOSE' on it, before the screen goes black like a computer screen being turned off. Throughout the video, shots of the band performing in the room from the start of the video are shown.

Chart Performance
The projected outcome for "Rewritten" was not high, with the relative difficulty at the time for a new act to break through on the chart. It was a surprise to some when the band made their debut inside the top ten, landing at #8 upon release. The song help up very well for the band as a debut single, spending five weeks in the top 15 and twelve weeks in the top 40, becoming the biggest hit from the band's debut era. The single hit sales of over 190k and was certified silver; the band has since gone on to have much greater chart hits, and as of 2012 it remains their longest-running chart hit. UK airplay was in a poor state at the time, and the curiosity around Phoenix Rising led to the song hitting the top of the airplay chart for two consecutive weeks, and sparking a revival in airplay levels. "Rewritten" reached the top half of the Year-End Top 100 airplay chart for 2008. In America, the song was a slow burner but eventually gained traction on radio and with digital sales becoming the band's first US top 10 hit with a #6 peak on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 190,645
 * Week 1: #8 - 25,441
 * Week 2: #10 - 38,751
 * Week 3: #13 - 29,884
 * Week 4: #14 - 17,152
 * Week 5: #13 - 29,884
 * Week 6: #25 - 10,255
 * Week 7: #27 - 8,145
 * Week 8: #27 - 8,145
 * Week 9: #30 - 7,384
 * Week 10: #31 - 6,775
 * Week 11: #35 - 4,102
 * Week 12: #38 - 4,727