The Sword

"The Sword" is a song by British recording artist Candi from her debut studio album, First Signs Of Sunlight (2011). The song was released as the album's third overall single on July 25, 2011. Production of the song was done by The Runners. The lyrics tell the story of a love that is no longer there and the development of strength to stand up and fight to get out of that situation. Reception of "The Sword" has been positive, with reviewers complimenting it's self-empowering message, as well as some noting it as a stand-out track from First Signs Of Sunlight. Upon it's release, the single charted at #2, becoming Candi's first single to miss the #1 spot.

Background
"The Sword" was written by Candi and produced by The Runners. It is the fourth track on her debut album. The song describes someone being emotionally attacked by their partner, and the inner strength that individual has to find to leave that situation. The use of a "sword" in the song is a physical representation of the strength the individual holds. Rumours circulated online that either "Android's Heartbeat", "Jigglypuff" or "The Sword" would be the third single from the album. On 18 June, "The Sword" was revealed to be the next single. Digital Spy stated that the song was Candi's "best single to date" and complimented the star for her dedication to her music. Vixen has covered the single and used her version as the b-side to her second single Heart Of Stone.

Critical reception
Digital Spy gave the song 4/5 stars, stating "Once again, Candi's latest offering gives something completely different to what we've previously seen by her. We've had an over confident pop number, a slow empoweing ballad, and now an out-of-body experience through this harrowing tale of hurting and inner strength. It's hard to believe Candi debuted this year, as we couldn't imagine a world without her music now. Another #1 Candi? We think it's possible."

Music video
The video for "The Sword" was filmed while Candi was in the US promoting the Season 1 finale of Sweet Like Candi. It was filmed over 3 days, from 19 - 21 June. The video was originally scheduled to premiere July 23, however due to a massive amount of excitement for the video in early July, Blacklight Records decided to reveal the video on July 13, 10 days earlier.



The video begins with Candi at a party. She's having a good time when suddenly she notices someone in the crowd. She keeps trying to look past people's heads but only sees glimses of the man's face. She pushes through the crowd to discover that it is her controlling boyfriend who has followed her to the party. Candi walks up to him and the room empties. Now with just the two of them in the room. The pair begin to interpretive dance. The song symbolises a war between two people, however the video shows the weapon in this war is dance. Throughout the dance, Candi's dependency on the man is shown, as she clutches to him. With Candi holding onto the man and depending on him, he ends up letting her go and falling to the floor. Now weak and alone she sings while on the floor. Remembering back to the past, fast paced clips of Candi with her lover show. The dark floor Candi was lying on then lights up to white. Reflecting the light she now sees. She then leaps up off the floor. Landing on her feet, Candi then continues to express herself through dance. Joined by two female backing dancers to represent the female empowerment. Candi's backing dancers then pull her down to the ground, showing that you have to overcome yourself before you can be strong enough to walk away from your partner. As she rises, Candi finds herself in a new room. She's back in the club where she first started out. It's now deserted though, with just her and her love interest in it. The pair engage in combat via dance again, with the man doing a dance move that represents stabbing Candi in the heart. Candi flies back surrounded by red fabrics, which symbolise blood. while still in the blackness, Candi begins to light up. A bright white light shines from her eyes, the man who Candi has been dancing with throughout the video shields his eyes and falls to the floor from the brightness of the light. The light fades out into darkness. The man wakes up in darkness. Candi dances beside him, seducing him, however as he attempts to kiss her, she moves away. She walks away from the man slowly, showing that she has won the war, and that she no longer requires his love, she is strong without him. The video ends gradually zooming out of the man, who is now looking extremely injured, as if he really has just lost a battle.

The video recieved an overwhelming positive response from critics and fans. It was regarded as "easily Candi's best video to date" in every review, as well as some even considering it a "standout video from 2011". Many complimented Candi's artistic direction with the video, praising her for using dance as her sword, with PopJustice stating "once again Candi shows why she is the perfect role model, where most artist's would use a song named after a weapon as a chance to be as controversial as possible, Candi instead uses it in a beautiful manner." The video's acclaim continued when it charted at #1 on the Vevo chart, one of 12 new entries, easily beating the likes of Bella-May, Syd Wolfe, Dante, Violetta DiNozzo and Just Ginger with 17,204,851 views in it's first week.

Track listing

 * Promo
 * 1) "The Sword" (Radio edit)
 * 2) "The Sword" (Club edit)
 * CD1
 * 1) "The Sword"
 * 2) "The Sword" (Dubstep mix)
 * 3) "Drunken Romance"
 * CD2
 * 1) "The Sword"
 * 2) "The Sword" (Dave Aude Remix)
 * 3) "Chance"
 * 4) "The Sword" (Music Video)
 * The Remixes
 * 1) "The Sword" (Dave Aude mix)
 * 2) "The Sword" (TWISTED DISCO! War Of The Roses Dub)
 * 3) "The Sword" (Frankmusik remix)
 * 4) "The Sword" (Phoenix Rising Slayed Candi In Their Video Mix)
 * 5) "The Sword" (Ace's Literally Sharper Than Words Mix)
 * 6) "The Sword" (Blonde's Don't Fight Babes! Mix)
 * 7) "The Sword" (Jason Nevins Extended Mix)

Credits

 * "The Sword" &mdash; written by Candi
 * "Drunken Romance" &mdash; written by Candi
 * "Chance" &mdash; written by someone

Performances

 * T4 On The Beach &mdash; 10 July 2011
 * Daybreak &mdash; 20 July 2011
 * URAPS Idol 12 &mdash; 24 July 2011

Chart performance
The song was released on July 25, 2011 and debuted at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Candi's worst performing single to date and first to miss the #1 position. With sales of 72,933 copies, it is also her lowest opening week sales to date. The second week, it dropped to #4 behind 3 new entries on the chart. It remained in the top 10 for 3 weeks. After just 4 weeks on the chart, "The Sword" had already sold more than Candi's prior single Gold sold in it's whole chart run (of 8 weeks).

On 10 July, 2011, "The Sword" debuted at #16 on the downloads chart and fell to #20 the following week and then rising to #5 and finally #4. On Airplay chart it debuted on July 23 at #17, immedietly charting higher than previous single "Gold" peaked at. The following week it rose to #4 and then #2 before finally peaking at #1.

The song debuted at #92 in the US, before gradually climbing up the chart to #37, and has to date peaked at #19. It has also charted at #3 in Ireland, becoming Candi's first single to miss the top spot. Besides the UK and Ireland, The Sword was used as the single to launch First Signs Of Sunlight, and has enjoyed success worldwide, charting top 10 in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan as well as #1 in Switzerland.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 263,362
 * Week 1: #2 - 72,933
 * Week 2: #4 - 69,089
 * Week 3: #7 - 56,009
 * Week 4: #12 - 28,859
 * Week 5: #22 - 16,275
 * Week 6: #25 - 15,608
 * Week 7: #40 - 4,589