Peak
21
Weeks
30
Score
2,410
Chart Year
2007
There are three different music videos, one for Britain, one for the US, and one animated. The British version, directed by Big TV!, is a simple performance video in which Tunstall and her band play across from another set of Tunstall and her band. The US version, directed by Patrick Daughters features Tunstall in different situations involving a circus in Romania. Filmed in Bucharest, the video was produced by Black Dog Films and serviced by local production company Domino Productions with producer Catalin Neagu. This version aired for a short time in the US and has seemingly been replaced in rotations by the animated version. The animated version, directed by Honey (i.e., the husband-and-wife directorial team of Laura Kelly and Nicholas Brooks), features Tunstall walking around an animated pop-up fantasy world, and engages in activities such as walking up giant guitars, riding miniature trains, and drifting off into space.
This song is inspired by the singer Patti Smith, who also inspired the Eye To The Telescope album cover. Tunstall told The Mail On Sunday's You magazine: "The inspiration for the song was Robert Mapplethorpe's photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of her album Horses. I was staring at it one day thinking it was incredible. It's everything I love about music - mysterious, inviting, frightening." "Suddenly I See" plays in the opening credits of the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. It was also used as the farewell music for female contestants eliminated from the reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance. Other TV uses include Gray's Anatomy and the debut of Ugly Betty. This song won Tunstall the 2006 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. "Suddenly I See" was one of the slowest chart climbers in history. It was on the American Hot 100 chart for 23 weeks before it entered the Top 40. Norwegian Spam wanted to use this song in one of their commercials. Tunstall - a vegetarian - was amused by the request but did not grant them permission to use the song. >> Hilary Clinton used this as her presidential campaign music in 2008. Tunstall recalled to Q magazine March 2011: "She had a competition among her supporters to see what music they wanted, and they chose that. But it's dodgy being involved with these things, particularly at the beginning of someone's potential presidential career, because they can go and royally f--k it up, and you become the soundtrack. I'd prefer to be the song that's played when they leave office and they've been brilliant." Inspired by the Horses album cover, Tunstall desperately wanted to be an artist like Patti Smith. Suddenly I see This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see Why the hell it means so much to me "The chorus was me thinking, 'F---ing hell, that's what I want to be,'" Tunstall told The Guardian. "Not a famous pop star with lots of money, but like this woman who's living her life as an artist. I'd been trying for more than 10 years to be a professional musician. I was just exhausted from trying to persuade other people I was good enough."
Her face is a map of the world Is a map of the world You can see she's a beautiful girl She's a beautiful girl And everything around her is a silver pool of light The people who surround her feel the benefit of it It makes you calm She holds you captivated in her palm Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me (Suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me I feel like walking the world Like walking the world You can hear she's a beautiful girl She's a beautiful girl She fills up every corner like she's born in black and white Makes you feel warmer when you're trying to remember What you heard She likes to leave you hanging on a wire Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me (Suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me And she's taller than most And she's looking at me I can see her eyes looking from the page of a magazine Oh, she makes me feel like I could be a tower A big strong tower, yeah The power to be The power to give The power to see She got the power to be The power to give The power to see, yeah, yeah (Suddenly I see) She got the power to be The power to give The power to see, yeah, yeah (Suddenly I see) She got the power to be The power to give The power to see, yeah, yeah (Suddenly I see) She got the power to be The power to give The power to see, yeah, yeah Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me (Suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me (Suddenly I see) Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me (Suddenly I see) Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 29, 2006 | 88 | 38 |
| 2 | Aug 5, 2006 | 90 | 36 |
| 3 | Aug 12, 2006 | 74 | 52 |
| 4 | Aug 19, 2006 | 71 | 55 |
| 5 | Aug 26, 2006 | 89 | 37 |
| 6 | Sep 2, 2006 | 93 | 33 |
| 7 | Sep 9, 2006 | 89 | 37 |
| 8 | Sep 16, 2006 | 88 | 38 |
| 9 | Sep 23, 2006 | 88 | 38 |
| 10 | Sep 30, 2006 | 77 | 49 |
| 11 | Oct 7, 2006 | 80 | 46 |
| 12 | Oct 14, 2006 | 60 | 66 |
| 13 | Oct 21, 2006 | 72 | 54 |
| 14 | Oct 28, 2006 | 76 | 50 |
| 15 | Nov 4, 2006 | 69 | 57 |
| 16 | Nov 11, 2006 | 60 | 66 |
| 17 | Nov 18, 2006 | 56 | 70 |
| 18 | Nov 25, 2006 | 52 | 74 |
| 19 | Dec 2, 2006 | 45 | 81 |
| 20 | Dec 9, 2006 | 46 | 80 |