Fake It (Seether Song)

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
"Fake It"
Single by Seether
from the album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
Released28 August 2007
Recorded2006–2007
Length3:16
LabelWind-up
Songwriters
ProducerHoward Benson
Seether singles chronology
"The Gift"
(2006)		 "Fake It"
(2007)		 "Rise Above This"
(2008)
Music video
"Fake It" on YouTube

"Fake It" is a song by the South African rock band Seether. It is the first single from the band's album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. The single quickly rose to number one on both the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts. It also reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, the second highest of their singles after "Broken", which reached number 20. The single was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA, silver by the BPI, and 2× platinum by the RMNZ.[1][2][3]

The original version of the song was first recorded in singer Shaun Morgan's bedroom and was an iTunes exclusive bonus track named "Quirk," included with pre-orders of Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces.

In May 2021, for the 40th anniversary of Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, Billboard ranked "Fake It" at number 10 on its list of the 100 most successful songs in the chart's history;[4][5] in September 2023, the magazine ranked the song at number 93 on a similar retrospective list for the 35th anniversary of Hot Modern Rock Tracks (which by then had been renamed to Alternative Airplay).[6][7]

Music video

The music video, which was directed by Tony Petrossian, debuted on Seether's website as part of a "worldwide fan premiere" on October 23, 2007, the same day the album was released. It shows Shaun Morgan filming a music video on a plane set, with women dancing seductively around him. It then goes on to show the band playing in a snowy clearing and an industrial looking arena surrounded by fans. Each setting is then inundated with various parts of the others, such as having the scantily clad models from the plane dance through the snowy clearing, revealing all the various music video tropes to be faked in some way, through the use of props, bluescreen, or computer manipulation, reflecting the theme of the lyrics.

Usage in media

"Fake It" was announced to be the official theme song of the 2008 WWE No Way Out pay-per-view event that took place on 17 February 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada.[8] It also appears on the soundtrack in the video game Burnout Paradise.[9] On 8 June 2010, it was released in the Rock Band Network for Rock Band 2, but was later released as official Rock Band 4 DLC on 19 July 2018. It was also featured as Rocksmith 2014 DLC on 10 February 2015 in the Seether song pack.[10]

Personnel

  • Shaun Morgan – lead vocals, guitar
  • Dale Stewart – bass, backing vocals
  • John Humphrey – drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Fake It"
Chart (2007–2008) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 49
Canada Hot 100 (Billboard)[12] 38
Canada Rock (Billboard)[13] 1
Czech Republic Rock (IFPI)[14] 6
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15] 14
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 56
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[17] 1
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[18] 1
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[19] 59

Year-end charts

2007 year-end chart performance for "Fake It"
Chart (2007) Position
US Mainstream Rock Songs (Billboard)[20] 27
2008 year-end chart performance for "Fake It"
Chart (2008) Position
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[21] 5
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[22] 4

Certifications

Certifications for "Fake It"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[3] 2× Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[2] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[1] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. "American single certifications – Seether – Fake It". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  2. "British single certifications – Seether – Fake It". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 February 2024. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Fake It Seether in the "Search:" field.
  3. "New Zealand single certifications – Seether – Fake It". Radioscope. Retrieved 24 December 2024. Type Fake It in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  4. Rutherford, Kevin. "Shinedown & Days of the New Rule Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Charts". Billboard. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  5. "Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. Rutherford, Kevin (7 September 2023). "Alternative Airplay Chart's 35th Anniversary: Foo Fighters Remain No. 1 Act, 'Monsters' New Top Song". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  7. "Greatest of All Time Alternative Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  8. WWE: TV Shows > No Way Out
  9. "PRO Focus: Top 10 Songs Featured in Racing Games ~ ProGamist". Archived from the original on 10 October 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011., Top 10 songs featured in racing games - progamist.com (20 August 2011)
  10. "Rocksmith 2014 DLC 2/10/2015 – Seether - the Riff Repeater". 9 February 2015.
  11. "Seether – Fake It". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  12. "Seether Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  13. "Seether Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  14. "CZ - Radio - Top 20 Modern Rock". hitparada.ifpicr.cz. Archived from the original (select "Top 20 Modern Rock" into the search box, then select "200817") on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  15. "Seether – Fake It". Top 40 Singles.
  16. "Seether Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. "Seether Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  18. "Seether Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  19. "Seether - Awards - Billboard singles". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
  20. "Mainstream Rock Songs – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  21. "Year-End Charts: Alternative Airplay Songs (2008)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  22. "Year-End Charts: Mainstream Rock Songs (2008)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2026.