The Spectre (song)

"The Spectre" is a song by Norwegian record producer and DJ Alan Walker incorporating uncredited vocals provided by Norwegian songwriter and producer Jesper Borgen. It was composed by Jesper Borgen, Alan Walker, Marcus Arnbekk, Mood Melodies and Lars Kristian Rosness, with production handled by the latter four, and lyrics written by all composers as well as Tommy La Verdi and Gunnar Greve. The Spectre has a tempo of 128 BPM, is in the key of C♯ minor, and lasts for 3 minutes and 13 seconds.^[2] The song was released via Mer Musikk on 15 September 2017.

"The Spectre"
Single by Alan Walker
Released	15 September 2017 (2017-09-15)
Recorded	2016
Genre	Electro house ^[1]
Length	3:13
Label	Mer Musikk
Composer(s)	Alan Walker Marcus Arnbekk Anders Frøen Lars Kristian Rosness Jesper Borgen
Lyricist(s)	Anders Frøen Alan Walker Jesper Borgen Tommy Laverdi Gunnar Greve Lars Kristian Rosness Marcus Arnbekk
Producer(s)	Mood Melodies Marcus Arnbekk Lars Kristian Rosness Alan Walker
Alan Walker singles chronology
"Tired" (2017) "The Spectre" (2017) "All Falls Down" (2017)
Audio sample
"The Spectre" file help
Music video
"The Spectre" on YouTube

Background

"The Spectre" is a vocal remake of Walker's 2015 single "Spectre", which was released through NoCopyrightSounds on 6 January 2015. On 22 December 2016, Walker debuted the song during the live show "Alan Walker is Heading Home", in his hometown Bergen, Norway.^[3] He has included the song in his live sets months ahead of the song's release,^[4] as well as playing a revised version of the song on the main stage at Tomorrowland Belgium 2017.^[5] In an interview with Dance Music Northwest, Walker described the song as "a newer version of my old song Spectre", similar to "what I did with 'Fade' to 'Faded'".^[6] Walker said of the song in a press release: "The reactions and feedback from people have been truly amazing, I'm very excited that's it's now being released officially. It's a song that I specifically want to dedicate to my core fans who've been following me since the start." The song is also known among the Roblox community due to its frequent use in some classic tycoon games.^[7][8]

Critical reception

Your EDM felt the song "contains all of the common Alan Walker elements that international EDM fans have come to find and love", including "the sound design, faint dreamy vocals, the anthemic drop, and the patented Alan Walker lead". Comparing to "Faded", they deemed it "a sleeker, more refined record".^[9] In 2022, the official music video accomplished 1 billion streams on YouTube, making it Walker's 3rd single to accomplish this milestone. In September 2023, the song went viral on TikTok, with a picture of a 'blue smurf cat' being displayed with the song playing at the point where Borgen sings; "We live, we love, we lie," even spanning a song dedicated to the meme written by YouTuber CG5 (“we live we love we lie”) that remixes the song with the smurf cat.^[10][11][12] Alan Walker himself then responded the meme by uploading multiple TikToks that includes him reacting to several 'blue smurf cat' videos and uploading a TikTok where he calls it his 'friend'. ^{[13][better source needed]}

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[14]

• Alan Walker – songwriting, production
• Marcus Arnbekk – songwriting, production
• Mood Melodies – songwriting, production
• Lars Kristian Rosness – songwriting, production
• Jesper Borgen – songwriting, vocals
• Tommy La Verdi – lyrics
• Gunnar Greve – lyrics, executive production
• Sören von Malmborg – mastering engineering
• Fredrik Borch Olsen – co-production

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "The Spectre" Chart (2017–18) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[15] 14 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)^[16] 30 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)^[17] 57 Germany (Official German Charts)^[18] 50 Hungary (Single Top 40)^[19] 32 Italy (Musica e Dischi)^[20] 25 Mexico Airplay (Billboard)^[21] 31 Norway (VG-lista)^[22] 5 Philippines (Philippine Hot 100)^[23] 65 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)^[24] 7 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)^[25] 76 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)^[26] 97 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[27] 22 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[28] 13 Switzerland (Media Control Romandy)^[29] 8 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)^[30] 24 Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "The Spectre" Chart (2018) Position US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)^[31] 83 Certifications Certifications and sales for "The Spectre" Region Certification Certified units/sales Austria (IFPI Austria)^[32] Platinum 30,000^‡ Denmark (IFPI Danmark)^[33] Gold 45,000^‡ Germany (BVMI)^[34] Gold 200,000^‡ Italy (FIMI)^[35] Gold 25,000^‡ Mexico (AMPROFON)^[36] Platinum 60,000^‡ Poland (ZPAV)^[37] Platinum 50,000^‡ Sweden (GLF)^[38] Platinum 40,000^‡ ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. References Alan Walker dedicates new rework of “The Spectre” to his core fans "Key, tempo of Spectre By Alan Walker | Musicstax". musicstax.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10. "Alan Walker is Heading Home Bergen, Norway 2016 - Live Tracklist". Live Tracklist. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Rajrishi, Murthi (15 September 2017). "Alan Walker Shares Brand New Single, 'The Spectre'". Bangin Beats. Retrieved 16 September 2017. "Alan Walker @ Tomorrowland Belgium 2017 (Main Stage) - Live Tracklist". Live Tracklist. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Tingting, Wu (13 July 2017). "Alan Walker: "When I am working on new songs I try to not compare it to Faded"". Dance Music Northwest. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Kat, Bein (15 September 2017). "Alan Walker Celebrates His Day Ones on 'The Spectre': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Stevo (15 September 2017). "Alan Walker Releases A Remake Of His Popular Single From 2015". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 16 September 2017. "Alan Walker's New Single Is The Quintessential Follow Up To "Faded" [LISTEN]". Your EDM. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2022-09-25. Buckler, Nicole (2023-09-12). "шайлушай: What is the Cat Smurf Trend on TikTok? And why is Shailushai so Cueird?". The Chainsaw. Retrieved 2023-09-13. "Шайлушай / Smurf Cat". Know Your Meme. 2023-08-31. Retrieved 2023-09-13. "What Does 'Шайлушай' Mean? The Russian 'Smurf Cat' Meme Taking Over TikTok Explained". Know Your Meme. 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-13. "TikTok - Make Your Day". www.tiktok.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17. "The Spectre / Alan Walker TIDAL". Tidal. Retrieved 16 September 2017. "Alan Walker – The Spectre" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 27 September 2017. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201803 into search. Retrieved 22 January 2018. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201805 into search. Retrieved 6 February 2018. "Alan Walker – The Spectre" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 22 September 2017. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 2 November 2017. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 20 June 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Titolo" field, search "The spectre". "Mexico Airplay: Oct 28, 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 16 May 2018. . VG-lista. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2017. "BillboardPH Hot 100". Billboard Philippines. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 11 December 2017. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201744 into search. Retrieved 7 November 2017. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201744 into search. Retrieved 7 November 2017. "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 29 September 2017. "Alan Walker – The Spectre". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 September 2017. "Alan Walker – The Spectre" (in French). Media Control. "Alan Walker Chart History (Hot Dance/Electronic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 January 2018. "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved 14 August 2019. "Austrian single certifications – Alan Walker – The Spectre" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 16 November 2022. "Danish single certifications – Alan Walker – The Spectre". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 1 October 2021. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alan Walker; 'The Spectre')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 8 April 2022. "Italian single certifications – Alan Walker – The Spectre" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "The Spectre" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione". "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 23 May 2020. Type Alan Walker in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and The Spectre in the box under the TÍTULO column heading. "OLiS - oficjalna lista wyróżnień" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 June 2023. Click "TYTUŁ" and enter The Spectre in the search box. . IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2020.