“Decode” by Paramore

Paramore’s “Decode” is a song that was written specifically for a sci-fi teenage romance film called Twilight. Said film is based on a novel of the same name that also spawned a very successful book as well as movie series.

And it would appear that Hayley Williams, the primary writer of this piece and lead singer of Paramore, actually has personal knowledge of the franchise, i.e. being a fan. With that understanding she was able to put together a piece based on the relationship between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, the two main characters in Twilight.

Edward, we might as well mention, is a psychic vampire who can read anyone’s mind – except for that of Bella’s. So that’s where we get the concept of “decoding” from, i.e. Edward being tasked to actually figuring out Bella himself as opposed to relying on the easy way out.

And even though the lyrics do not utilize any proper nouns or names, it kinda becomes obvious as they progress that they may be based on a specific relationship, rather than being a more general piece. But again, lack of proper nouns still grants it instant general-applicability status, for those of us who may not be familiar with the Twilight franchise. And in that regard, it reads like the vocalist and addressee are in a tumultuous romantic relationship, one in which the former has doubts all along the way. But her misgivings does not negate the fact that she loves the addressee. And it appears this may be the emotional situation that both of them.

So in a way this is like the perfect movie soundtrack song, as it even makes you want to watch the film to ascertain all of what’s going down.

Facts about “Decode”

Paramore is a band from Tennessee whose self-titled 2013 LP topped both the Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart. “Decode” is a song that can be found on their third studio album, 2009’s Brand New Eyes. But more importantly it served as the lead single from “Twilight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”, with Twilight being the first installment in a film series which has garnered a cult-like following. “Decode” was released as such on 21 October 2008, with its labels being Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. and Fueled by Ramen.

This song was written by the following Paramore members:

• Hayley Williams (vocalists)
• Taylor York (guitarist)
• Josh Farro (guitarist)

At the time this track was dropped, they were joined by drummer Zac Farro and bassist Jeremy Davis.

This track was produced by the entirety of Paramore along with Rob Cavallo.

The director of this song’s official visual, Shane Drake, specializes in music video creation and has worked on numerous occasions with Paramore.

This song charted in a dozen countries and has gone double-platinum in the US, thus ranking it amongst Paramore’s biggest hits. It reached peak positions of #33 and #52 on the Hot 100 and UK Singles, respectively. Furthermore, it was a top-10 hit in Finland, Belgium and France.

This track was also nominated for a Grammy, in 2010, in the Best Song Written for Visual Media (with the award going to “Jai Ho” by A. R. Rahman from Slumdog Millionaire).

“Decode” did not make it onto Spotify, at least not in the U.S., until mid-2021.

The “Brand New Eyes” Album

Paramore had their third studio album with the title, “Brand New Eyes” released on September 25 of 2009.

The rock band partnered with American record producer and executive, Rob Cavallo in producing the album.

“Brand New Eyes” was recorded in Hidden Hills, California and released through the record label, Fueled by Ramen which is owned by Warner Music Group.

175,000 copies of “Brand New Eyes” were sold in the US within its first week of release. In March of 2016, it received a Platinum certification from the RIAA in the US for selling over 1 million copies. It again received a Platinum certification in the UK as well as Australia and had Gold in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and New Zealand.

A song from the album, “The Only Exception” earned a nomination for the award, “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals” at the Grammy Awards in 2012. The song however lost the said award.

“Brand New Eyes” topped album charts in the UK, New Zealand, Ireland and Australia. It was very impressive on top-10’s in a number of countries including:

• US – 2
• Mexico – 7
• Germany – 7
• Finland – 5
• Canada – 3

FYI: “Brand New Eyes” spawned 5 singles. “Decode” wasn’t one of them.