Payphone (song)

Did You Know?

• The clean version of the song replaces the profanity "shit" and "fucking" with "it" and "stupid."
• A cover of the song by Precision Tunes was released for digital download in April 2012.
• The song's instrumentation includes funk guitars, bass and synths.

Background

The song was written by Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine, along with Ammar Malik, Robopop, Benny Blanco, Shellback, and Wiz Khalifa, while production, programming, additional bass, keys, acoustic guitars and background vocals were provided by Shellback and Blanco. The writing process started when Malik and Robopop constructed a piano line and demo track that Blanco compiled into a proper melody, which was then given to Levine to write the lyrics.

Blanco wanted to add hip-hop flavor to the band's sound and commissioned Wiz Khalifa to write and rap a verse on the track. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Blanco stated that five minutes before Khalifa arrived at the studio, he prepared the sound beds for the finger snap-driven portion of the jam. Producer Max Martin, executive producer of Overexposed, adjusted the chorus because he felt it should be a little different. Shellback recorded the song at Conway Studios in Los Angeles alongside Noah "Mailbox" Pasovoy, while Eric Eylands served as the assistant engineer.

John Hanes mixed the song at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach and Phil Seaford was the mixing assistant. The song was released as a lead single on April 16, 2012 in the United States, and digitally in most territories on April 17. A&M Octone Records serviced it to contemporary hit radio in the US on April 24.

Critical reception

"Payphone" received positive reviews from music critics. Crystal Bell from Huffington Post called it "definitely one of the band's most pop-y singles to date." Robbie Daw from Idolator wrote that the song is "extremely Top 40-friendly." Melinda Newman from HitFix described it as a straight-ahead pop ditty that is melodic and catchy but not overly aggressive.

Rick Florino of Artist Direct commented that the song "merges one of the band's biggest hooks with clever lines." Robert Copsey from Digital Spy described it as "a shining example as an addictive head-nodder." Chris Payne from Billboard wrote that the pop/R&B fling is far from a classic Maroon 5 cut yet serves as a testament to the band's continued rebranding. A mixed review came from Entertainment Weekly's Marc Snetiker, who commented that it is easy to replace the band's signature electronic meta-funk with any boy band's impish members, but concluded that it is catchy, infectious, and overwhelmingly mellow.

Fraser McAlpine from BBC Music criticized Levine's voice, writing that he fires up that nasal yelp as soon as the song begins and does not let up until the fadeout, and noted that Wiz Khalifa gets more space at the front of the stage than the rest of the band.

Chart performance

In the United States, the song debuted on the Pop Songs chart at number 21, making it the highest-charting debut by a group since 'N Sync's "Pop" debuted at the same position in June 2001. On the Adult Pop Songs chart, it debuted at number 17, the highest-ever debut by a group and the third-highest overall, and later topped that chart, becoming their fifth leader. The song sold 493,000 digital downloads in its first week and debuted at number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, the best sales week ever for a digital song by a group, surpassing Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" which sold 464,000 units in April 2009.

It debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated May 5, 2012, and peaked at number two on the chart dated May 26, 2012, staying there for six non-consecutive weeks, blocked from the top spot by Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe. On its 18th week in the top ten, it dropped to number seven, and it spent its first 19 weeks in the top ten. Over 5 million copies had been sold in the United States by March 2013, and as of June 2014, it had sold 5,510,000 copies in the US.

Music video

The "Payphone" music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, was filmed over two days in mid-April 2012. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 was seen on set using a payphone in Los Angeles, running from police alongside model Bregje Heinen, and racing off in a vintage sports car. Levine plays a bank employee, a role he found challenging because, as he put it, his character lacks self-confidence—a stark contrast to his own personality. The video debuted on E! on May 9, 2012, and hit Vevo the following day.

Its action sequences drew comparisons to films like The Matrix, The Dark Knight, and Die Hard, as well as the video game Payday: The Heist. The car featured, a custom 1967 Shelby Cobra, was a kit-car assembled by enthusiast Jim Fletcher from Fresno, California. The clip opens with a flash-forward: a worn-out Levine sets his car on fire and makes a call from a payphone. The story then rewinds to a routine day at a Las Vegas bank, where chaos erupts when robbers storm in—some played by Levine’s bandmates.

Levine snatches a gun from one intruder and flees with his coworker Sonya (Heinen), despite being shot in the arm. Mistaken for a criminal by police, he commandeers an AC Cobra 427 owned by Wiz Khalifa and leads a car chase. He causes a massive explosion that takes out a police cruiser. Eventually reaching Los Angeles, he passes the spot where Khalifa performed his rap verse.

After stepping out, the Cobra explodes, and Levine stumbles into a phone booth, likely to call for help or Sonya, tying back to the opening scene.