Astounded (Bran Van 3000 song)


"Astounded" is a song by Canadian musical collective Bran Van 3000 featuring vocals from American artist Curtis Mayfield. The song contains interpolations from Mayfield's song "Move On Up" and also contains a sample and an interpolated melody of The Doobie Brothers' "Rockin' Down the Highway".
The song was first released for download on Bran Van 3000's website in January 2001. It was then officially released in May 2001 as the lead single from their second studio album, Discosis. The single was very successful in Canada, receiving heavy airplay on MuchMusic and reaching number three on the Canadian Singles Chart. Outside Canada, "Astounded" was not as successful, reaching the top 40 only in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; in the latter country, it reached number two on the UK Dance Chart becoming the band's only hit on that chart. The song was ranked number 19 on MuchMore's list of Top 50 Dance Songs.

Background

Bran Van 3000 member James Di Salvio approached Curtis Mayfield with the idea of collaborating months before his death in 1999. Mayfield was too ill to contribute a vocal, but just weeks before his death, he gave Di Salvio permission to pull through his archives, which is where he discovered an unused vocal Mayfield recorded in the 1980s. With Mayfield's permission, that vocal was incorporated into "Astounded."

Music video

The music video was directed by Paul Street and premiered in May 2001. The entire video focuses on a couple french kissing and features shots of Montreal with the Olympic Stadium in the background.
The video features a cameo by Benicio Del Toro.

Track listing

Europe maxi single
  1. Astounded - 3:56
  2. Astounded - 5:58
  3. Astounded - 3:49
  4. Astounded - 3:50

    Charts

In popular culture

The song is featured on the soundtrack of the EA Sports video game, FIFA Street 2.