"We Are the People" was the first and only top 40 single from Feeder's sixth studio album, Silent Cry. The single was released on 9 June 2008, receiving its first radio play on Kerrang! Radio, two months before on 14 April. It charted at #25 in the UK becoming Feeder's landmark 20th top 40 single, but also their last to date after follow-up "Tracing Lines / Silent Cry" missed the top 200 alongside being their least successful lead single from any of their albums since 1999. "We Are the People" is also the first Feeder single since 1997's "Crash", to miss the BBC Radio 1 playlist and also the first of their singles since that one to only spend one week on the UK top 75. It was included on XFM's top 100 tracks of 2008 list.
Composition
The album version ends with a coda entitled "We are One" which according to a US promo CD from February 2008 was meant to be a standalone track on what was to become Silent Cry. The single edit fades out before this section begins and shortens some of the instrumental sections after the second chorus.
Music video
-based radio stationXFM, ran a competition for an extra to appear in the video. The winner had to be available at a London West End address, with the details disclosed to them. In a blog posted by the bands then drummer Mark Richardson on their official website, it was revealed the director used the traditional blue screen chroma key technique. The video involves a mysterious hooded character, their face hidden in darkness. At the beginning of the video the mysterious character walks past singer Grant Nicholas, from this point Grant disappears and the person in the hood displays the face of Grant Nicholas. As the video goes on he continues to display the faces of everyone whom the mysterious character walks past, the faces constantly change as the character sings. The video ends with this hooded figure throwing all the faces in the air as he watches them float to the ground as if made from paper, the face of Grant Nicholas floats to the ground at the end of the video. Bassist Taka Hirose and Mark also make an appearance. The video has been given heavy criticism for being weak in its themes and ideas. The Video is directed by David Mould. Some of the people who made an appearance within the video were competition winners, including some who knew the band through working for them at the time.
