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"SOS"
Single by Rihanna from the album A Girl like Me
Released	March 7, 2006 (U.S.)
Format	12" maxi single, digital download, CD single
Recorded	2006
Genre	Dance-pop, electronica
Length	4:00
Label	Def Jam/SRP
Writer	J. R. Rotem, Evan "Kidd" Bogart, Ed Cobb
Producer	J. R. Rotem
Rihanna singles chronology
"If It's Lovin' That You Want" (2005) "SOS" (2006) "Unfaithful" (2006)
Rihanna Japan singles chronology
"Let Me" (2006)	"SOS" (2006)	"Unfaithful" (2006)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"SOS," also known as "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)," is a dance-pop/electronica song written by Evan "Kidd" Bogart, Ed Cobb, and J. R. Rotem for Rihanna's second studio album, A Girl like Me (2006). It samples the main synth hook from Soft Cell's 1981 single "Tainted Love," and was released as the album's lead single in 2006 (see 2006 in music). The song reached number one in Australia and the United States and the top five in bigger music markets such as Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Writing and recording 2 Music video 3 Chart performance 4 Formats and track listing 5 Charts 6 External links 7 References

The song was primarily written by producer J. R. Rotem and Evan "Kidd" Bogart, son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart. Label mate Christina Milian was originally asked to record the song for her third album, So Amazing, but the singer turned it down and Island Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid instead offered "SOS" to Rihanna. Christina commented that the song was too "pop" for an R&B artist and wasn't asked to record which she confirmed in her official forum.^[1][2]

"SOS" features a sample of the classic 1981 tune "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. Some of the lines are taken from or inspired by the original song, including "I toss and turn, I can't sleep at night". Other pop classics from the 80's are referenced in the song's second verse; a-ha's "Take on Me," Cutting Crew's "I Just Died In Your Arms," Modern English's "I Melt with You," The Go-Go's "Head Over Heels," Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," and Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel."

The song's theme is based around the song's protagonist crying out for help as she becomes besotted with a lover mentioned in the song. Because she is unaccustomed to feeling this way, she believes that she is out of character, and states "'cause you on my mind, it's got me losing it." Remixes were provided by Jason Nevins, who has produced remixes for artists such as Madonna, Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, Kelly Clarkson, LL Cool J and Pink.

The song spwaned three music videos; one of them being a Agent Provocateur promotional video which features Rihanna walking into a hotel which turns into a nightclub. Another promotional video was done for Nike, featuring a dance contest in a gym. The official version was shot for music and music-related television stations and premiered on MTV's Total Request Live and MuchMusic's MuchOnDemand on March 23, 2006. The video reached number one on Total Request Live for the first time on April 14, 2006 and stayed on the countdown for twenty days.

In this clip, directed by Chris Applebaum, Rihanna wears a bikini and the video has her telling a guy she's going to call for help due to the desperate feelings caused by their relationship. She also uses a Nokia 7370 cellular phone, and she apparently seems to be listening to "Pon De Replay," and "Tainted Love," the song sampled in "SOS", as Soft Cell's album cover can be seen on the display.

In the United States, "SOS" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Pop 100, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Airplay, Hot Digital Songs and Hot Digital Tracks; the track also hit number two on the Pop 100 Airplay, but could not get past the massive airplay of Sean Paul's single "Temperature". The track was made available as a digital download upon the release of the album and its first week of digital sales prompted a dramatic jump from number thirty-four to number one, one of the biggest jumps to the number one position in Billboard history. The reason for the large jump was that "SOS" was kept off of most digital download services until her album was released to stimulate more album sales.

Outside the U.S., "SOS" became Rihanna's second number-one hit in Australia, New Zealand, and on a composite United World Chart. It stayed at the top for eight consecutive weeks, making it the singer's biggest hit in Australia. The song also hit the top ten on the Dutch, German, Italian, and UK singles charts.

"SOS" was removed from the UK charts after thirteen weeks due to the fact that there was a remix of "SOS" contained on the "Unfaithful" single. Due to UK chart rules, a new single can not have a remix of a previous single if the original song is still charting. This is why the song left the charts at the number twenty-seven position. However, the song was still a smash hit, being the UK's ninth best-selling single of the year.^[3]

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "SOS". Ironically, in some formats, "Break It Off" was released as the B-side to "SOS," even though it ended up being released as a single on its own later on.

• Canadian/U.S. CD Maxi-single

1. "SOS" [Radio Edit]
2. "SOS" [Nevin's Electrotek Club Mix]
3. "Break It Off" (with Sean Paul)
4. "SOS" (CD-ROM Video)

• UK CD single

1. "SOS" [Radio Edit]
2. "SOS" [Nevin's Glam Club Mix]

• iTunes (International) Version

1. "SOS" [Radio Edit]
2. "SOS" (Instrumental)
3. "Break It Off" (with Sean Paul)
4. "Let Me"

• European/Australian Version

1. "SOS"
2. "Let Me"

Chart (2006)[4][5] Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart 1 Austrian Singles Chart 4 Belgian Singles Chart 2 Canadian Singles Chart 2 Dutch Top 40 4 Finnish Singles Chart 3 French Singles Chart 12 German Singles Chart 2 Irish Singles Chart 3 Israeli Singles Chart 2 Italian Singles Chart 7

Chart (2006)[4][5] Peak position New Zealand Singles Chart 1 Norwegian Singles Chart 3 Swedish Singles Chart 12 Swiss Singles Chart 3 UK Singles Chart 2 United World Chart 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary 40 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 U.S. Billboard Pop 100 1

Preceded by "Forever Young" by Youth Group	ARIA (Australia) number one single April 23, 2006 - June 11, 2006	Succeeded by "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
Preceded by "Stupid Girls" by P!nk	United World Chart number-one single May 7, 2006 - May 21, 2006
Preceded by "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single May 13, 2006- May 27, 2006	Succeeded by "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone
Preceded by "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige	Billboard Hot Dance Airplay number-one single April 17-June 19, 2006	Succeeded by "What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey
Preceded by "It Makes a Difference" by Kim English	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single May 13, 2006	Succeeded by "I Want More (Cling on to Me)" by Amuka

• Rihanna "SOS" Music Video

v • d • e Rihanna
Albums	Music of the Sun · A Girl like Me · Good Girl Gone Bad
Singles	"Pon de Replay" · "If It's Lovin' That You Want" · "SOS" · "Unfaithful" · "We Ride" · "Break It Off" · "Umbrella" · "Shut Up and Drive" · "Don't Stop the Music" · "Hate That I Love You" · "Breakin' Dishes"
Related articles	Discography · Awards and nominations · Good Girl Gone Bad Tour