Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Background and composition  





2 Music video  





3 Charts  



3.1  Weekly charts  





3.2  Year-end charts  







4 Certifications  





5 References  





6 External links  














The Less I Know the Better






Español
Français
עברית
Nederlands
Polski
Português
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


"The Less I Know the Better"
SinglebyTame Impala
from the album Currents
Released29 November 2015 (2015-11-29)[1]
RecordedKevin Parker's home studio
(Fremantle, Western Australia)
Genre
Length3:39
Label
Songwriter(s)Kevin Parker
Producer(s)Kevin Parker
Tame Impala singles chronology
"Eventually"
(2015)
"The Less I Know the Better"
(2015)
"Patience"
(2019)
Music video
"The Less I Know the Better"onYouTube

"The Less I Know the Better" is a song released by the Australian music project Tame Impala on 29 November 2015 as the fourth and final single from their third studio album, Currents. The song's accompanying music video mixes hand-drawn animation with live action and takes place in a high school, especially the gym and locker room, where a male basketball player suffers a broken heart.

In 2016, the song peaked at number 23 on the Belgian Flanders singles chart, number 66 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and number 195 on the French Singles Chart. In the US, the song charted at number 35 on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart.

The song, along with "Let It Happen", was one of two singles from Currents to reach the top five in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2015, ranking at number 4, whilst "Let It Happen" ranked at number 5.

It also topped Triple J's Hottest 100 of the 2010s in March 2020. The week after reaching #1 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of the 2010s, the song entered the ARIA Top 50 for the first time, charting 49 places higher than its previous peak of #66.[5]

In May 2021, APRA AMCOS confirmed the song surpassed one billion streams.[6]

Background and composition[edit]

Parker stated that "The Less I Know the Better" originated from his love of disco:

That song originally I thought shouldn't be on a Tame Impala album, because it has this dorky, white disco funk. I wouldn't call it cheesy, but it's not trying to be too cool, because the lyrics are pretty dorky and the groove is pretty dorky. But at the same time, for me, I love that kind of music. I don't know why, but I've been obsessed with disco for the last year or two.[7]

According to Parker, recording the song became obsessive. He recalled performing over 1,057 partial vocal takes for either "The Less I Know the Better" or the album's second single, "'Cause I'm a Man", though he could not recall which.[8]

Sheet music for the song shows the key of C# minor (C#m).[9]

Music video[edit]

The official music video for the song was uploaded on 29 November 2015 to the group's Vevo channel. The video follows a male high school basketball player lusting after a cheerleader, who soon begins a relationship with the team's gorilla mascot (named "Trevor", a reference to the lyric "She was holding hands with Trevor" in the song).[10] The music video was filmed by the Barcelona-based creative collective and directors known as Canada.[11] The two primary lovebirds in the video are played by Spanish actors: the cheerleader is portrayed by actress Laia Manzanares;[12] the basketball player by actor Albert Baró.[13]

Lars Brandle of Billboard described it as "a strange tale of high school lust and jealousy (and King Kong) played out in a technicolor trip", while Luke Saunders of Happy Mag called it a "seriously incredible experience".[14]

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[25] 5× Platinum 350,000
Belgium (BEA)[26] Gold 20,000
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 40,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[28] Platinum 90,000
Germany (BVMI)[29] Gold 200,000
Italy (FIMI)[30] Platinum 100,000
Poland (ZPAV)[31] 2× Platinum 100,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32] Platinum 60,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] 2× Platinum 1,200,000
United States (RIAA)[34] 4× Platinum 4,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tame Impala - "The Less I Know The Better"". Interscope Records. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016.
  • ^ The following sources refer to the song as disco:
  • DeVille, Chris (1 July 2015). "Yes I'm Changing: The Bold Metamorphosis Of Tame Impala's Currents". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  • Collins, Simon (13 November 2015). "Parker tames Impala nerves". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  • ^ Kane, Siobhan (27 July 2015). "Album of the week: Tame Impala: Currents". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  • ^ The following sources refer to the song as psychedelic pop:
  • ^ Bruce, Dave (21 March 2020). "Official ARIA Charts News for 23-29 March 2020". Amnplify. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  • ^ "Tame Impala's "The Less I Know the Better" clocks up 1 billion streams". The Music Network. 3 May 2021. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  • ^ Matt Fink (April 2015). "Tame Impala: The Ocean Inside". Under the Radar (Digital Edition). No. 53. pp. 103–105.
  • ^ "Kevin Parker tells us 11 amazing insights about Tame Impala's Currents". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0169024
  • ^ Matthew Strauss (26 November 2015). "Tame Impala Share "The Less I Know the Better" Video". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ Lars Brandle (27 November 2015). "Tame Impala Share "The Less I Know the Better" Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ "The 113 best songs of the past decade, ranked". Insider. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  • ^ Albert Baró Archived 2017-12-06 at the Wayback Machine, ruthfranco
  • ^ Saunders, Luke (5 October 2019). "Most psychedelic sensory overload music videos on Youtube". Happy Mag. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  • ^ Ryan, Gavin (6 February 2016). "ARIA Singles: Zayn 'Pillowtalk' Is No 1". Noise11. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ "Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ "Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201617 into search. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  • ^ "Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ "2019 50-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100) - Agata" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  • ^ "Tame Impala Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  • ^ "Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  • ^ "Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  • ^ "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  • ^ "ARIA Top 20 Australian Singles for week of 3 May 2021". Australian Recording Industry Association. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  • ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – singles 2021". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  • ^ "Canadian single certifications – Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better". Music Canada. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  • ^ "Danish single certifications – Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  • ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Tame Impala; 'The Less I Know the Better')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  • ^ "Italian single certifications – Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  • ^ "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2021 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  • ^ "Spanish single certifications – Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  • ^ "British single certifications – Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  • ^ "American single certifications – Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  • External links[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Less_I_Know_the_Better&oldid=1233537387"

    Categories: 
    2015 singles
    2015 songs
    Tame Impala songs
    Disco songs
    Funk songs
    Modular Recordings singles
    Song recordings produced by Kevin Parker (musician)
    Songs written by Kevin Parker (musician)
    Hidden categories: 
    Webarchive template wayback links
    CS1 Lithuanian-language sources (lt)
    CS1 German-language sources (de)
    CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
    CS1 Polish-language sources (pl)
    Articles with short description
    Short description is different from Wikidata
    Articles with hAudio microformats
    Single chart usages for Flanders
    Single chart usages for Wallonia Tip
    Single chart usages for Czech Republic
    Single chart called without artist
    Single chart called without song
    Single chart usages for France
    Single chart usages for Billboardrocksongs
    Single chart usages for Australia
    Certification Table Entry usages for Australia
    Pages using certification Table Entry with streaming figures
    Certification Table Entry usages for Belgium
    Certification Table Entry usages for Canada
    Certification Table Entry usages for Denmark
    Certification Table Entry usages for Germany
    Certification Table Entry usages for Italy
    Certification Table Entry usages for Poland
    Certification Table Entry usages for Spain
    Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom
    Certification Table Entry usages for United States
    Pages using certification Table Entry with streaming footnote
    Articles with MusicBrainz release group identifiers
    Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers
     



    This page was last edited on 9 July 2024, at 16:15 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki