In the Night (song)


"In the Night" is a song by Canadian singer The Weeknd from his second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness. The song was written by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Ali Payami, Savan Kotecha, Max Martin and Peter Svensson. It was produced by Max Martin and Ali Payami with The Weeknd serving as co-producer. The song was released to contemporary hit radio as the album's fourth single on November 17, 2015.

Composition

The song is written in the key of A minor in compound meter with a moderate tempo of 112 beats per minute. Tesfaye's vocals span from E4 to D6 in the song.

Critical reception

The song was well received by critics. Like The Weeknd's previous collaboration with Max Martin, "Can't Feel My Face", it has been widely compared to works by Michael Jackson. Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone wrote "Sometimes, the album stirs up real drama. 'In the Night' could be just one more 'Dirty Diana'-style ode to a predatory babe — until we learn the woman in the song is the victim of abuse, 'dancing to relieve the pain.'" Harley Brown of Spin wrote that the song "comes the closest to the wall-scaling studio and automobile airwave euphoria of 'Can't Feel My Face', ratcheting up to background synths on the scope of '80s spectacles like 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World.'" He adds, "The real star here is, as usual, his voice, tapping at the uppermost fragile glass of his register without quite breaking it".

Music video

The song's music video, directed by BRTHR, was released on December 8, 2015, and features Tesfaye's then-girlfriend, fashion model Bella Hadid. It depicts Hadid as a waitress at a seedy nightclub of dancers frequented by dangerous gangsters. The leading gangster takes a particular liking to the waitress, as Tesfaye's character watches helplessly as she and the dancers are taken advantage of by gangsters. The clip grows increasingly disorienting, building to a chaotic sequence in which the waitress and her fellow dancers finally kill off the gangsters. The leading gangster, however, tracks down Tesfaye's character in the final scene, placing a gun to his head — but is saved by who appears to be the waitress, who kills the gangster, before the two ride off on a motorcycle. The video ends with the dancers dragging a gangster's corpse into a sea, with shaky camera footage, as the screen goes to black. A shortened version of the video was released on February 14, 2016. As of June 2020, the full music video has surpassed over 69 million views on YouTube.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history