Learn English with "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd

The Weeknd — the stage name of Toronto-born Abel Tesfaye — released 'Blinding Lights' on 29 November 2019 through XO and Republic Records, as the second single from his fourth studio album, After Hours (2020). He wrote and produced it together with Swedish hitmaker Max Martin and his longtime collaborator Oscar Holter, with additional writing credits shared with Belly and DaHeala.

Musically, the track is a full embrace of 1980s synth-pop. Critics and journalists immediately pointed to echoes of a-ha's 'Take On Me' and Michael Sembello's 'Maniac' in its driving, gated drums and glossy synthesizer lines, much of it built around the sound of the Roland Juno-60, a synthesizer that defined the decade's pop production.

Commercially, it became The Weeknd's biggest song to date, reaching number one in more than thirty countries, including a ten-week run atop the German chart and an eight-week run in the UK. In the United States, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2020 and went on to break Imagine Dragons' 'Radioactive' record for the longest run inside the chart's top ten, eventually spending 90 weeks there. In November 2021, Billboard named it the number-one song in the entire history of the Hot 100 chart, and by April 2022 it had also been certified Diamond by the RIAA and become the most-streamed song ever on Spotify.

That success made one particular gap impossible to ignore: when nominations for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were announced in November 2020, 'Blinding Lights' and its parent album received no nominations at all. The Weeknd called the decision 'corrupt' on social media, and the public backlash contributed to the Recording Academy later reforming how its nomination review committees worked.

The music video, directed by Anton Tammi, continues the bloodied, red-suited narrative Tesfaye began in Tammi's earlier video for 'Heartless.' Shot over four nights on Fremont Street in Las Vegas and in downtown Los Angeles, wrapping around 6 a.m. each time, it channels the neon chaos of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Casino and Joker — fitting touchstones for an artist who had just made his film debut in Uncut Gems.

For learners, it's a useful entry point into Canadian English: a clear, flap-heavy accent close to General American, delivered here through The Weeknd's breathy falsetto and a lyric built almost entirely from short, high-frequency words about night, speed and obsession.

If you liked this, we recommend:

• Radioactive — Imagine Dragons (American English, the very chart record Blinding Lights broke)
• Levitating — Dua Lipa (British English, the same dance-pop energy in a different accent)
• Total Eclipse of the Heart — Bonnie Tyler (Welsh English, the original 80s synth power ballad this song pays homage to)
• Every Breath You Take — The Police (British English, another classic about watching someone with obsessive love)