Dakota

Dakota keeps its harmonic palette narrow by design. The I–V–vi–IV cycle in D major runs almost unbroken from start to finish, and that repetition is the point: Kelly Jones and producer Jim Lowe stack dynamics and guitar tone where other writers might reach for a bridge chord or a key change. The song's anthemic quality comes from commitment to the loop, not from harmonic variety.

Kelly Jones began writing the music for 'Dakota' in January 2004 while staying in a Paris hotel during Stereophonics' promotional tour for You Gotta Go There to Come Back. Convinced he had something significant, Jones texted the head of V2 Records — the only time he has ever done so — to say he thought he had a big song. A month later, on tour in the United States, he wrote the lyrics in Vermillion, South Dakota, and the track's working title was 'Vermillion'. After Slipknot released a song of that name from their third album and Mercury Rev included their own 'Vermillion' on their sixth album, the band renamed the track 'Dakota', after the Dakota apartment building in New York City.

Released in February 2005 as the lead single from Language. Sex. Violence. Other?, 'Dakota' gave Stereophonics their commercial peak in the UK and cracked US alternative rock radio for the first time. The song's anthemic momentum and its repeated 'take a look at me now' hook drove it to the top of the UK Singles Chart — the band's first and only number one — while its run on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks made it their sole American chart entry.