Light Years Away (G.E.M. song)
| "Light Years Away" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Single cover | ||||
| Single by G.E.M. | ||||
| Language | Mandarin | |||
| Released | 30 December 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2016 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:55 | |||
| Label | Hummingbird Music | |||
| Songwriter(s) | G.E.M. | |||
| Producer(s) | Lupo Groinig | |||
| G.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Light Years Away" on YouTube | ||||
"Light Years Away" (Chinese: 光年之外; pinyin: Guāngnián zhī wài) is a song recorded by Hong Kong singer-songwriter G.E.M., released for digital download and streaming under Hummingbird Music on 30 December 2016. Its lyrics were written by G.E.M. whilst production was handled by her long time collaborator Lupo Groining. "Light Years Away" serves as the Chinese theme song for the American sci-fi film Passengers (2016).
G.E.M. composed the song after watching Passengers multiple times and developed several versions of the piece, which eventually became "Light Years Away." Musically, it is a mid-tempo pop song that incorporates piano and drum instrumentations, while its lyrics contain themes of longing and romance. It received positive reviews from music critics, who praised G.E.M.'s vocal performance and the song's production. It reached number one on the Billboard Radio China Top 10 chart and was ranked number four on its year-end ranking in 2017.
An accompanying music video for "Light Years Away" intersperses scenes from Passengers with shots of G.E.M. performing aboard the Avalon. The video became the first by a Hong Kong artist to reach 100 million views on YouTube, and has since become the most-viewed music video by a Chinese artist on the platform, garnering over 280 million views. The song won several accolades at award ceremonies in Greater China, including Top 10 Songs at the China Music Awards, Migu Music Awards, and MTV Global Mandarin Music Awards.