Song · Imogen Heap
“Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap
From the album Speak for Yourself (2005)
“Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap appears on 11 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2005 and 2025. It was first released in 2005 on the album Speak for Yourself. Its best result is #1 on the WBER Listener Countdown 2006. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #163 alternative song of 2006.
Watch
Video from YouTube (ImogenHeapVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Hide and Seek" was the first single from Imogen Heap's second album, Speak for Yourself, in 2005, and she wrote, produced and sang all of it. There's no band here at all: just her voice, run through a harmonizer and stacked into an eerie, shimmering choir, telling of the raw pain of losing someone to a breakup or a divorce.
It found its audience through television, first in a scene from the second-season finale of The O.C. and then in "The Shooting", the Saturday Night Live parody of that scene, and again in 2020 when Normal People used it. Jason Derulo sampled its bridge for "Whatcha Say" in 2009. Critics have often picked it as Heap's finest song, and NPR later put it on its list of the 200 greatest songs by 21st-century women.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 82 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2005 | 91 |
| 2006 | 1 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2006 | 159 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 190 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 762 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2013 | 171 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2016 | 789 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2018 | 494 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2023 | 666 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 298 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 374 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 80 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
Also listed as: Hide And Seek.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.