"Maps" is a song by American pop-rock band Maroon 5. The song was released on June 16, 2014,^[1][2] as the lead single from their fifth studio album V (2014). The song was written by Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, Benjamin Levin, Noel Zancanella and Ryan Tedder and produced by the latter three. It was also their first single after the return of keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael. "Maps" received mainly positive reviews from music critics, with praise going to the song's melody and chilled-out vibe. However, some criticized the song for being similar to their previous lead single "Payphone", on their last album Overexposed (2012).

The song was a commercial success, reaching number-one in Canada and peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached the top 20 in over 25 countries, including France, Germany and Denmark. On July 1, 2014, a music video for the song premiered on MTV and VH1. It was inspired by the film Irréversible and shows the events that occur in the video in reverse. In August 2014, "Maps" was named Battle of the Summer Jams for 2014 by VH1.^[3]

The remix versions of the song are performed by featured artists, American rapper Big Sean and Colombian singer J Balvin. Another remix version was made by Circuit Jerks and was included on their EP titled EP1 (2016).^[4] The band has performed the song multiple times including the Maroon V Tour (2015–2018), as well as the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards and The Today Show. The song was used in the advertisement for the 2013 film Begin Again, which stars Levine.^[5] It was featured on the television shows Shameless and State of Affairs and the video games Just Dance 2015, Rock Band VR and Fuser.

"Maps" (2014)

A 19-second sample of "Maps"

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The song was written by Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco and Noel Zancanella, and produced by the latter three.^[6] Blanco and Malik have previously teamed with Maroon 5 on the songs "Moves like Jagger" and "Payphone", while Tedder and Zancanella have worked with the group on the songs "Love Somebody" and "Lucky Strike". "Maps" is an up-tempo pop rock track,^[7] composed in the key of C♯ minor (with the main chord progression of A–B–C♯m - both in the verses and the chorus - and F♯m–G♯m-G♯7 in the pre-chorus, according to MusicNotes), that contains a "breezy guitar lick". It marks Maroon 5's further departure from the funkier sound for which the band was originally known.^[2]

Lyrically, the song is about "the search for love, particularly a love that has been lost and needs to be found".^[2] In the chorus, Levine sings "All the roads you took came back to me / So I'm following the map that leads to you."^[2][8]

Idolator's Robbie Daw wrote that "similar to Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven", "Maps" has a "Sting/The Police vibe, particularly with the guitar licks and Levine's multi-tracked vocal harmonies on the chorus." He also added that the influence of Ryan Tedder (and OneRepublic's pop-rock anthems, such as "Counting Stars" and "Love Runs Out") is evident.^[6] Jeff Benjamin of Fuse compared the opening guitar licks to the "California-cool sound" of Red Hot Chili Peppers.^[7]

Music Times commented, "With his [Levine's] singsong melody over the relaxed, plucked guitars and subtle drums, Maroon 5 create a chill vibe before building the song into something a bit more powerful. Though Levine's vocals remain constant, the song soon crescendos into a fuller sound, with a chorus that isn't so much explosive as it is, well, danceable," and compared the track to "Payphone", the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Overexposed (2012): "The more you think about the two lead singles versus each other, the more they feel exactly the same."^[9]

Shortly after its release, "Maps" quickly reached number one on the Billboard Twitter Real Time Trending 140 chart, eventually staying within the upper ranks for several hours. The song also logged close to 1,800 first-day spins on radio which, according to the Nielsen BDS, would amount to a one-day audience impression of seventeen million.^[10] It has since peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached its million sales mark in August 2014^[11] and had sold 1.6 million copies by the year's end.^[12]

The single debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart in late August 2014.

As "Maps" topped the eight biggest music charts in South Korea, Maroon 5 became the first foreign artist to top several charts at the same time in Korean music history.^[13]

Maroon 5 performed "Maps" for the first time on June 20, 2014, during their concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, as part of the American Express' EveryDay Live.^[18] The following day, they also playing the single in another concert at Laval, Canada. The band played the song for The Today Show on June 25, at Rockefeller Plaza in New York^[19] (they did again on September 1, 2014, that was the day before the world premiere of the V album).^[20] On August 10, 2014, Maroon 5 performed the song at the Hyundai Card City Break concert in Seoul, South Korea.

The band also played "Maps" at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards (along with "One More Night") on August 24^[21][22] and the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, California, on August 26, 2014.^[23] On September 11, 2014, Maroon 5 played the accoutic version of "Maps" for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.^[24] Later, on the same day, they performed the song during the 2014 iTunes Festival at the Roundhouse in London, England.^[25] Maroon 5 continue to perform "Maps" during their appearances on America's Got Talent, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Saturday Night Live and Sunday Night at the Palladium.

‹See Tfd›

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 2015 (U.S.)