Keeps Gettin' Better
| "Keeps Gettin' Better" | ||||
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| Single by Christina Aguilera | ||||
| from the album Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits | ||||
| Released | September 5, 2008 | |||
| Format | CD single, digital download | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Electropop[1] | |||
| Length | 3:02 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Writer(s) | Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry | |||
| Producer | Linda Perry | |||
| Christina Aguilera singles chronology | ||||
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"Keeps Gettin' Better" is a song by American recording artst Christina Aguilera. The song was released on September 9, 2008 as the lead single from Aguilera's first greatest hits album entitled, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits, by RCA Records. The lyrics of the electro piece features Aguilera, portraying herself as a superhero. The song was inspired by Aguilera's experience of motherhood at the time. She stated that after giving birth she felt 'supernatural'. The song was inspired by the likes of Andy Warhol and Goldfrapp; critics also compared it to the song "Womanizer" by Britney Spears.
The song received mixed reviews from music critics. At a time when dance music was becoming increasingly prominent, many critics labelled Aguilera's effort as predictable and noted the lack of originality. However, the melody of the song was deemed as "catchy", and critics called it a welcome change from Aguilera's 2006 album Back to Basics. Commercially, the song became Aguilera's second highest debut on the US Billboard Hot 100, following the 2006 single "Ain't No Other Man", and the song also topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart. Elsewhere, it peaked at number four in Canada, while charting inside the top 20 in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video, directed by Peter Berg, features Aguilera in an editing room, producing the music video on a green screen. Using the equipments there, she creates several characters including, a Blonde 1960's inspired hippie character, another based on Catwoman and another futuristic blue-haired version of herself. Aguilera debuted the song through a live performance at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Wearing a catsuit, she sang a remixed version of her single "Genie in a Bottle", before performing "Keeps Gettin' Better".
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[edit] Background
| "I was very inspired by the look and feel of that [pop-art] genre, your Jane Birkins, your Blondies, females who have come before who have done this so many times and so well — almost as an homage to them," she explained. "Also, speaking of Warhol, Nico from the Velvet Underground ... so it all kind of ties in to a pop-art feel and twist, with a mod look. But a futuristic taste of what's to come." | ||
"Keeps Gettin' Better" was released a year after Aguilera gave birth to her first son, Max. "Growing into being a woman, a mother, it's a very different time in my life, and also where I'm at musically," she said in an interview with MSN.[3] Throughout her career Aguilera had been noted for her re-inventions. She stated that with Keeps Gettin' Better, she wished to "come up with something new and fresh" calling the new redefined era of her music "futuristic".[4] Aguilera said the development of new additions featured on the record was influenced by artists such as Blondie, Velvet Underground and Nico.[4] Visually, artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were credited as influences behind the Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits era. After stating the theme of the record was future, she said to MTV that the era has a "very pop-art feel visually".[4] Aguilera also stated that she had been "diving deep" into "electro in particular" at the time, noting that she had started connections to collaborate with prominent dance artists: Goldfrapp and Ladytron.[4] While talking to MTV, Aguilera discussed the influence behind the track and the album, she said:
"I wanted to give [fans] a little sneak preview of what's to come [with the VMA performance]. The vein of the new material is a futuristic take on what is inspiring me at the moment ... and it's got a very pop-art feel, visually,[...] [There's a] throwback to Andy Warhol and all the colors and vividness and bright boldness that was in that artwork. I'm a big collector of pop art and graffiti art at this point, too — D*Face and Banksy, also Roy Lichtenstein ... and it's been very fun venturing off into that zone."[2]
[edit] Composition
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A sample of "Keeps Gettin' Better" features Aguilera singing against a futuristic synth instrumental.
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"Keeps Gettin' Better" is a electropop song,[1] written in the key of F minor.[5] The song has also been noted by The Times as an "electro-glam" number.[6] Described as a "muscular, percussive arena-ready" track,[7] the song has gathered comparisons to Goldfrapp's Supernature album and Britney Spears' song "Womanizer".[1][6] An "instantly engaging" electropop beat begins the track;[8] the track features "space-age sounds" in response to its futuristic concept,[7] with a "throbbing" synth line.[6] Aguilera's vocals in the track span from the note of F3 to the note of C5.[5] Lyrically, themes of female empowerment and being a superhero are dominant on the track. Aguilera sings,[3] "Some days I'm a super bitch".[9] The lyrics actually derive from Aguilera's experience as a mother. While talking to MSN she said;
"After having my own child, it's pretty amazing what females are capable of, We're Supergirl, we do it all: we give the love, we give the milk. On the other hand, I'm running a business. I'm running my career. That comes with being labeled a bitch. If that's what I'm gonna be called by being assertive and knowing who I am and what I want out of life, then so be it. I will wear that label proudly. For me it's about turning that word into a positive."[3]
[edit] Critical reception
The song received generally mixed reviews from critics. Chris Willman from Entertainment Weekly responded to the new additions of the compilation saying, "The singer has banished melisma and belting from these electronic confections, and her chops sound just as hot set on simmer."[10] Nick Levine from Digital Spy called the song a "welcome change" from Aguilera's 2006 Back to Basics album, but stated "it isn't one of Christina's boldest singles".[1] Bill Lamb from About.com awarded the track three stars. He noted Aguilera's dance-inspired effort, at a time of dance dominance in the industry, negatively and stated that "the catchy electro-pop vibe isn't enough to make it one of her more memorable efforts."[8] Sal Cinquemani from Slant magazine, like Lamb, commented on the possibly outdated dance theme. Responding to the new additions of the record including "Keeps Gettin' Better", he noted: "Not exactly what one would call original, but if it's true the singer's next studio album will reprise this electro-pop sound, Aguilera deserves credit for refusing to play it safe."[11] Gavin Martin from The Mirror gave a mixed response as he said "Nothing dates as quickly as pop that dares to call itself futuristic". Martin awarded the song 3/5 and concluded with "It's not that this new number from the forthcoming Greatest Hits set is bad – but it's a whole lot more routine than it pretends to be."[12]
[edit] Chart performance
On September 21, 2008, the song debuted and peaked on the Australian ARIA Charts at number 26.[13] The song has performed well on the Canadian Hot 100 chart; it first debuted at number 16,[13] and a week later the song became the "Greatest Airplay, Sales Gainer", moving up and peaking number four.[13] However, the track only spent one week within the top ten.[13] On the dated week of September 30, 2008, "Keeps Gettin' Better" sold 143,895 legal downloads in its first week, debuting at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 a few weeks later.[14] This has become Aguilera's highest debut on the chart and her first top ten hit since "Ain't No Other Man" in 2006.[14] It debuted and peaked at number 21 in Swedish Singles Chart,[13] and reached number 14 in the United Kingdom.[13]
[edit] Music video
[edit] Background
| "In the video, a blond, hoodie-wearing Aguilera sits behind a giant, retro-looking mixing desk with lots of pretty blinking lights and takes us on a quick-edit stroll through her many personas. She's a 1960s fuzzy-vest-wearing hippie filmmaker, a blue-haired "Speed Racer" wannabe and a masked, catsuit-wearing superhero with spark-throwing fingertips and a badass motorcycle. All the while, a cute Japanese robot dances along on the edge of her console as Aguilera controls the action by waving her fingers at the big screens in front of her." | ||
Directed by Peter Berg and has said to have been influenced by films; Minority Report and the James Bond series in a music video conceived to show Aguilera "through time and fashion in an homage to her 10-year career" according to a statement by her label.[15] Popjustice saw the music video in progress on October 22, 2008, in the edit they reported that the music video was produced on a green screen, but the concept of the video was to be Aguilera in an edit suite pressing various flashing buttons, editing what is her own music video.[16] Aguilera herself discussed the production of the video, saying "I really enjoyed making the video for 'Keeps Gettin' Better', being an artist who likes to play around with different looks, it was a lot of fun to portray various characters within the same shoot."[15] The music video debuted on iLike an online music service.[15] Popjustice gave the video a positive review saying; "The video's a riot of costume changes, makeovers, multiple 'scenarios' and Christina even seems to look like she's having fun. We'd sort of forgotten the single was even coming out, but the video makes it all seem quite exciting."[16]
[edit] Synopsis
The music video starts with multi colored, digital waves which then merge into a scene where Aguilera is sat in an editing suite overlooking a sound and edit board. Pressing flashing buttons, multiple large screens stand in front of the desk and correspond to her choice of button selected. The first images shown on the screens feature Aguilera as; Catwoman, a futuristic blue haired character, and a 1960's influenced hippie before focusing on the 60's inspired character. The blond character is shown to be holding an old fashioned handheld video camera filming scenes of high rise buildings, all the while showing shots of Aguilera editing the on screen projection. The blond hippie inspired character is then seen in a second setting, riding a bicycle through a grassy field at times performing dance movements to the song and lip-synching.
Aguilera then takes a touch screen phone from her pocket with an image of a futuristic blue haired character, after producing a scene of a convertible car, she inputs the character from the phone onto the screen and into the car and the blue haired character is then shown driving. Aguilera then produces silhouettes of a catwoman style figure until Aguilera as the catwoman character is shown, wearing a leather Catsuit with cat ears also, lighting bolts shoot from her hands until another scene featuring the same character shows her alongside a black motorbike holding a gun. Shots of both the blue haired character and catwoman lead to a scene featuring a blond Aguilera moving inside of the screens accompanied by multi-colored digital waves, before shots of the catwoman style character on a motorbike, shooting the gun are presented. Shots of the different scenes including one of Aguilera at the desk accompanied by a toy robot are shown finishing as Aguilera turns the screens off.
[edit] Live performance
At a press conference in Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, Aguilera confirmed that she would be performing at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, in which she discussed allowing her newly born son, Max watching the performance, she said "This will be his first time watching me perform on television, but only for a little while because he’s not really allowed to watch television yet. I’ll make an exception for the VMAs."[17] The performance consisted of a performance of "Keeps Gettin' Better"[18] which was the television debut of the song, with the performance beginning with around a minute of the revised song, "Genie in a Bottle".[1] Aguilera discussed the concept of the performance beforehand saying "You're going to get a first look and a first listen at my new image and my new sound," she said. "The last album, the style and sound was about vintage glam — this one is all about the future."[18] Nick Levine from Digital Spy called the performance; "sassy, slickly-choreographed".[1]
[edit] Track listings
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