My Life Would Suck Without You

"My Life Would Suck Without You"
Single by Kelly Clarkson
from the album All I Ever Wanted
Released	January 13, 2009 (2009-01-13)
Format	Digital single, CD single
Recorded	2008
Genre	Pop rock, dance-pop
Length	3:31
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald, Claude Kelly
Producer	Max Martin, Dr. Luke
Kelly Clarkson chronology "Don't Waste Your Time" (2007) "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009) "I Do Not Hook Up" (2009)

"My Life Would Suck Without You" is a song performed by American recording artist Kelly Clarkson from her fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted (2009). The song features songwriting credits from Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald, and Claude Kelly and production credits from Martin and Gottwald under his production moniker, Dr. Luke. "My life Would Suck Without You" was released as the lead single from the album and premiered on January 13, 2009, in the United States on the Z100 radio station and was made available to download three days later. The song has met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song's composition, which incorporates rock and dance music.

"My Life Would Suck Without You" reached number one in its second week on the Billboard Hot 100 when it moved up the chart 96 places from number 97. The song's chart climbing gave Clarkson the record for a solo artist to have a single have the furthest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 after achieving the feat with her 2002 single "A Moment Like This". The song has also peaked at number 16 on US Adult Contemporary chart. Elsewhere, "My Life Would Suck Without You" peaked at number one in Canada, Hungary and the United Kingdom, and has attained top-five positions in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland. The song is also her first number-one in the United Kingdom, giving her the record as the only American Idol contestant to have a song reach number one in the United Kingdom.

The song's accompanying music video was directed by Wayne Isham and presents Clarkson's relationship with her boyfriend as being fluctuating and tumultuous as the two are depicted arguing and throwing out each others belongings while having some happy moments. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the Best Female Video category in 2009.

Background and release

Record executive Clive Davis hired Gottwald and Martin, who produced "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" for Clarkson in 2004, to produce a new song for Clarkson in 2008 after Clarkson's My December suffered poor commercial performance after refusing to hire them in 2006. Martin also asked Claude Kelly to co-wrote the track after Clarkson demanded them to change the song's lyrical content for being too explicit. Kelly also worked on additional vocal production for the song. Dr. Luke provided the drums, bass and programming as well as working with Martin on guitars and synthesizers. The song was engineered at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California and Dr. Luke's Studio by Emily Wright and Sam Holland. Wright also edited the vocals with Aniela Gottwald and Kool Kojak.

Originally scheduled to hit airwaves on January 19, the song debuted on New York Top 40 station Z100 on January 13, and the single was then transmitted digitally to radio stations at 6:00 pm EST for immediate airplay. It went officially for adds on radio station playlists on January 20, 2009. It was given a digital release on January 16, 2009 at Amazon.com's MP3 store, with a subsequent release on the US and Canadian iTunes Stores on January 20, 2009.^{[citation needed]} The song was also released as a download on January 16 in Australia on iTunes. On January 23, the song was announced as the most added song to radio in Australia. The song was sent to radio stations in the United Kingdom on the week of January 19 and was digitally released there on February 21.^{[citation needed]}

It was covered by the cast of the hit Fox television series Glee in the first season episode "Sectionals". Their version of the song has been released as a single on iTunes and is the final song on the soundtrack compilation Glee: The Music, Volume 2. In 2011 Clarkson put a new version of the song on her EP iTunes Session.

Music and lyrics

"My Life Would Suck Without You" is a pop-rock and dance-pop song with a length of three minutes and thirty-one seconds. The song is set in the time signature of common time and has a moderate fast tempo of 138 beats per minute. It was written in a key of A major and Clarkson's vocals spans from A₃ to E₅. The instruments used in this song include synthesizers, guitars, drums, and bass. The song begins with mellow guitar plucking and transcends into a melody of synthesizers, guitars, and synthesized drums. The melody then cascades into a chorus of crashing cymbals, bass, synthesizers, and loud guitars. The lyrics for "My Life Would Suck Without You" are centered around a tumultuous relationship.

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews. Billboard labelled it "a propulsive blast of rock-tinged pop" and stated that "the countdown to No. 1 begins." About.com's Bill Lamb named it "pop perfection that could easily end up one of the biggest hits of the year." Rolling Stone called the song "fantastic — the early favorite for single of the year." and "straight-up pop [that] cascades into an avalanche of synths and a steady beat," mentioning that it "has all the characteristics of a surefire radio hit." TIME also listed "My Life Would Suck Without You" as number one in their top ten songs of 2009. Brian Mansfield from USA Today stated that there were "disco rhythms and lots of synth-dance-pop layers over the top, but the guitar pattern... keeps it from sounding too artificial"; eventually stating that he was "liking it". The Los Angeles Times said the song "zooms forward from its guitar-plucky intro toward a cymbal-crashing climax without ever slowing down", commenting that the song would be "huge"; however, it also stated that the song had "empty calories delivered within those compressed, subtly Auto-Tuned vocals [riding] high-fructose beats." Nick Levine of Digital Spy rated the song four out of five stars, commenting "It's as original as shoving a slither of cheese between two slices of bread and calling it lunch, and the lyrics are a bit juvenile for the 26-year-old Clarkson, but these quibbles melt away when the heroically catchy chorus arrives. Best of all, you come away thinking that no-one else could have sung that heroically catchy chorus quite as well as Kelly Clarkson." Rhiannon Haller of Michigan Daily gave the same rating, praising it as "pure, radio-pop goodness that’s bound to become the guilty pleasure of many."

Chart performance

North America

"My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of January 29, 2009 and went to number one in its second week, setting the record for the furthest jump to number one in history. This makes it the second time Clarkson has set this record, after her debut single "A Moment Like This" went from number 52 to number one in 2002. "My Life Would Suck Without You" and Clarkson's own "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" are also the only songs by an Idol alum to top the Hot 100 chart that is not associated with the show. The song also advanced to number three on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart, giving her her first top ten airplay hit since "Because of You". The song was dethroned from the top of the Hot 100 chart by Eminem's "Crack a Bottle". The song has so far sold over 2,372,000 downloads in the United States. On the Canadian Hot 100, the song debuted at number 82. The following week, it jumped to the top spot, breaking the record previously set by Rihanna with "Take a Bow", which moved from number 70 to number one.^{[citation needed]} She held that record for 10 months, until October 2009, when Britney Spears' "3" jumped from number 86 to number one.

Australia and Europe

"My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted on the Australian ARIA Charts at number sixteen and peaked at number five, and is also Clarkson's first physical number number one single. The single debuted on the New Zealand RIANZ chart at number 25 and peaked at number eleven.^{[citation needed]}

"My Life Would Suck Without You" became Clarkson's biggest hit in Sweden (peaking at number two), Ireland (number four), and Germany (number six).^{[citation needed]} In the Netherlands, "My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted at number 26 and peaked at number 3, becoming her first top 10 hit in the Netherlands since the release of Breakaway's last European single "Because of You".^{[citation needed]} In the United Kingdom, the song climbed from number 103 on the UK Singles Chart to number one on March 1, 2009, becoming Clarkson's first British number-one single, selling 51,114 copies in its first week as a digital release. Despite being Clarkson's highest charting single in the UK, it's stay on the chart is considerably less than some of her other singles. With seventeen weeks inside the UK charts it ranks behind her number five hit "Since U Been Gone" at thirty-seven weeks and her number seven hit "Because of You" at twenty-five weeks.

Certifications and year-end charts

"My Life Would Suck Without You" has been certified Platinum in Australia and Canada, Gold in New Zealand, and Silver in the United Kingdom.

It made it to the 2009 Year-End Billboard Chart at number twenty-three, becoming the highest peak for a Clarkson single in the Year-End chart since "Behind These Hazel Eyes" (number ten) and "Since U Been Gone" (number four) charted in 2005.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Wayne Isham and was shot in Los Angeles in December 2008. It is now available for digital download on iTunes and is featured on the DVD of the Deluxe Edition of All I Ever Wanted. A preview of the video was shown during a commercial break for American Idol on its January 28, 2009 episode. The full video then premiered via AT&T's website directly after the broadcast.

The video begins with a small boy and girl playing on a playground together, teasingly pushing each other around. The young girl is intended to be Clarkson as a child, presumably with her young male best friend. The boy hands her a beaded necklace, which she puts on admiringly. The shot closes in on the necklace, then pulls back to reveal it's still worn as a bracelet on the wrist of now-adult Clarkson.

Clarkson's boyfriend (played by Houston Rhines) shows up at her apartment door, presumably after an argument. Clarkson teases him with a set of keys, which she then throws down the toilet.

The two are then shown sitting on a couch, reading magazines, when Clarkson grabs her boyfriend's magazine. The two are shown throwing various possessions of one another out of the apartment window, though in a playful manner. Such items include numerous articles of clothing, magazines, a guitar (which Clarkson tries to stop him throwing out), and a fishbowl (with the fish being taken out and put in a glass first, after which they look out the window). After throwing these items out the window, the two are seen sitting affectionately on the couch. Clarkson and her boyfriend are shown still fighting and bickering as they did as children, over the TV Guide and remote control.

The latter portion of the video shows the two driving in a first generation Ford Bronco (with the necklace/bracelet hanging from the rear view mirror), eventually getting into an argument. Distracted by the tiff over directions, the Bronco nearly ends up in a head-on collision with an approaching car. After spinning out to avoid the crash, Clarkson simply grabs her boyfriend and pulls him into a kiss, where the video ends.

Interspersed with the storyline are performance shots of Clarkson on a swing set and band shots of Clarkson singing throughout the chorus with bright, football stadium lighting behind her. The lights fluctuate along with the song, becoming bright during certain key moments of musical crescendo and then dimming for others.

The video was nominated for a 2009 MTV Video Music Award in the category for Best Female Video.

Track listing

Digital Download

1. "My Life Would Suck Without You" – 3:31

CD Single

1. "My Life Would Suck Without You " – 3:31
2. "My Life Would Suck Without You (Instrumental Version)" – 3:33

Remixes

• Dr. Luke Remix featuring Former Fat Boy
• Friscia & Lamboy Radio Edit
• Bryan Reyes & Amy Alderman Miami Mix
• Chriss Ortega Radio Mix
• Chriss Ortega Club Mix
• DJ Earworm 'My Life Would Suck Without You In My Place' mashup (vs. Coldplay)
• U.S. X Factor's inTENsity

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of All I Ever Wanted, RCA Records, 19 Entertainment.

Recording

• Engineered at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California and at Dr. Luke's Studio

Personnel

• Songwriting - Lukasz Gottwald, Claude Kelly
• Production - Dr. Luke, Max Martin
• Drums, bass and programming - Dr. Luke
• Guitars and synthesizers - Dr. Luke, Max Martin
• Engineering - Emily Wright, Sam Holland
• Vocal editing - Emily Wright, Aniela Gottwald (assistant), Kool Kojak (assistant)

Charts and certifications

Weekly Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	4
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)	6
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)	18
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)	2
Czech Republic (IFPI)	13
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	1
European Hot 100 Singles	2
Germany (Media Control AG)	6
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)	1
Ireland (IRMA)	4
Japan (Japan Hot 100)	7
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	3
New Zealand (RIANZ)	11
Scotland (Official Charts Company)	1
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	38
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	1
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)	16
US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)	3
US Pop Songs (Billboard)	3
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)	7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)	Platinum	70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)	2× Platinum	20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	200,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Year-end charts

Chart (2009)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	40
German Singles Chart	31
Dutch Singles Chart	15
Hungarian Singles Chart	16
Swiss Singles Chart	55
UK Singles Chart	46
Billboard Hot 100	23

Sales

Region	Sales
United States	2,500,000

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (Canada)
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)

Cover versions

• "My Life Would Suck Without You" was covered in the episode "Sectionals" of the TV series Glee in 2009.
• "My Life Would Suck Without You" was covered in the seventh series of The X Factor by the boyband One Direction in 2010.
• "My Life Would Suck Without You" was covered in St. Mary's Halls, Twickenham by singing sensations Aislinn Kavanagh and Ciara Mernagh in 2011.

Release history

Country	Release date	Format	Label
North America	January 13, 2009	Airplay	RCA Records
Europe	January 16, 2009	Digital download	Sony Music
Canada
United States			RCA Records
Australia	January 19, 2009		Sony Music
	February 2, 2009	CD single
New Zealand	January 19, 2009	Digital download
Italy	January 30, 2009
United Kingdom	February 21, 2009		RCA Label Group (UK)
	March 2, 2009	CD single
The Netherlands	February 16, 2009	Digital download	Sony Music
Germany	February 27, 2009	CD single, digital download