Since U Been Gone
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"Since U Been Gone" is a song written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, and recorded for American singer Kelly Clarkson's second album, Breakaway (2004). It was released in 2004 as the second single from the album in the U.S. and the first in Europe (see 2004 in music). Its lyrics recall a failed relationship in which the protagonist later expresses relief about the breakup. Clarkson, who sought interest in a more rock-oriented image, wanted to alter the song's original composition to allow more drums.
The song was successful during 2005 (see 2005 in music), and was the second U.S. digital download to sell over one million copies. It reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian airplay chart. In the UK, where "Since U Been Gone" was released as the first single from Breakaway, it reached number five and remained on the chart until the second quarter of 2006 (see 2006 in music). At the Grammy Awards of 2006, Clarkson received a Grammy Award for the song in the category of "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance".
Much of the song's melody and chords resemble those of The Strokes' "Barely Legal" on their album Is This It. "Since U Been Gone" writers Max Martin and Dr. Luke admitted on several occasions to being heavily influenced by The Strokes when writing the Clarkson song.
Background and writing
Dr. Luke and Max Martin wrote "Since U Been Gone" originally for Pink, and Hilary Duff's management considered acquiring it for Duff to record, but they eventually declined it — according to Dr. Luke, some of the notes were too high for Duff's voice.[1] Martin and Dr. Luke met with Kelly Clarkson, who had traveled to Sweden after a suggestion from a friend. At the time, her last two singles, "Low" and "The Trouble with Love Is", had failed on the U.S. charts, and she decided she needed more control over her career and the direction of her music. With the help of a lawyer and advice from lead guitarist Jimmy Messer, she was able to get out of her contract and move in the direction of pop rock. Clarkson completed the album following this change, but there had been no decision regarding what its second single (after "Breakaway") should be. She considered using some songs that she had written with Ben Moody and David Hodges, formerly of Evanescence, but executives at her label felt those songs were a little too dark. After this, she went to Sweden.
Martin had previously produced successful pop records for Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, but he did not want to work with Clarkson at first, because he felt she would want him to recreate his pop sound for her songs. Clarkson was familiar with Martin's experience with rock music: he was a former member of a heavy metal band, and had produced material for rock musicians such as Bon Jovi. Once Martin and Clarkson realised that they were in agreement, they began writing songs together. During this period, "Since U Been Gone" caught the attention of Clarkson. It was then relayed to her label executives, who chose it for release as a single. The song originally had a prominent pop influence, but Clarkson later asked for a slightly harder rock feel with increased drums.
Music video
The single's music video features Clarkson at a former boyfriend's apartment, where she is looking through some of his possessions before destroying all of it. The video is intercut with scenes of Clarkson performing with her band for an energetic crowd. At the end, the boyfriend walks into his apartment with another woman to find it wrecked, with Clarkson's necklace hanging in the middle. The video won "Best Female Video" and "Best Pop Video" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.
Covers and other uses
Ted Leo recorded an unreleased acoustic cover of "Since U Been Gone", mixing it with "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. (The guitar breakdown of "Since U Been Gone" is almost a note-for-note lift from the bass breakdown of "Maps".)
Butch Walker's EP Cover Me Badd includes a live version of the song. It has also been covered by Canadian hardcore punk band Fucked Up and California punk band The Aquabats, who played it at the conclusion of their 2006 live shows.
"Since U Been Gone" is featured in the video game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA.
Producer Timbaland has remixed this song with Keri Hilson singing the vocals. Hilson has performed this on several occasions on Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow world tour.
"Since U Been Gone" has been covered twice on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, by The Gossip and Robyn.
The song has recently been covered by A Day to Remember, a hardcore band who added screaming to the verses and some other guitar parts between the chorus/verse.
A parody of the song has been circulating the web entitled "Living With Mom", about a guy that's still living with his mother.
Formats and track listings
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Charts
Similar to "Breakaway", "Since U Been Gone" took a while to become popular. Released in the U.S. in late November 2004, the song spent three weeks steadily climbing the charts. Many[who?] considered it a sureshot for the number-one position on Top 40 radio. However, Green Day's single "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" surpassed "Since U Been Gone" and jumped to number one. In late March, after over 4 weeks of being on the charts, the popularity of "Since U Been Gone" suddenly began to surge. By April 2005, the song had finally peaked at number one, where it remained for two weeks.
"Since U Been Gone" topped several U.S. Billboard charts, including the Pop 100, Hot Dance Airplay and the Mainstream Top 40. It peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top ten for 5 Weeks, in the top forty for 21 weeks and on the chart for forty-six weeks. The RIAA certified "Since U Been Gone" Gold in March 2006 for selling over 500,000 digital downloads (678,900 as of late 2006), and gold in June 2006 for over 500,000 ringtones sold. The Jason Nevins "Since U Been Gone" remixes have sold over 180,000 digital downloads, bringing the song to another plateau. Nevins has since remixed other Clarkson records, such as "Because of You" and "Never Again".
On the ARC Weekly Top 40, the single broke the longevity record in the chart's twenty-five year history, spending eight non-consecutive weeks at number one and remaining on the chart for 10 weeks. It ranked 19th on the 2005 Billboard year-end chart, and Clarkson set a new record on the ARC Weekly Top 40 by having three of the year-end chart's top five singles of the year ("Since U Been Gone", "Because of You" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes").
The song was also popular worldwide, reaching number one in Canada for two weeks and remaining on the chart for twenty-nine weeks. It peaked inside the top five in Australia and the United Kingdom; in the former country it stayed in the top forty for nineteen weeks, and in the latter thirteen (non-consecutive). "Since U Been Gone" performed well in markets where Clarkson's success had previously been limited. It was one of the most popular songs of 2005, and is arguably the biggest hit of Clarkson's career.[citation needed]
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 3 |
| Austria Singles Chart | 3 |
| Belgium Singles Chart | 22 |
| Canadian BDS Airplay Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 4 |
| German Singles Chart | 6 |
| Indonesian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 35 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 11 |
| Norway Singles Chart | 9 |
| Mexican Top 100 Singles Chart[2] | 11 |
| Poland | 1 |
| South African Singles Chart | 1 |
| Sweden Singles Chart | 16 |
| Switzerland Singles Chart | 7 |
| UK Singles Chart | 5 |
| U. S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 22 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 | 22 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 |
| United World Chart | 8 |
1 (J. Nevins remixes)
References
- ^ Raftery, Brian. "Woman of the Year: Everybody Loves Kelly (Yes, even you)". Blender. January/February 2006.
- ^ Mexican Singles Chart - May 16th 2005
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