Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson song)

"Breakaway"
File:Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway CD cover.jpg
Single by Kelly Clarkson
From the album Breakaway
Released	August 3, 2004 (non-single) November 30 2004 (single) June 26 2006 (U.K. single)
Format	Digital download
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:56
Label	RCA
Writers	Avril Lavigne B. Beneate Michael Gerrard
Producers	John Shanks
Certification	3x platinum
Chart positions	#6 (US) #10 (AU) #10 (CAN)
Kelly Clarkson singles chronology
"The Trouble with Love Is" (2003)	"Breakaway" (2004)	"Since U Been Gone" (2004)

"Breakaway" is the first single (in North America, Latin America, Brazil and Australia only) and the fifth single in the U.K., from Breakaway, the second album by pop rock singer, Kelly Clarkson. After her two under-performing releases beforehand from her debut album, Breakaway is considered by many to be her comeback single.

Song Information

The single was co-written by Avril Lavigne, B. Beneate, and Michael Gerrard and produced by John Shanks. It was originally written in part by Lavigne for her second album, Under My Skin, but she did not release it as she did not feel the song suited her album at the time. As a result, it was handed to Kelly Clarkson, who recorded it–as a stopgap between her albums–for the soundtrack of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

Because of the single's success, Clarkson's second album was renamed Breakaway, and this song was included on the album. Although Clarkson did not write the song, its coming-of-age theme seemingly struck a chord with her.

Musically the song is actually very similar to the chorus of another song released some 25 years earlier, the track Cassandra by the Swedish supergroup ABBA, in terms of melody line and chord progression.

Music video

As "Breakaway" was originally recorded for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the music video required a tie-in of sorts to the film. Clarkson wanted the video to be balanced between the theme of the song and the theme of the film. As a result, the video ties in both themes, starting out with a young actress representing Clarkson as a child. A child can be seen looking forlorn, as although she is happy in a way, she feels the need to break away. Years pass, and an adult Clarkson, now a superstar, is seen attending the fictional premiere of the film, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Scenes from the film can be seen as Clarkson remembers her past, and how she broke away. Originally the video was supposed to be longer to show more scenes of Clarkson growing up at a more gradual pace, but they had to be eliminated due to time constraints. The UK music video was filmed at the London Hammersmith Apollo when she toured Europe.

Chart performance

After two underperforming singles, "Low" and "The Trouble with Love Is", a few critics had written off Clarkson as an American Idol has-been. However, "Breakaway" went on to become one of the biggest successes of late 2004. The song proved to be popular among children as well as adults.

However, the song is not known most for its peak position on the Hot 100, but for its longevity on the chart. The song entered the Hot 100 in August of 2004, and did not leave until July of 2005, being on the charts for nearly one full year. This made "Breakaway" one of the songs with the highest amounts of longevity ever on the Hot 100.

The song's longevity in part can be attributed to the song's steady digital downloads, which have gained the single a triple platinum certification, with over 600,000 downloads.

In Australia, "Breakaway" débuted at number ten, but was unable to climb to a higher position. The song was extremely popular in Canada and reached a peak position of 2. The song has been pencilled in to be the fifth single from the album in the Netherlands and in the UK, with a UK release date currently set as 26th June 2006. .

Charts

Chart (2004/2005/2006)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	6
U.S. Hot Digital Songs	6
U.S. Hot Digital Tracks	5
U.S. Top 40 Tracks	4
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream	2
U.S. Adult Top 40	2
U.S. Adult Contemporary	1 (21 weeks)1
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	2
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	10
Canadian Singles Chart	10
Dutch Singles Chart	16*
Indonesian Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	12
Singapore Top 10 Airplay	1
World Chart Show	10
VH1 Weekly Top 20 Countdown	2

¹ Twenty of the weeks spent at number one are consecutive, a record. Clarkson also holds the record for the longest run at number one (21 weeks) for a female artist, a tie with Céline Dion and her song, "A New Day Has Come". It is the longest running AC number-one from a movie soundtrack.

Chart trajectory

Billboard Hot 100 Chart trajectory — weeks one to thirty
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Chart position	60	54	48	42	31	27	20	14	12	10	9	8	6	8	8	9	11	10	12	11	10	12	12	11	10	15	18	16	15	17

Billboard Hot 100 Chart trajectory — weeks thirty-one to forty-six
Week	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Chart position	15	18	20	20	28	34	38	39	40	38	40	38	33	36	42	50

Canadian Singles Chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09
Chart position	10	15	25	18	25	22	39	46	48

Australian ARIA Singles Chart
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Position	10	11	10	14	17	19	25	27	39	41	49

Dutch Top 40
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Position	20	16	19	19	9