Hurt (Christina Aguilera song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Hurt" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Christina Aguilera | ||
| from the album Back to Basics | ||
| Released | October 2006 (U.S.) November 4, 2006 (AUS) November 13, 2006 (U.K.) |
|
| Format | CD single, digital download | |
| Recorded | 2006 | |
| Genre | Piano pop | |
| Length | 4:03 | |
| Label | RCA | |
| Writer(s) | Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry, Mark Ronson | |
| Producer(s) | Linda Perry | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Christina Aguilera singles chronology | ||
| "Ain't No Other Man" (2006) |
"Hurt" (2006) |
"Tell Me" (2006) |
| Audio sample | ||
| Play (in browser) (help·info) | ||
"Hurt" is the second single written by Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry and Mark Ronson for Aguilera's third album Back to Basics (2006). The song's lyrical content describes how one deals with the loss of a loved one, and it has received praise from pop music critics. Aguilera premiered the song at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards and was released as the album's second single in late 2006 (see 2006 in music).
Contents |
[edit] Background and writing
During the Linda Perry/Christina Aguilera recording session of Back to Basics, Aguilera asked Perry to help her write a song about losing someone, as she felt that it was a subject she had yet to tackle in her music. Perry was very open with this idea and thought she could relate to it really well because she had just recently lost her father.
Linda Perry wrote most of the lyrics to "Hurt" before presenting it to Aguilera. Aguilera, however, thought it was too much of a personal song because of many references to Perry's loss. Aguilera then changed some of the lyrics to make it more appealing to any listener who has lost a loved one. Although it is not known if the original version of Perry's song was recorded, the one that made the album cut was the version co-written by Aguilera and Perry.
[edit] Release
Originally Aguilera did not want "Hurt" to be the second single from Back to Basics. Prior to this decision, "Candyman" was planned as the second single and even was confirmed by Aguilera during several different interviews.[citation needed] However, RCA felt that, with the holiday season coming up, it would be safer to release "Hurt", as it would become a big holiday power ballad, comparable to how Aguilera's "Beautiful" performed commercially back in late 2002.[citation needed] There was also debate that "Candyman" was too similar to the first single, "Ain't No Other Man", both in theme and in sound.[citation needed]
"Hurt" was released to radio airplay in the United States on September 18, 2006. While the single is at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its 10th week. Aguilera promoted the single during the holidays by performing on the TV special Christmas at Rockefeller Center, on November 29, 2006 on NBC.
[edit] Critical reception
"Hurt" was generally very well-received by contemporary pop music critics. Billboard commented that Aguilera's "[vocals] relate the pain of moving past a relationship in ruins is daunting", and that "this potential Grammy Award contender" has "a melody and lush production that carries [the song] into the clouds.[1] Blogcritics claims that song's "slow opening to a soft piano all the way to the spine-tingling bridge" is "one weeper of a ballad", and that Aguilera's "power-belting" vocals were "better than ever". Top 40 reviewer Bill Lamb gave the song five stars, saying "a single piano with the backing of strings gives way to one of the most technically stunning voices in pop music singing words of pain, guilt, and grief in the loss of a loved one." He continues on, predicting the song would edge near to "the top of the pop singles chart by Christmas 2006."[2] Some reviews, however, were slightly less positive. In the Rolling Stone magazine review for Back to Basics, the reviewer, Jenny Eliscu, called "Hurt" an "incongruous schmaltzfest".[3]
It was performed live at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards on August 31, 2006.
[edit] Music video
During MTV's red-carpet pre-show, Aguilera revealed that she would co-direct the music video alongside Floria Sigismondi, who worked on "Fighter" (2003). The circus-themed video for "Hurt" was shot over five days in September and the video premiered on October 17 on TRL. It is the first video Aguilera has directed. The video reached number one on TRL on October 25, 2006 and retired at number 1 on January 11, 2007. It's her eighth video to retire on that show.
The video begins with the ending instrumental to "Enter the circus"/"Welcome", over which a man's voice introduces a spectacular circus, and begins in black and white. The transition to colour begins when Aguilera appears in an old fashioned dressing room, receiving flowers and then an important telegram. A flashback then shows young Aguilera, played by Laci Kay, with her father, played by Timothy V. Murphy, raptured by the sight of the tightrope walker, played by Elizabeth Glassco. With her father's encouragement, Aguilera begins to train herself to do the same. When the video switches to older Aguilera, we see her descending from the top of a circus tent on a rope, onto the back of an elephant, with her father watching adoringly in the audience. She later attempts to greet him but is pulled away by fans and photographers keen to meet the star. The content of the telegram is then revealed to be a message of her father's death, and as Aguilera realises that she was too wrapped up in her stardom to deal with what matters, she races through the circus in a belated attempt to find her father. The video ends with a shot of Aguilera sitting on a circus box, singing and crying, before fading out to Aguilera's grief-stricken form on the ground outside the circus tent.
[edit] Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Hurt".
- CD Single (Basic)
Released November 10, 2006
| # | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hurt" | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Ain't No Other Man" (Shapeshifters Mixshow Mix) | 5:24 |
- CD Maxi-Single (Premium)
Released November 10, 2006
| # | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hurt" | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Hurt" (Jake Ridley remix) | 5:47 |
| 3. | "Ain't No Other Man" (Shapeshifters Mixshow Mix) | 5:24 |
| 4. | "Ain't No Other Man" (Video) | 4:53 |
- iTunes Maxi-Single
| # | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hurt" (Deeper-Mindset Tight Mix) | 7:04 |
| 2. | "Hurt" (Jack Shaft Main Mix) | 7:02 |
| 3. | "Hurt" (Chris Cox Club Mix) | 9:56 |
| 4. | "Hurt" (JP & BSOD Electro Mix) | 6:01 |
| 5. | "Hurt" (Jonathan Peters Classic Mix) | 9:30 |
| 6. | "Hurt" (Jake Ridley Chillout Club) | 5:47 |
- Promotional Maxi-Single
| # | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hurt" (Deeper-Mindset Mixshow Mix) | 5:54 |
| 2. | "Hurt" (Deeper-Mindset Tight Mix) | 7:04 |
| 3. | "Hurt" (Deeper-Mindset Full On Club Mix) | 9:30 |
| 4. | "Hurt" (Deeper-Mindset Pad a Pella) | 7:16 |
| 5. | "Hurt" (J.P. & BSOD Electro Mix) | 6:01 |
| 6. | "Hurt" (Jack Shaft Mixshow Mix) | 5:41 |
| 7. | "Hurt" (Jack Shaft Main Mix) | 7:02 |
| 8. | "Hurt" (Jack Shaft Extended Mix) | 8:30 |
| 9. | "Hurt" (Jack Shaft Dub Mix) | 6:32 |
| 10. | "Hurt" (Jack Shaft Dub a Pella Mix) | 1:53 |
[edit] Alternate covers
| Commercial | Europe | Mexico | Vinyl with "Ain't No Other Man" |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
[edit] Chart performance
The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 5, 2006. after peaking at #19 in its 10th week. The single peaked number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, her lowest peak in the UK since "I Turn To You". It received Gold in the US (500,000 copies shipped), Germany (150.000 copies shipped),[4] in Austria (15.000 copies shipped),[5] in Australia (35.000 copies shipped),[6] Belgium (20.000 copies sold),[7] and Platinum worldwide (2.000.000 copies sold); and is still selling well enough to be at #13 on United World Chart.
Despite criticism that the single had been a disappointment and not sold to the extent the record company had intended in the UK and US, the song became a huge hit across Europe. On the overall Hot 100 Europe chart (which calculates sales and airplay from all European countries), 'Hurt' has reached #3 on that chart. It also reached #1 in Switzerland and peaked at #3 in France, where it became her highest peaking song since 'Genie In A Bottle'. It also went top 3 in Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and Greece (Airplay), making it one of her biggest hits in Europe since 'Beautiful'.
[edit] Charts
|
|
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews/single_review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003122613 Billboard.com
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/singles/gr/caguilerahurt.htm Top40.about.com
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/christinaaguilera/albums/album/11107200/review/11111609/back_to_basics Rollingstone.com
- ^ http://www.christinaaguilera.de
- ^ http://www.ifpi.at
- ^ http://www.http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display.asp?chart=1U50
- ^ http://entertainment.skynet.be/index.html?l1=entertainment&l2=ultratop&l3=charts&chartid=4&new_lang=nl
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/chileantop100/top100.html
- ^ http://www.hitlistan.se/ Retrieved January 11, 2007
- ^ a b c Christina Aguilera: Artist Singles Chart History. Billboard magazine. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
| Christina Aguilera |
|---|
| Discography |
| Albums |
| Christina Aguilera (1999) • Stripped (2002) • Back to Basics (2006) |
| Other Albums |
| Mi Reflejo (2000) · My Kind of Christmas (2000) · Just Be Free (2001) |
| Singles |
| "Reflection" · "Genie in a Bottle" · "The Christmas Song" · "What a Girl Wants" · "I Turn to You" · "Come on Over Baby" · "Pero me acuerdo de ti" · "Christmas Time" · "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" · "Falsas Esperanzas" · "Lady Marmalade" · "Dirrty" · "Beautiful" · "Fighter" · "Can't Hold Us Down" · "Infatuation" · "The Voice Within" · "Car Wash" · "Tilt Ya Head Back" · "Ain't No Other Man" · "Hurt" · "Tell Me" · "Candyman" · Slow Down Baby |
| Related articles |
| Discography · Awards · B-Sides/Unreleased songs · RCA Records |
