Pieces of Me

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"Pieces of Me"

Single by Ashlee Simpson
from the album Autobiography
Released	June 29, 2004 (U.S.), September 27, 2004 (UK)
Format	CD single
Recorded	Early 2004
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	3:39
Label	Geffen Records
Writer(s)	Ashlee Simpson Kara DioGuardi John Shanks
Producer(s)	John Shanks
Chart positions
#3 (Norway) #4 (UK, Denmark) #5 (U.S.) #7 (Australia)
Ashlee Simpson singles chronology
–	"Pieces of Me" (2004)	"Shadow" (2004)
Audio sample
Play (in browser) (help·info)

"Pieces of Me" is a song by American pop/rock singer Ashlee Simpson and the first single from her début album, Autobiography. The song, which was co-written by Simpson, Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks (and produced by Shanks),^[1] is a blend of pop and rock with lyrics about finding comfort and happiness in a relationship with a new boyfriend. "Pieces of Me" was released as the first single from Autobiography in mid-2004 (see 2004 in music), prior to the album's release in July; it peaked at number five in the United States (on the Billboard Hot 100), and contributed to the considerable success of Autobiography, which went triple platinum in the U.S. Outside of the U.S., the song enjoyed some chart success as well, reaching the top ten in a number of countries. As of 2006, it remains Simpson's most successful song, and her only song to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

1 About the record
2 Chart performance
3 On television
4 Formats and track listings
5 Charts
6 References

[edit] About the record

The recording of "Pieces of Me" features in the fourth episode of the first season of Simpson's reality show, The Ashlee Simpson Show,^[2] and was inspired by Simpson's relationship with the musician Ryan Cabrera, a friend with whom she became romantically involved. As she said, "it was just really nice to be with somebody who's just real and who's nice — just a good person. So I wrote that about him, and when I finished it, I was so excited and so was he."^[3] (The two were reported to have broken up in August 2004,^[4] while the song was still high on the charts. They soon got back together before breaking up again in early 2005.) In another interview, she said "it's a feel good song, it's easy to listen to and every time I perform it or listen to it or whatever, ... it just feels good."^[5]

Jeff Rothschild played drums on the track, Shanks played guitars and bass, and Simpson and DioGuardi did background vocals.^[1] IGN.com said of the song that it "lopes along to a feel good melancholic guitar strum while [Simpson] waxes like any lovelorn 19-year old would about the current love of their life."^[6] Another review said that the "stringy" guitar riffs in "Pieces of Me" were "simple, yet effective", with the "catchy chorus bringing the song to life."^[7] According to one review of the album, Simpson's singing on the track goes from "impassioned wail to innocent cooing ably."^[8] A UK review of the single called it "palatable" "as guitar-led lipstick confessionals go".^[9] It has also been described as a "perfect choice" for the album's first single, having "a tempo between fast and slow, with hints of both throughout the song."^[10]

[edit] Chart performance

"Pieces of Me" began receiving widespread radio play in the U.S. in May 2004, well before the album's release on July 20. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, 97 stations added "Pieces of Me" to their play lists in the week ending on May 17, which it said was the strongest week for any single in 2004 at that point in the year.^[11] The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 61 in June 2004 (the chart's top début for the week)^[12] and reached the top ten in August with a rise from number 13 to number nine.^[13] It then rose to number eight the next week,^[14] where it spent two weeks before peaking at number five on the Hot 100 in September 2004.^[15] After spending one week at number five, it fell to number six^[16] and then to number seven.^[17] "Pieces of Me" remained in the top 50 on the Hot 100 chart until November 2004. It also reached number one on the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart. The single was certified gold in October 2004 and platinum in January 2005.^[18] "Pieces of Me" was number 39 on Billboard's 2004 year end Hot 100 Singles & Tracks chart and number 36 on the year end Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.^[19]

The U.S. CD single was released by Geffen Records on June 29, 2004,^[20] and debuted at number three in single sales (behind American Idol stars Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo) with almost 8,000 copies sold.^[21] The single includes the album version of the song as well as an instrumental. On the cover, Simpson has dark hair, and the artwork is similar to that of the album Autobiography; an earlier, promotional version of the single shows a blonde Simpson with a yellow jacket. This promotional version includes only the original version of the song.

The single was released in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2004, on two CDs; the first includes a David Garcia & High Spies remix, and the second includes remixes, a medley of snippets of songs from Autobiography ("Shadow", "Autobiography", "La La", and "Better Off"), and the "Pieces of Me" music video. "Pieces of Me" debuted at number four on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending October 3 and remained in the top 40 for seven weeks.^[22]

Simpson has described her excitement when she first heard the song on the radio:

"I was in L.A. and my sister heard me on the radio and was freaking out and called me so I turned on the radio in my apartment with my two best friends and started jumping around and freaking out."^[23]

In Australia, "Pieces of Me" made its début on the ARIA singles chart at number 14,^[24] and peaked for two weeks at number 7 in September;^[25] it fell out of the top 40 in late November 2004. "Pieces of Me" was also accredited as a gold single in Australia.^[26] In New Zealand, the song debuted on the RIANZ top 40 singles chart at number 33 in September 2004, peaked at 32 the next week, and fell out of the top 40 after its third week.^[27]

In Germany, "Pieces of Me" reached number 26 on the singles chart,^[28] and in Austria it debuted at number 43 and peaked at 15 in its sixth week.^[29] In Switzerland, it debuted at number 17 and peaked at 11 in its third week, in October 2004.^[30] In Italy, "Pieces of Me" peaked at 24 in October 2004, in its fourth week on the top 50 singles chart after debuting at 47;^[31] after seven weeks, it fell out of the top 50. In Denmark, the song debuted at 5 and peaked at 4,^[32] after which it fell off the chart; in Sweden, it reached a peak of number 31 on the singles chart,^[33] while in Norway it stayed on the top 20 singles chart for 12 weeks, peaking at 3 in its fifth week.^[34]

"Pieces of Me" is track 16 on the American Now That's What I Call Music! 17, a compilation of popular music that was released on November 2, 2004.^[35] It also is track 12 on the American Now That's What I Call Music!, #1's, a compilation of songs that reached #1 or songs that reached a high standard on the Billboard Hot 100; the compilation was released in January 2006.

[edit] On television

A screenshot from the "Pieces of Me" music video, from its premiere on Total Request Live

The music video for the song, directed by Stefan Smith,^[36] features Simpson (wearing a white shirt emblazoned with the word "punk" and a pink dress) and her band in the studio interspersed with clips of reality TV footage. The video is fairly simplistic, and Simpson refers to the more elaborate video for her second single, "Shadow", as her first "real" video.^{[citation needed]}

Simpson appeared on MTV's Total Request Live on May 17, 2004, and the "Pieces of Me" video was premiered on the show on this date. On June 2, she also appeared on the show and performed the song. The video did not debut on the countdown's top ten until July 19; however, it reached number one for the first time on August 4 and remained on the countdown through September 13. The "Shadow" video premiered on the following day and took the place of "Pieces of Me" on the countdown.^[37]

Simpson has frequently performed "Pieces of Me" live, including a number of notable television performances. She sang the song at Summer Music Mania on May 20, and it aired on FOX on June 1.^[38] The Tonight Show episode in which Simpson sang "Pieces of Me" (followed by a brief interview with Jay Leno) aired on May 24, 2004, and Simpson also sang the song on The Late Show with David Letterman on July 16. She performed "Pieces of Me" (after a brief interview with Charles Gibson) on Good Morning America on July 19, the day before her album was released in the U.S., and on July 27, she sang it (after an interview) on Ryan Seacrest's talk show, On Air With Ryan Seacrest. On August 8 she performed "Pieces of Me" on the Teen Choice Awards, and the song also received the "Song of the Summer" award.^[39] On August 29, Simpson performed the song during the pre-show for the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.^[40]

The song made its début somewhat later in the United Kingdom, where the album was also released several months after it was in the U.S. In September 2004, Simpson made several notable television appearances in the UK in which she performed the song, including on Top of the Pops (September 17),^[41] Top of the Pops Saturday (September 25),^[42] CD:UK and Popworld.

Later in 2004, on the October 23–24 episode of Saturday Night Live, Simpson performed "Pieces of Me" as her first of two songs that night; when she started to perform her second song (which was supposed to be "Autobiography"), a recording of "Pieces of Me" was mistakenly played instead, indicating that Simpson was using some sort of vocal aid (she later explained it as being due to her acid reflux condition).^[43] For her next performance, at the Radio Music Awards on October 25, Simpson poked fun at the SNL incident by having some of "Pieces of Me" play at the beginning of her performance, to suggest that she was caught in the same situation as before, only to then smile and exclaim that she was "just kidding", and begin performing "Autobiography".^[44]

She subsequently performed "Pieces of Me" (in addition to a performance of "La La") on Jingle Ball Rock, a television special on FOX featuring performances by a number of popular artists; it was taped on December 3 and aired on the evening of December 17. She also sang the song as part of a concert broadcast live over the Internet on December 6, and during the performance she pulled a member of the audience up on stage with her. Simpson later performed the song on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005, in which she also hosted the West Coast portion of the show.^[45]

The video for "Pieces of Me" was nominated for "Best Pop Video" for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards,^[36] but lost to Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone".^[46] The video was also nominated for the same category for the 2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards,^[47] but lost to Guy Sebastian's "Out With My Baby".^[48]

[edit] Formats and track listings

U.S. CD single Total time:7:17

"Pieces Of Me (Album version)" - 3:37
"Pieces Of Me (Instrumental)" - 3:40

UK CD single Total time:6:52
Catalog 9863811

Pieces Of Me (Album Version) - 3:37
Pieces Of Me (David Garcia & High Spies Remix Radio Edit) - 3:15

UK CD maxi single Total time:11:44
Catalog 9863812

"Pieces Of Me (Radio Edit #2)" - 3:11
"Pieces Of Me (David Garcia & High Spies Remix Club Mix)" - 7:09
"Pieces Of Me (29 Palms Remix Vocal Edit)" - 4:04
"Shadow/Autobiography/La La/Better Off (Snippet Medley)" - 5:20
"Pieces Of Me" (Video - Performance only version/International Version)

Australian CD single Total time:13:59

Pieces Of Me (Radio Edit) - 3:13
Pieces Of Me (David Garcia & High Spies Remix Club Mix) - 7:06
Pieces Of Me (Instrumental) - 3:40

Canadian Enhanced CD single Total time: ??:??

Pieces Of Me (Album Version) - 3:37
Pieces Of Me (Instrumental) - 3:40
Better Off (Bonus)
Pieces Of Me (Official Video)

[edit] Charts

Chart (2004)^{[1] [2] [3]}	Peak
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	5
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	4
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporany	30
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks	1
Australian Top 50 Singles	7
Austria Top 75 Singles	15
Belgium Top 50 Singles	42
Chinese Top 20 Singles	1
Denmark Top 20 Singles	4
Dutch Top 40 Singles	20
German Top 100 Singles	26

Chart (2004)	Peak
Irish Top 50 Singles	10
New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles	32
Norwegian Top 20 Singles	3
Sweden Top 60 Singles	31
Swiss Top 100 Singles	11
Taiwanese Top 10 Singles	2
UK Singles Chart	4
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	12
United World Chart	8
mtv chile 10 +	8