Love Song

"Love Song"
Single by Sara Bareilles
from the album Little Voice
Released	June 19, 2007
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	2007
Genre	Pop
Length	4:21 (Album Version) 3:54 (Radio Edit)
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Sara Bareilles
Producer	Eric Rosse
Certification	3x Platinum (RIAA certification)
Sara Bareilles singles chronology
"Fairytale" (2004) "Love Song" (2007) "The River (live)" (2008)

"Love Song" is the first single released from Sara Bareilles's 2007 album Little Voice. She has stated in her live performances that it was actually written in response to her record label Epic requesting that she write a "marketable love song," rather than about an actual person.

The song was also featured in a Rhapsody commercial along with "Bottle It Up", and in commercials for the TV show The Return of Jezebel James and the movies Made of Honor, Suburban Girl, and All About Steve. The song is also featured on the Apple Garageband Artist Lessons, featuring Bareilles herself teaching how to play the song on the piano.

"Love Song" was nominated for 2009 Grammy Awards in categories Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

The pop-punk band, Four Year Strong, covered the song on the 2009 compilation album, Punk Goes Pop 2.

Composition

"Love Song" is set in the key of F Major in 4/4 time, or common time. Among the most prominent chords in the song are G minor, Bb major, and Bb 5/2. Bareilles' vocals span from a F3 to a D5. The instrumentation consists of a grand piano, electric piano, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, and drums.

The song's structure is similar to that of Nowhere Without You by Bob Evans^[1].

The album version is slightly over four minutes in length; the radio edit shortens the song to 3 minutes and 54 seconds by removing the bridge.

Inspiration

Sara Bareilles was inspired to write "Love Song" after failing to produce successful hits, and one critic said that she needed to write "a marketable love song". Bareilles has stated that that statement gave her the drive and anger necessary to write "Love Song", proving that she could indeed write a hit, and that she had no double standards.^{[citation needed]}

Music video

Sara Bareilles in the music video

Directed by Josh Forbes, the music video features a miniature Bareilles performing at the piano inside a coin-operated jukebox that plays love songs. A steady stream of men and women enter the booth and insert coins to hear Bareilles play, watching her through a pinhole as she plays the same song day after day. The lyrics express her growing frustration as she declares she is "not going to write you a love song today," and Bareilles grabs the next coin that rolls inside and jams the gears. The next morning, the owner of the booth who was seen at the beginning of the video enters and notices that the jukebox has gone dark, and looks amazed when he discovers the coin. He retrieves the coin from the gears and hands it to Bareilles.

The video also features English actor Adam Campbell as the owner of the booth.

Chart performance

Featured initially as the free iTunes song of the week on June 16, 2007, the song debuted a few months later at #100 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. After her appearance in a Rhapsody TV commercial, in which she performs the song, "Love Song" rocketed from #72 to #16 on the Hot 100 and #32 to #5 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.^[2] It has gone on to sell more than 1.3 million copies.^[3]

In the first week of 2008, the song cracked the top ten on the Hot 100, jumping to #9, where it stayed for four non-consecutive weeks before peaking at #4. The single was recently certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA.^[4] The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #30 and also peaked at #4. The song debuted at #100 on the Canadian Hot 100 the week of January 31, 2008, and reached #1 on the chart the week of March 29, 2008. In Australia, "Love Song" peaked at #4 in its ninth week on the country's chart. It is a growing hit in New Zealand, where it has reached #7 on the Top 40 singles chart but held the #1 position on the Radio Airplay chart for six weeks. It was the most played song of 2008 on New Zealand radio. In Spain, the song debuted at #33 and has so far peaked at #13.^{[citation needed]}

The song is listed at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart of 2008. It also topped both the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks charts in 2008.

End of year

Release history

"Love Song" has appeared on the international soundtrack of the Brazilian soap opera Beleza Pura. It has been covered twice: pop-punk band Four Year Strong recorded a version of the song for the upcoming compilation album Punk Goes Pop 2, and "Love Song" was also covered on the album Kidz Bop 14.

References