Unwritten (song)

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"Unwritten"

Single by Natasha Bedingfield
from the album Unwritten
Released	2004 (Europe) 2006 (North America)
Format	CD single Digital download Airplay
Genre	Pop
Length	4:19
Label	Sony BMG
Writer(s)	Natasha Bedingfield Danielle Brisebois Wayne Rodriguez
Producer(s)	Danielle Brisebois
Certification	5x Platinum (US)
Chart positions
#4 (Canada) #1 (U.S. Dance Club Play, Adult Contemporary, Pop 100) #5 (U.S.) #6 (UK) #9 (IRL) #26 (AUS)
Natasha Bedingfield UK singles chronology
"These Words" (2004)	"Unwritten" (2004)	"I Bruise Easily" (2005)
Natasha Bedingfield U.S. singles chronology
"These Words" (2005)	"Unwritten" (2006)	"Single" (2006)

"Unwritten" is a single from British singer Natasha Bedingfield, co-written by her, Danielle Brisebois and Wayne Rodrigues. The song appears on her debut album, which is also named Unwritten. It was released as her third single in the United Kingdom in November 2004, and as her second single in the United States in 2006, the single proved to be a big hit for the singer in the U.S., as it climbed slowly on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, eventually reaching #5 for two weeks on the chart (becoming her second Top 20 hit and first Top 10 hit in the country).

As of March 2006, "Unwritten" has been certified 5 times platinum in the U.S., making it one of the best selling digital tracks (and one of very few singles to sell in excess of a million copies) to date.

The song has a wet warbly sound at the end due to her allowing saliva to collect in her mouth for the entire duration of the song.

The song also proved to be very popular in other radio formats in the United States. The Johnny Vicious and Hani Club Mixes peaked at #1 on the Dance Club Play and #2 on the Dance Radio Airplay chart, while the original version went to #2 on the Adult Top 40 and spent 7 weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It spent 13 weeks in the top 10 of the Hot 100.

On the fifth season of American Idol, contestant Ayla Brown sang "Unwritten" just before being eliminated from the show. Like Natasha, Ayla also let saliva gather in her mouth throughout the duration of the song. "Unwritten" was also played in the following motion pictures: Ice Princess, The Da Vinci Code, Family Guy, and The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants.

This song is also used as the theme song for MTV's reality show The Hills.

This song's lyrics encourage listeners to reach for their dreams and have a life full of adventures.

[edit] Music video

Two different video clips were made for the promotion of the song: one was shot in 2004 in the UK to promote it on the European countries, the other one was shot in the United States in 2006 to promote the single in North and Latin Americas.

European version: shows Bedingfield as the cover of an animated book that travels through many places, and as the animated book travels, Bedingfield's clothes change according to the weather. At the end of the video, after the animated book has climbed a tall building, it is scared by a bird and falls, with its pages being torn down. People below pick up the pages and look up to the sky.

North American version: directed by Chris Applebaum, shows Bedingfield on an elevator, and as the elevator stops, she experiences new things in her life on some floors of the building, and even finds a love interest (that stops with her in the first floor, with their end being "unwritten"). According to an TRL interview, Natasha chose to make a scene where she gets wet because while filming the North American version of her "These Words" video it was a very hot and sunny day in Rio de Janeiro. This scene occurs the second time Bedingfield sings "Feel the rain on your skin." She and several children jump and dance as they are sprayed by water.

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Unwritten".

UK CD single #1 (Released November 29, 2004)

"Unwritten (Album Version)"
"Wild Horses (Live In Sydney)"

UK CD single #2 (Released November 29, 2004)

"Unwritten (Album Version)"
"The Scientist (Radio 1 Live Lounge Recording)"
"If You're Gonna (Paul Oakenfold 7" Remix)"
"Unwritten" [Video]

[edit] Chart performance

Peaking at Number 5 for two weeks in the United States, Unwritten is the number 1 HOT 100 single of the year 2006 according to Billboard HOT 100 charts, surpassing such hits as Bad Day, You're Beautiful, and Hips Don't Lie. It stayed in the Top 100 for 38 weeks and in the Top Ten for 13 weeks.

Chart (2004)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	6
Chart (2006)	peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	4
Polish Chart	1
Philippines Singles Chart	4
Netherlands Singles Chart	5
Ireland Singles Chart	9
New Zealand Singles Chart	15
Russia Singles Chart	18
German Singles Chart	22
Australia ARIA Singles Chart	26
Switzerland Singles Chart	26
Mexico Top 100	27
Sweden Singles Chart	32
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	5
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	1 (1 week)
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1 (1 week)
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Airplay	2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1 (7 weeks)
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	2
Hot 100 of 2006 Year-ender charts	1
Hot Singles Recurrents	1
Brazilian Hot 40 Dance Traxx Chart	1