Because of You (Kelly Clarkson song)

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“Because of You”
“Because of You” cover
Single by Kelly Clarkson
from the album Breakaway
Released August 28, 2005 (2005-08-28)
Format Digital download, CD single, 7" vinyl single
Genre Pop, adult contemporary
Length 3:39
Label RCA
Writer(s) Kelly Clarkson, David Hodges, Ben Moody
Producer David Hodges, Ben Moody
Certification Platinum (RIAA digital downloads)
Gold (RIAA CD singles)
Gold (ARIA)
Kelly Clarkson singles chronology
"Behind These Hazel Eyes"
(2005)		 "Because of You"
(2005)		 "Walk Away"
(2006)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"Because of You" is a song written by pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson, David Hodges and Ben Moody, both formerly of Evanescence, and produced by Hodges and Moody. It is the fourth single (third in Europe) from Clarkson's second album, Breakaway (2004).

In 2007, Clarkson re-recorded the song as a duet with country music artist Reba McEntire for Reba's album Reba: Duets (2007). The duet version was released in Summer of 2007, reaching a peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, becoming Clarkson's first official entry on that chart.

Contents

[edit] Content

“ It's about the cycle of families, like you act how your parents acted towards you and then your kids act how you acted towards them, and it's all about breaking that cycle if it was a bad one [...] It's one of those songs that everybody's kind of gonna relate to, but you're not happy about that. It's very close to home [for me]. I OK'd it with my family and everything because they think it's important, because we're obviously very different now than we were when we were younger. And it's important for people to see that raw kind of emotion that happens in life. It sucks sometimes, so it's important to see that I think. ”

—Kelly Clarkson, MTV News[1]

[edit] Writing inspiration

Clarkson originally wrote the lyrics and melody for "Because of You" when she was sixteen years old to cope with the emotional distress she was experiencing as a result of her parents' divorce. Clarkson has stated that although she has grown to overcome her pain through God, she can still relate to the pain of "Because of You".[citation needed]

Years later, when she met Moody and Hodges, Clarkson asked if they could write songs with her. She asked them to help her polish "Because of You" for the album Breakaway, but said that she would understand if they disliked the song and wanted to write a new song with her. Instead, both Moody and Hodges were impressed with the song, and along with Clarkson, they polished it into its final form.

Clarkson said that she had offered "Because of You" for her first album, Thankful, and that the label didn't like it. She said when she requested that it appear on her second album, her label still did not want to release the song. (Source: Reader's Digest July 2007 Issue) "Because of You" won Clarkson an ASCAP songwriters award for "Song of the Year".

[edit] Music video

As she had with "Behind These Hazel Eyes", Clarkson wrote the treatment for the video herself; it was directed by Vadim Perelman. The video is based on a true story of Clarkson's troubled childhood (because of the nature of the video, she asked her parents for permission before it was filmed). The young girl in the video (playing the younger Clarkson) is Kennedy Noel, the daughter of Clarkson's musical director and keyboardist, Jason Halbert. Noel appeared at the 2006 Grammy Awards with Clarkson and accompanied Clarkson's performance of "Because of You" on the piano with no formal piano training, learning the song in under two weeks.[2] Kennedy also appeared in a concert use video during Clarkson's Hazel Eyes Tour. She is an actress who has appeared in several television shows and print ads.

The video starts at the Clarkson household. There, she and her partner are engaged in a heated argument, and at one point he threatens to smash a picture of the family. Time freezes still and her husband becomes immobile; Clarkson, however, is immune to this. Looking around her house, she sees her younger self. Hand in hand, the younger and older versions of Clarkson relives her troubled childhood as various painful memories are seen, such as the younger Clarkson making a picture for her father, who tosses it into the sink, and Clarkson's mother making an unappreciated dinner for her father. These events drive her mother to the point of taking pills and crying in front of the younger Clarkson.

The breaking point is finally seen when Clarkson's parents have a physical fight and throw objects at each other. Soon after, Clarkson's father packs his bags and leaves; although the younger Clarkson tries to get him to stay, he pulls away. The older Clarkson runs back in time to the present. There, time unfreezes and instead of fighting with her husband, they make up. Clarkson's daughter in the video walks up to them, and they embrace her and each other.

The "Because of You" music video was officially released on Total Request Live on October 3, 2005. It debuted at the top of the countdown on October 4, eventually became Clarkson's third retired video, and spent twenty-seven out of fifty days at number one. After debuting on MuchMusic's Countdown at number twenty-nine, it ascended to the number one, On June 18, 2006 the video garnered Clarkson a MuchMusic Video Award for "People's Choice Favorite International Artist". The video also won the MTV Video Music Award for "Best Female Video", and was nominated for the "Viewer's Choice Award", which it lost to Fall Out Boy's "Dance, Dance". This marked the second time any female artist won two consecutive awards for "Best Female Video" (Beyoncé won in 2003 and 2004); it made Clarkson the fourth person to win two years in a row for a gender category (Beck was the first, Beyoncé was second, Alicia Keys was third).

[edit] Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United States August 28, 2005 RCA Records
United Kingdom November 18, 2005
Australia November 27, 2005

[edit] Charts

Like the three previous singles from Breakaway, "Because of You" became a top ten U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at number seven in November 2005. It was another number-one single for Clarkson on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, spending six weeks at the top. The song had longevity on the charts, and it helped Breakaway re-enter the top ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart during the Christmas/winter holiday season and into the new year. The song has logged over 1,070,000 digital downloads in the U.S. [3]

"Because of You" reached number four in Australia, where it was number fifty-eight on the ARIA end of 2006 singles chart. The single reached number seven in the United Kingdom and number two on the Nielsen BDS Airplay Hits Chart in Canada. "Because of You" reached number twelve in Brazil on the Hot 100 Brazil end of 2006 singles chart. It hit the top five in Germany and received a gold certification, spending months on the German single charts.

Chart (2005) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 3
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Airplay 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 24
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 4
Austria Singles Chart 3
Belgium Ultratop 50 5
Brazilian Singles Chart 1
Canadian BDS Airplay Hits Chart 2
Czech IFPI Chart 13
Danish Airplay Chart 1
Dutch Top 40 1
European Singles Chart 1
French Singles Chart 13
German Singles Chart 4
Irish Singles Chart 5
Israeli Singles Chart 1
Indonesian Airplay Chart 1
Mexican Top 100 Singles Chart[4] 1
Poland: Hot List 1
Swiss Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 7
United World Chart 4
Philippine Hit Chart 1

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Because of You".

U.S. digital maxi single
  • Remixes
  1. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Radio)"
  2. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Club)"
  3. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Ultimix)"
  4. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Tribapella)"
  5. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Club Instrumental)"
  6. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Ultimix Instrumental)"
  7. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Bounus Bounus Beats)"
  8. "Because Of You (Bermudez & Griffin Radio Instrumental)"
  9. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Radio)"
  10. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Club Mix)"
  11. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Club With Intro Breakdown)"
  12. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Dub)"
  13. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Club Instrumental)"
  14. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Radio Instrumental)"
  15. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Remix - Acoustic Version Without Strings)"
  16. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Acoustic)"
  17. "Because Of You (Jason Nevins Acapella)"
  18. "Because Of You (Original Mix)"

[edit] Reba McEntire version

“Because of You”
Single by Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson
from the album Reba: Duets
Released June 26, 2007
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2007
Genre Country pop
Length 3:45
Label MCA Nashville
Reba McEntire singles chronology
"Love Needs a Holiday"
(2006)		 "Because of You"
(2007)		 "The Only Promise That Remains"
(2007)


Kelly Clarkson U.S. singles chronology
"Never Again"
(2007)		 "Because of You"
(2007)		 "Sober"
(2007)

In early 2007, Clarkson re-recorded the song with Country legend Reba McEntire as the lead-off single to McEntire's album Duets, which was released in September 2007. Clarkson and McEntire performed the song at the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards on May 15, 2007, the same day the song was to be released to U.S. radio. On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week of June 2, 2007, the duet version debuted at #42. Their duet snagged a nomination for Musical Event of The Year at the 2007 CMA Awards.This song has been nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. This song has been nominated for 3 CMT Music Awards including "Video of The Year" and "Tearjerker video of the Year." It has also been nominated for an ACM Award for "Vocal Event of The Year."

[edit] Music video

The music video debuted on June 20, 2007, depicting McEntire and Clarkson as 1930s Hollywood lounge singers. McEntire's character encounters Clarkson's character attempting to conceal a bruise inflicted by her abusive partner. McEntire leaves the dressing room when Clarkson's boyfriend is fighting with her. When the two singers are singing, Clarkson's character witnesses her boyfriend flirting with another woman, which prompts her to smash a vase in the dressing room out of anger. In their dressing room after the performance, Clarkson's character's boyfriend enters to take her out for the rest of the evening. Though apprehensive, Clarkson's character leaves on his arm before looking back uncertainly at McEntire's character. McEntire's character uncomfortably fiddles with a hairbrush as she watches them leave.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 50
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs 2
Canadian Billboard Hot 100 36[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kelly Clarkson Fights With Husband In Clip - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  2. ^ LIVECHAT with Jason, Aben, and Cory July 17 2007
  3. ^ http://kellyclarksonexpress.yuku.com/topic/10384
  4. ^ Mexican Singles Chart - November 14th 2005
  5. ^ "Because of You" Peak in the Canadian Billboard Hot 100. Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2007.
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