| "Long Distance" | |||||||||
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| Single by Brandy | |||||||||
| from the album Human | |||||||||
| Released | October 15, 2008 (see release history) |
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| Format | Digital download, airplay | ||||||||
| Recorded | 2008, Boom Boom Room (Burbank, California) |
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| Genre | R&B, Pop | ||||||||
| Length | 3:53 (album version) 4:04 (pop version) |
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| Label | Epic | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Jeff Bhasker, Rodney Jerkins, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars | ||||||||
| Producer | Rodney Jerkins, Bruno Mars | ||||||||
| Brandy singles chronology | |||||||||
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"Long Distance" is a song by American recording artist Brandy Norwood. It was written by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Jeff Bhasker, and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and was co-produced by Jerkins and Mars for her fifth studio album Human (2008), on which it appears as the seventh track. Interluded by a telephone conversation between two lovers, the lyrics of the ballad describe the protagonist's emotional state towards an ongoing long-distance relationship, which leaves her in depression.
The power ballad was premiered on October 3, 2008 via Pittsburgh radio station WAMO and became the second and final single to precede the album upon its release to U.S. radios on October 15, 2008. Never released outside North America, "Long Distance" managed to peak at number 38 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart but failed to enter the Hot 100; though it became the second consecutive Human single after "Right Here (Departed)" to reach the top spot on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. An alternate pop remix, which featured a different instrumentalization, was serviced to mainstream radio in February 2009.
The accompanying music video for the single was directed by Chris Robinson and filmed at the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California in November 2011. Depiciting Norwood as a singing diva, who remembers moments with her distant love, the video shifts from black-and-white to color photography during its bridge. Both Mars and Lawrence appear as pianists in a sequence of the clip.
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"Long Distance" was written by two-third of The Smeezingtons production team, singer Bruno Mars and writer Phillip Lawrence, along with Jeff Bhasker, and was produced by Mars and longtime Brandy contributor Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins.[1] One of the first records Lawrence and Mars team collaborated on, the latter initially also handled the production of the demo version, lending his own vocals to it. Eventually scouted by Norwood's A&R manager on Epic Records, Brandon Creed, the track was presented to Norwood, who "fell in love with it" upon hearing and later approved of it.[1] When asked about her relation to the song, whose lyrics deal with the conditions a of long-distance relationships, Norwood elaborated:
"Whether it's a significant other or your daughter, a lot of people are away from the people they love. I met some lady, and she was telling me her husband is away in Iraq right now. I was like, 'I have the perfect song for you.' Just being in a long-distance relationship, that experience is weird. You're not able to have that time, and you need that time.[2]
Not recorded until late into the production of the Human album, the song was polished by Jerkins who expanded the original track.[1]
"Long Distance" was universally well received by critics. Hillary Crosley of Billboard gave the song a positive review, stating: "An old radio wives' tale says that a good ballad will carry an artist through the winter months – and up the charts. As such, Brandy follows her comeback single "Departed" with another slow burn about loss. But this time, her lyric details a long-distance relationship and how difficult it is to go on while her beau is away. The piano-driven track is peppered with layered vocals from the songstress. It's refreshing to hear Brandy's voice again and equally heartwarming to see she and Rodney Jerkins reunite creatively."[3] Talia Kraines, writing for BBC Music, described the song as the soundtrack to "a heartbreaking moment on a Grey's Anatomy finale" stating that the "understated ballad is just as good as [Beyoncé's] "If I Were A Boy" and should be a global hit, beating with surging strings and tenderness."[4]
Jon Pareles, writing for The New York Times described "Long Distance" as "a hymnlike single that distantly echoes Janet Jackson’s "Again."[5] Nick Bond from MTV Australia called the song "the album's safest moment" and sumed it as a "bombastic piano ballad worthy of Whitney Houston."[6] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe praised the "warmer, more organic" structure of the song, which she found distinguished from the rest of the Human album, and noted that the song "brings out the expressive best in Brandy's pleasantly raspy vocalizing."[7] By contrast, Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine criticized the song's "attempt at recapturing Brandy's past successes," and further wrote that it "sounds like a cliché power ballad that could have been sung by Phil Collins or Peter Cetera in the '80s as the theme for some big Hollywood popcorn flick."[8]
Although a music video for the song was actually expected to be shot by Norwegian director Ray Kay in the week October 20, 2008,[9] the actual clip for "Long Distance" was eventually filmed by Chris "C-Rob" Robinson on November 6, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.[10] Executive produced by Amanda Fox for Robot Films, it was Brandy's second video be directed by Robinson, who had previously worked with her on 2002's "Full Moon" music video.[10] Both Mars and Lawrence appear as pianists in a sequence of the clip. As Robinson confirmed in a behind-the-scenes interview with Rap-Up magazine, the concept of the video is basically about performance.[11] Willed to create a clip as cinematic as he had considered the lyrics of the song be, C-Rob chose the "opulent" Park Plaza Hotel to depict his vision of taking Brandy "through the feeling of missing the person she's in love with."[11]
The black and white video starts of with Brandy sitting at her dresser in her empty dressing room looking in the mirror, putting on a ring, and putting on make-up while she is thinking about her boyfriend (unknown). This part of the video is combined with scenes of Brandy spending time with her boyfriend. The second part of the video shows Brandy singing in front of restaurant while her boyfriend is over by the bar. Brandy is telling (singing to) him that she can't be home but she will be home soon. Then he goes over to her and touches her on the face. Then, the camera zooms out of this part of the video to find that it's something that Brandy is watching in a picture frame in her room, which catches on fire while she is singing the second half of the second chorus of the song. Then from the bridge of the song to the end of the video, it goes into color while Brandy is standing in between a row of red curtains while it's raining. Then at the end of the video, some of scenes reverse (in color). The video ends with Brandy looking into her dresser mirror.
The music video premiered on PerezHilton.com on December 1, 2008, where it was described as "Whitney circa the '90s (the Babyface era)."[12] Upon its television debut, it came in at number nine on BET's 106 & Park countdown on December 22, 2008, and peaked at the top position on January 14, 2009 where it held the number-one spot for an entire week.
These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Long Distance."
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Digital download remix EP
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Digital download single
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| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[13] | 24 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| Global Dance Tracks[14] | 17 |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[15] | 1 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[16] | 38 |
| Region | Format | Date |
|---|---|---|
| United States | radio premiere | October 3, 2008 |
| rhythm/crossover radio | October 15, 2008 | |
| digital download | November 11, 2008[17] | |
| mainstream radio | February 10, 2009 | |
| Remixes EP | February 24, 2009[18] |
| Preceded by "Away" by Enrique Iglesias featuring Sean Garrett |
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single March 21, 2009 |
Succeeded by Diva by Beyoncé |
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