Ya Soshla S Uma

"Ya Soshla s Uma"
CD single cover
Single by t.A.T.u.
from the album 200 Po Vstrechnoy
Released	19 December 2000
Format	CD single, cassette
Recorded	1999
Genre	Rock
Length	03:35
Label	Neformat, Universal Music Russia
Writer(s)	Sergio Galoyan, Elena Kiper, Valeriy Polienko
Producer(s)	Ivan Shapovalov
t.A.T.u. singles chronology
"Ya Soshla s Uma" (2000) "Nas Ne Dogonyat" (2001)
Music video "Ya Soshla S Uma (RU)" on YouTube Alternative cover Original cover/cassette adapted cover

"Ya Soshla S Uma" (Cyrillic: "Я сошла с ума" [ja sɐʂˈla sʊˈma]; translation: "I Lost My Mind") is a song by Russian girl group t.A.T.u, from their debut studio album, 200 Po Vstrechnoy (2001). The song was released as the album's lead single on 19 December 2000. It was written by Sergio Galoyan, Elena Kiper, and Valeriy Polienko, while production was handled by Ivan Shapovalov. The song is a pop rock and electronica song, which features instrumentation from synthesizers, keyboards, guitars, and drums. The English counterpart, "All the Things She Said", appeared on the group's debut English studio album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002).

"Ya Soshla s Uma" received favorable reviews from music critics, who selected the song as an album stand out track. The song reached number one on the Russian Music Charts and Polish Singles Chart. Shapovalov directed the accompanying music video for the single, which shows members Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina in school girl outfits, dancing, yelling, and kissing in front of an audience, barred behind a wired fence. The kissing scene caused great controversy around the globe after its English release.

Background

"Ya Soshla s Uma" was written by Sergio Galoyan, Elena Kiper, and Valeriy Polienko, while production was handled by Ivan Shapovalov.^[1] All three writers, alongside Shapovalov, had started writing different verses and choruses for the song. The idea was conceived when Kiper attended a dentist appointment; She went under anesthesia while having surgery and dreamed about kissing another woman. She woke up saying "ya soshla s uma", which means "I've lost my mind!"^[2] After telling Shapovalov about the dream, he started to write the second phrase "I need her."^[2] Shapovalov carried the concept of lesbianism through the English version, "All the Things She Said".^[2] Musically, "Ya Soshla s Uma" is an electronic song, and is recorded in Russian language.^[1] As the quartet completed production on the song, t.A.t.u.'s co-manager and owner of IT Management, Boris Renski, decided to cancel the release of the single because he felt the final result would be a failure. Shapovalov persuaded Renski in allowing the continuation of the band, and offered to pay the music video himself; Renski accepted the offer.^[3]

Critical and commercial performance

In early 2001, Universal Music Group hosted a poll for the audience to vote on which song was the best from the album. As a result, "Ya Soshla s Uma" came first place, "Not Gonna Get Us" came second place, and album track, "Malchik Gay", came third place.^[4] The single won the MTV Video Music Award for the Russian entry of 2000.^[5] In 2001, "Ya Soshla S Uma" won the 100 Pound Hit awarded by Hit FM Russia; they performed the song that same night.^[6] On 29 November, 2005, Kiper was presented the song writing award at the BMI Honors Top European Songwriters And Publishers; this was her first win at the BMI Honors ceremony, and won the second time with "Not Gonna Get Us" (2002), t.A.T.u.'s second international single.^[7]

"Ya Soshla S Uma" premiered on Russian radio in mid-2000, and was released on 19 December 2000 in Russia, Ukraine, and Czech Republic; the group promoted the single by appearing at several secondary schools in their school uniforms.^[1][8] In October 2001, the single was released in Germany, and other Eastern European countries.^[9] The single reached number one on the Russian Singles Chart, peaking there for eighteen consecutive weeks.^[10] As of January 2010, the groups website claimed that "Ya Soshla s Uma" has sold over 50,000 units, and over 200,000 illegal copies.^[8]

Controversy

In February 2011, American recording artist and songwriter, Katy Perry, released the her single, "E.T." from her studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). The single version featured American rapper, Kanye West.^[11][12][13] After its release, several music critics compared and criticized "E.T."'s music for being similar to "All The Things She Said" (the English composition was also adapted into the Russian edit of "Ya Soshla S Uma").^[14][15] Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine disliked Perry's song for being "inscrutability" and said that song's backing track was reminiscent of t.A.T.u.'s "All the Things She Said".^[16] Steven Hyden and Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club stated "'E.T.' doesn’t have an all-consuming hook to redeem it; what it has instead is a rote “dark futuristic” beat that bears more than a passing resemblance to t.A.T.u.’s 'All The Things She Said'."^[17] Due to the criticism and similarities, several people had uploaded mash-up versions of the songs to distinguish the comparisons; A reporter from Sound Magazine labelled the mash-ups as the most "annoyingly addictive" songs.^[18]

In May 2011, Galoyan responded to the comparisons and stated that he was not impressed; "Of course I am pleased that Western colleagues use my music, but it should not cross the line - I'm thinking about the lawsuits to a particularly brazen kopipaster". This was the second time t.A.T.u's music had been sampled, alongside "30 Minutes", which was used in American rapper, Lil Wayne's song, "Dear Anne".^[19] Galoyan considered taking legal action against Perry, West, and Perry's label Capitol Records and Universal Music Group, but has not since responded.^[19]

Music video

Synopsis

A shot of Lena (left) and Yulia (right) in the video.

Ivan Shapovalov directed this video, where Yulia and Lena are seen wearing Catholic school uniforms, singing along together in the rain and snow. The two eventually kiss while behind a chain fence, where on the other side there is a crowd of on-lookers. It is meant to seem like the crowd is watching these two girls in some sort of cage. The video ends in an ironic twist when the girls go around the corner of the building, and off into the distance as the rain clears, revealing that the on-lookers are the real captives.

Reception

The video was very controversial for European countries to air, not just because of the lesbian theme of the video but it was alarming for many viewers to see two young girls kissing. However, the video was still aired on TV, first in 2000 on MTV Russia. On the show Black and White on STS, the girls spoke of the first time they saw the video (which was on TV). Yulia stated she was surprised that the video was actually them, and Lena was expecting the video to be longer than it was.^[20] There was a video for "Я сошла с ума (HarDrum Mix)" which continuously featured the footage of them kissing from the original video and also including previously unseen material. The music video remix is included on the group's first compilation album, "The Best". MTV Russia announced that the music video of the single was the best of the year.

Track listing

Russian Maxi-CD Single

1. "Я сошла с ума" (Original edit)
2. "Я сошла с ума" (DJ Ram Remix)
3. "Я сошла с ума" (Galoyan Slow Remix)
4. "Я сошла с ума" (Galoyan Breakbeat Remix)
5. "Я сошла с ума" (HarDrum Remix)
6. "Я сошла с ума" (Music Video)
7. "Я сошла с ума" (HarDrum Remix Video)

Promo Polish CD Single

1. "Я сошла с ума"

Source:^[21]

Other use in media

This theme was also featured as the opening song of the Chinese drama Legend of the Heavenly Stones, as a Chinese language dub.^[22]

Charts

See also

• "All the Things She Said," English-language version of this song

References

External links

• "Ya Soshla S Uma (RU)" on YouTube
• Official Lyrics (Russian)
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics