Love Song (Sara Bareilles song)

"Love Song" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, released in June 2007 via Epic Records from her major-label debut album, Little Voice (2007). It was nominated for 2009 Grammy Awards in the categories Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

"Love Song"
Single by Sara Bareilles
from the album Little Voice
B-side"The River"
Released
  • June 16, 2007 (as the free iTunes song of the week)
  • June 19, 2007 (as a single)
GenrePop rock
Length
  • 4:20 (album version)
  • 3:53 (radio edit)
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Sara Bareilles
Producer(s)Eric Rosse
Sara Bareilles singles chronology
"Love Song"
(2007)		 "Bottle It Up"
(2008)

"Love Song" spent 19 weeks in the top ten and an overall 41 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number four there. Similarly, it peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and the Australian ARIA Charts. It also reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100, while topping the US Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart.[1] It also spent many weeks atop the Hot Adult Pop Songs and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts, ending up number one at the year-end tally of both charts.

Background

Speaking of the song's origin in an interview with MTV, Bareilles said of her label, "They had encouraged me to keep writing, and I just wasn't having any luck. [...] I started to get really insecure about it, and then I got really pissed off at myself for caring what anybody thought. [...] I went to a rehearsal space one day. I sat down and wrote something for me. And 'Love Song' basically wrote itself. It's totally honest, and I'm very lucky the label liked it as well."[2]

Later in 2011, she explained: "It was actually written for my record label. I had been turning in new music. I was getting the red light. I couldn't go into the studio yet because they were waiting for something. But I wouldn't [...] nobody said what they were waiting for. So I kept turning in new songs, thinking like, 'Is this what you want? Is this what you want?' And it was always a big thumbs down, and I ended up writing 'Love Song' out of frustration."[3] In 2014, she stated it was "very tongue-in-cheek" and "nasty in a passive-aggressive way," confirming it was a response to the record label pressuring her to make safe, "radio friendly" songs.[4]

Chart performance

Featured initially as the free iTunes song of the week on June 16, 2007, the song was a sleeper-hit, debuting a few months later at number 100 on the US Billboard Hot 100. After her appearance in a Rhapsody TV commercial, in which she performs "Love Song", it rocketed from number 72 to number 16 on the Hot 100 and from number 32 to number 5 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.[5] In the first week of 2008, the song cracked the top ten on the Hot 100, jumping to number 9, where it stayed for four non-consecutive weeks before reaching a peak of number 4. In spite of not reaching the top three, "Love Song" managed to spend 19 weeks in the top ten, in contrast with other songs that reached higher peak but did not maintain such longevity. The single was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA for over 4 million in sales.[6] As of April 2014, the single had sold 3,717,000 digital copies in the United States.[7]

The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 30 and later peaked at number 4. The song debuted at number 100 on the Canadian Hot 100 the week of January 31, 2008, and reached number one on the chart the week of March 29, 2008. In Australia, "Love Song" peaked at number 4 in its ninth week on the country's chart. In New Zealand it reached number 7 on the Top 40 singles chart and held the number 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 number 33 and has so far peaked at number 13.

The song is listed at number 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.

Music video

Directed by Josh Forbes, the music video features a miniature Bareilles playing 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 observing her through a pinhole as she plays the same song day after day. The lyrics express her growing frustration as she declares that she is "not gonna write you a love song today," whereupon Bareilles grabs the next coin that rolls inside, and uses it to jam the gears. The next morning, the owner of the booth (who was seen at the beginning of the video) enters; he notices that the jukebox has gone dark, and appears amazed when he discovers Bareilles inside the jukebox. He retrieves the jammed coin from the gears and hands it to Bareilles.

The music video features the album version of the song. The video also features British actor Adam Campbell as the owner of the booth.

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[50] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[51] Gold 40,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[52] Gold 7,500^
Italy — 48,307[53]
United Kingdom (BPI)[54] Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA)[6] 4× Platinum 4,000,000

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. "Sara Bareilles Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  2. Kaufman, Gil. "Sara Bareilles' 'Love Song' 'Basically Wrote Itself' -- After She Struggled For Years". MTV. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  3. "How Sara Bareilles Got Her Start in Music". VOA. August 17, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  4. "Sara Bareilles: The Sweet Author of Tough Songs" (January 5, 2014). CBSNews.com. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  5. Keys Rolls Into Holidays With No. 1 Hits
  6. "American single certifications – Sara Bareilles – Love Song". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  7. Paul Grein (April 30, 2014). "Chart Watch: Pharrell Steps Up". Yahoo Music.
  8. "Australian-charts.com – Sara Bareilles – Love Song". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Sara Bareilles – Love Song" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
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  12. "Sara Bareilles Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  13. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200833 into search. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
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  15. "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 120 no. 27. July 5, 2008. p. 67. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
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  20. "Italiancharts.com – Sara Bareilles – Love Song". Top Digital Download. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
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  32. "Sara Bareilles Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
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  37. http://members.chello.nl/m.jans1/2008.html
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  39. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2008 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  40. Official Charts list, ukchartsplus. Retrieved August 2011
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  42. "Adult Contemporary Songs 2008 Year-End". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
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  52. "Guld og platin i juli". IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
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