Anatomy Of A Hit: Kelly Clarkson's 'Since U Been Gone'
What makes one song sound like another? Sometimes it's coincidence; sometimes it's plagiarism. And sometimes, it's the byproduct of deliberate craftsmanship: building a song piece by piece from distinct styles of music. All of that can make it hard to give a tune a genre.
Take Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," which just turned 10. Even when presented to self-described music nerds, the song was mistaken for one by the Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement or even Parquet Courts.
"I always play that riff for friends and they think it's Yeah Yeah Yeahs," Eric Mennel says. "But I go, 'No. It's Kelly Clarkson.' "
You'd think a couple of music nerds would recognize this one — Clarkson is not exactly an underground artist. But "Since U Been Gone," on her 2004 album Breakaway, borrows a lot from the underground and from other strains of music, too.
Max Martin, the Swedish producer behind hits by *NSYNC, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, had teen pop on lock in the late '90s. Then, the music industry began looking for a new pop sound. In true millennial fashion, the industry found it on a reality show.
Kelly Clarkson won American Idol's first season in 2002. Following her victory, she spent a few years finding her new sound, and Martin did too. Then they found each other. The producer is famously media-shy and didn't respond to our interview request. But he told Billboard Magazine in 2010 that "Since U Been Gone" was his "comeback" song.
"Max Martin found a way to graft the pop sound that he had perfected with artists like Britney and Backstreet to almost an indie-rock vibe," pop critic Chris Molanphy says.
It's a "Frankenstein's monster" of a song, Molanphy says: hints of R&B on the verses, rock structure, even emo buried in the mix. And, of course, the hook is pure pop.
"It's kind of an amalgam of everything that had been on the radio, all melded together into one song," he says.
Graham Wright, the keyboardist for indie-pop band Tokyo Police Club, recorded a cover of Clarkson's hit with his band for its 2011 covers album.
"I think what's interesting about 'Since U Been Gone' is that before that, so-called mainstream pop music ... was the music that you weren't supposed to like if you were a serious music fan or whatever," Wright says. "If you knew it was Kelly Clarkson, right away you might go, 'Oh, well, I don't care for her; she doesn't even write her own songs.'
"But because it took 20 seconds to actually figure that out, by the time you sort of had that reaction it was too late — the music had already cut straight to your heart."
Fans of Tokyo Police Club loved the group's version. But not all pop hits are created equal. The same album featured a cover of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA." The band's indie fans scoffed.
"And thus the cycle continues," Wright says.
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Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
What makes one song sound like another? Sometimes it's coincidence. Sometimes it's plagiarism. And sometimes it's deliberate craftsmanship, building a song piece-by-piece from distinct styles of music. All that can make it hard to place a tune in a genre. Case and point - reporter Ryan Kailath asked some self-styled music nerds to identify this song.
TRAVIS BUBENIK: Parquet courts? It's either them or Pavement.
SARA MELANCON: Smashing pumpkins?
ERIC MENNEL: I always play that riff for friends, and they think it's by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But I go, no, it's Kelly Clarkson.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINCE U BEEN GONE")
KELLY CLARKSON: (Singing) Since you been gone, I can breathe for the first time. I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah.
RYAN KAILATH, BYLINE: That was Travis Bubenik, Sara Melancon and, with the winning answer, Eric Mennel. "Since U Been Gone" was on Kelly Clarkson's album "Breakaway," which just turned 10. Now, you'd think a couple of music nerds would recognize this one. Kelly Clarkson's not exactly an underground artist. But "Since U Been Gone" borrows a lot from the underground and from other strains of music, too. To learn why, let's dig some records out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYBODY")
BACKSTREET BOYS: (Singing) Backstreet's back, all right.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEARIN' UP MY HEART")
'N SYNC: (Singing) It's tearing up my heart when I'm with you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OOPS!...I DID IT AGAIN")
BRITNEY SPEARS: I think I did it again. I made you believe.
KAILATH: Britney's Spears, 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys - all those songs were hits, and they all share musical DNA in Swedish producer Max Martin. Martin had teen pop on lock in the late '90s. Then, the music industry began looking for a new pop sound. In true millennial fashion, they found it on a reality show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AMERICAN IDOL")
RYAN SEACREST: The winner of "American Idol" 2002 is Kelly Clarkson.
(CHEERING)
KAILATH: Clarkson spent a few years finding her new sound, and Martin did, too. Then they found each other. The producer is famously press-shy and didn't respond to our interview request, but he told Billboard magazine in 2010 that "Since U Been Gone" was his comeback song.
CHRIS MOLANPHY: Max Martin found a way to graft the pop sound that he had perfected with artists like Britney and Backstreet to almost an indie rock vibe.
KAILATH: Chris Molanphy is a pop critic for Pitchfork, Billboard, NPR Music and others. I asked him to map this out for me.
MOLANPHY: To me, the opening guitar is almost the most indie rock thing about the song. Then the beat comes in.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINCE U BEEN GONE")
MOLANPHY: And it's a very blippy, digital beat, so that digital beat signals to you - oh, OK, wait a minute. This is a pop song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINCE U BEEN GONE")
CLARKSON: (Singing) Here's the thing. We started out friends. It was cool, but it was all pretend.
MOLANPHY: And then Clarkson's voice comes in. It's a clearly very talented, big voice singer restraining herself. If that's not an R&B slash soul thing, I don't know what is. OK, wait for it. Wait for it. She's going to blow, but not yet. Wait for it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINCE U BEEN GONE")
CLARKSON: (Singing) But since you been gone I can breathe for the first time.
MOLANPHY: You know, on this song Kelly Clarkson belts like Mariah. It's obviously got the bones of a rock song. It's got emo in it kind of buried deep in the mix. But then the hook is pure pop.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINCE U BEEN GONE")
CLARKSON: (Singing) Since you been gone. How can I put it?
MOLANPHY: It's a Frankenstein's monster. It's kind of an amalgam of everything that had been on the radio all melded together into one song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINCE U BEEN GONE")
CLARKSON: (Singing) Since you been gone.
GRAHAM WRIGHT: I think what's interesting about "Since U Been Gone" is the way that before that by-and-large so-called mainstream pop music was easily identifiable as something that you weren't down with.
KAILATH: This is Graham Wright, keyboardist for the band Tokyo Police Club. They're big for indie rock. They played "Letterman" and Coachella. In 2011, they did an album of covers, including Clarkson's hit.
WRIGHT: And if you knew it was Kelly Carson right away, you might go, oh, well, I don't care for her. She doesn't even write her own songs. But because it took 20 seconds to actually figure that out, by the time you'd sort of had that reaction, it was too late. The music had already cut straight to your heart.
KAILATH: Fans of Tokyo Police Club loved their version, but not all pop hits are created equally. The same album featured a cover of "Party In The U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus, and the band's indie fans scoffed.
WRIGHT: And thus the cycle continues.
KAILATH: For NPR News, I'm Ryan Kailath.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARTY IN THE U.S.A.")
TOKYO POLICE CLUB: (Singing) I put my hands up. They're playing my song. I know I'm going to be OK. Yeah, it's a party in the U.S.A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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