What a Girl Wants (song)
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| “What a Girl Wants” | |||||
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Commerical cover
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| Single by Christina Aguilera from the album Christina Aguilera |
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| Released | December 28, 1999 (U.S.) February 26, 2000 (UK) |
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| Format | CD single, CD maxi single, cassette single, 12" maxi single | ||||
| Recorded | 1998–1999 | ||||
| Genre | Dance-pop | ||||
| Length | 3:35 (Album Version) 3:20 (Radio Mix) 3:51 (Original Album Version) |
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| Label | RCA | ||||
| Writer(s) | Shelly Peiken, Guy Roche | ||||
| Producer | Guy Roche | ||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA, ARIA) | ||||
| Christina Aguilera singles chronology | |||||
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| Alternate covers | |||||
.jpg/200px-Single_Cd_What_A_Girl_Wants_(UK_1).jpg)
UK cover
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Japan cover
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.jpg/200px-Single_Cd_What_A_Girl_Wants_(remixes).jpg)
Maxi-Remixes cover
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.jpg/200px-Single_Cd_What_A_Girl_Wants_(Polonia).jpg)
Polonia cover
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México cover
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.jpg/200px-Single_Cd_What_A_Girl_Wants_(Taiwan).jpg)
Taiwan cover
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"What a Girl Wants" is the second single from Christina Aguilera's debut album, Christina Aguilera. Released in late 1999, the single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, becoming Aguilera's second number-one single. The single also peaked at number three in the UK and at number five in Australia. Often considered one of her signature songs, the single is most known for establishing Aguilera's placement in the music industry. Many critics had written off the success of her last single, "Genie in a Bottle", as a fluke; "What a Girl Wants" proved that Aguilera wasn't a one-hit wonder. The single earned her five MTV Video Music Awards nominations; Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreography (Tina Landon), and also a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.
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[edit] Song information
"What a Girl Wants" was written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche, and was produced by Roche as well. In her first anthem dedicated to appreciating gentlemen, Aguilera wants to thank a man who stood by her, and did not abandon her while she was confused and needed time to 'breathe'. Like a rock he stood patiently, and knew exactly what his girl wanted and needed. To show her appreciation for the gentleman in her life, Aguilera coos, "What a girl wants, what a girl needs; Whatever makes me happy and sets you free, and I'm thanking you for knowing exactly..". Unlike her previous single, "Genie in a Bottle", this song is not meant to deal with the sexual aspect of relationships, but rather the romantic and loving part of them.
Besides "Genie in a Bottle" and "Beautiful", the song is often considered to be one of her signature songs, but ironically, it almost did not become the second single. Aguilera's record company, RCA Records, had originally felt that the track "So Emotional" should become the second single. Aguilera became horrified as she felt that was a poor choice for the next single and that she would end up as a one hit wonder if it became the next single.
Originally her insecurities were brushed off by RCA, but Aguilera continued to fight. Her record company finally relented, and "What a Girl Wants" was given the go-ahead to be the next single. However, Aguilera was still not comfortable as she felt that the song did not have single potential in its current form. Instead, she decided that the song needed to be remixed and re-recorded (as the original album version of "What a Girl Wants" had been a slow jam unsuitable for pop radio at the time). When redone, the new version of "What a Girl Wants" kept much of the original melody, but showed new energy and zest as the song was now uptempo, had new lyrics, a new bridge, a Baroque-style breakdown and new powerful vocals (since the original album version had been recorded, Aguilera's vocal strength had increased considerably).
As the new version of the song was not on the original album, the album was re-released with the video version of the new version replacing the original version. For fans of Aguilera who already had the album and did not want to buy it again, the Radio Edit of the new version was also released as one of the last major releases of CD singles in the U.S. The Spanish version, "Una Mujer" (English: "A Woman"), is included on Mi Reflejo.
[edit] Live version
Aguilera has sung "What a Girl Wants" differently from the album version since around 2002. Her most noticeable change has been on the Justified and Stripped Tour, where she changed tempo, and sings the word knew in "You're the one who always knew" regularly, but built up into whistle register and whistle register vocal acrobatics. Aguilera also sang the song in her 2006 - 2007's tour Back to Basics Tour but sang it in a reggae style with no whistle notes.
[edit] Track listings
- What A Girl Wants [US Single]
- What A Girl Wants [Radio Edit] - 3:22
- What A Girl Wants [Smooth Mix] 3:30
- Too Beautiful For Words - 4:11
- What A Girl Wants [Maxi-CD]
- What A Girl Wants [Thunderpuss Fiesta Club Mix] - 6:16
- What A Girl Wants [Thunderpuss Dirrty Club Mix] - 6:36
- What A Girl Wants [Eddie Arroyo Long Dance Mix] - 8:10
- What A Girl Wants [Eddie Arroyo Tempo Mix] - 4:20
[edit] Chart success
After the massive success of Aguilera's number-one debut single "Genie in a Bottle", there was pressure for its follow-up to succeed, as well. "What a Girl Wants" proved to be another big hit, though not to quite the same degree as "Genie in a Bottle". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Singles Sales charts for two weeks, and peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay; the single's strong sales would later assure it a gold certification. Once again, the song was an all-around huge hit, topping the Top 40 Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. It is also the first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 at the turn of the millennium, giving it a place in history.
A CD Maxi Single release late into the song's run helped the song peak at number two on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales; unfortunately in terms of club play, the song was not as successful peaking at number eighteen on Hot Dance Club Play. There are several different versions of "What a Girl Wants" including the Adult Contemporary Mix which includes lyrics from the video version, but a track closer the original album version.
Elsewhere, the single fared success within the top twenty in most countries. The single also reached #1 in New Zealand, where it held that position for 5 consecutive weeks. During the week of 13 March, 2000, Aguilera visited the country while the single remained at #1. This single sold over 4,367,000 million copies worldwide.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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| Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles | 5 |
| Austrian Top 75 Singles | 22 |
| Brazil Top 100 Singles | 21 |
| Canadian Top 100 Singles | 5 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 14 |
| Finnish Top 20 Singles | 12 |
| French Top 100 Singles | 11 |
| German Top 100 Singles | 18 |
| Irish Top 50 Singles | 6 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Top 50 Singles | 1 |
| Swedish Top 60 Singles | 24 |
| Swiss Top 100 Singles | 17 |
| UK Official Top 75 Singles | 3 |
| Euro 200 Singles & Tracks | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 31 |
| United World Chart | 1 |
[edit] Remixes
A different version was used as the single version than the album version. In the video, a slightly altered version of the single version is used, which includes a classical-themed breakdown in the video and an extended ending in the video version as well. Four official remixes were released in the US on the CD maxi-single, including two each by Eddie Arroyo and Thunderpuss. Further remixes were released on international versions of the single.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
| Preceded by "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single January 15, 2000 - January 22, 2000 |
Succeeded by "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden |
| Preceded by "I Try" by Macy Gray |
RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single February 6, 2000 - 13 February 2000 |
Succeeded by "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)" by Vengaboys |
| Preceded by "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)" by Vengaboys |
RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single (second run) February 20, 2000 - February 27, 2000 |
Succeeded by "LA Song (Out of This Town)" by Beth Hart |
| Preceded by "LA Song (Out of This Town)" by Beth Hart |
RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single (third run) 5 March 2000 |
Succeeded by "Two in a Million/You're My Number One" by S Club 7 |
| Preceded by "Born to Make You Happy" by Britney Spears |
United World Chart number one single March 4, 2000 - March 11, 2000 |
Succeeded by "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" by Backstreet Boys |
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