"Extraordinary" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

from her self-titled fourth studio album (2003). It was released to radio as the second single from the album on March 1, 2004, by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. The song was written by Phair and the production team

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, which consists of

Lauren Christy Lauren Christy is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. Originally a solo artist, she found success as part of the writing production trio The Matrix. The Matrix received numerous Grammy nominations including best producer. Biogr ...

Scott Spock David Scott Alspach, known professionally as Scott Spock, is an American songwriter, record producer and composer. He is known for being a member of the pop writing and production team The Matrix, who have written and produced many hit single ...

, and Graham Edwards. Production on the song was solely helmed by the Matrix. According to Phair, the song is about wanting others to see you for who you are.

Background

"Extraordinary" was written by Phair and the production team

. The song was inspired by feelings Phair experienced of wanting to be seen for who she really is. Phair explained: "I feel like in my life I've always struggled against being kind of the girl-next-door to people, and always wanting people to see me as maybe having more depth." Phair described the song as an updated version of "6'1"", a song from ''

Exile in Guyville ''Exile in Guyville'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released on June 22, 1993, by Matador Records. It was recorded at Idful Music Corporation in Chicago between 1992 and 1993 and produced by Phair and Brad Wood ...

''.

Use in media

The song was featured in the 2004 film ''

Raising Helen ''Raising Helen'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, siblings Spencer and Abigail Breslin, and Helen M ...

''. It was also featured in an episode of ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

'', titled "Oh My Goddess!" The song was included on the teen pop compilation ''Got Hits! 2'' as well. The song was included on the soundtrack for ''

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ''Queer Eye'' is an American reality television series that premiered on the cable television network Bravo in July 2003. Originally ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'', the title was later shortened to broaden the overall scope. The series was cr ...

''.

Music video

Two music videos for the song were released. The first features black-and-white footage of Phair singing the song. After the song was featured in the 2004 film ''

'', a second music video was made, featuring

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of Phair in front of various backdrops.

Critical reception

The song garnered mixed reviews from music critics, who were dissatisfied with her attempt to go mainstream. ''

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s Mim Udovitch said that Phair sounds "bogus," while ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' called the song "sickeningly effervescent." Some critics were more complimentary towards the song, however. Chuck Klosterman, writing for ''

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'', praised the song's "authenticity," while

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted that it was one of its parent album's highlights. Michael Paoletta of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called the song "ultra-catchy" and "oh-so-buoyant".

Commercial performance

Though the song failed to recreate the chart success of past hits "

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" and " Why Can't I?" it still managed to chart. It reached number 111 in the US, spending a total of 5 weeks on the "

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

" chart. It also charted on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart and the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart, on which it spent six months.

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the ''Liz Phair'' album liner notes. *

– writer, lead vocals *

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

– writer, producer, arrangement, recording, additional vocals * Krish Sharma – drum recording *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixing *

Corky James Corky James (born February 10, 1954) is a Los Angeles-based session guitarist and bassist who has appeared on a considerable number of music albums and motion picture soundtracks. His genres encompass rock, pop, country, singer-songwriter, and f ...

– guitars *

Victor Indrizzo Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer. Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked wit ...

– drums * The Wizardz of Oz – additional vocals

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2003 songs 2004 singles 2004 songs Capitol Records singles Liz Phair songs Song recordings produced by the Matrix (production team) Music videos directed by Phil Harder