"I Got You" is a song recorded by English singer

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

for her second studio album '' Echo'' (2009). It was written by

Arnthor Birgisson Arnthor Birgisson (Icelandic: Arnþór Birgisson, born 12 February 1976 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic-Swedish songwriter and producer. Arnþór moved to Sweden in 1978 at age two and lives in Stockholm. Information As young Arnþ ...

, Max Martin and

Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian (Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', for ...

, with production helmed by Birgisson. The song is a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and R&B

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, whose instrumentation consists of

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s. It was released as the second and final single from ''Echo'' on 1 November 2009, by Syco Music and J Records. "I Got You" garnered mixed reviews from music critics; some praised Lewis' vocal performance and likened it to the structure of her cover of

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

's "

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

", while others criticized it for not being memorable. A moderate commercial success, it peaked at number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking within the top 40 in Austria, New Zealand, Slovakia and South Korea. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "I Got You" was filmed at Venice Beach in Los Angeles and directed by Dave Meyers. The video revolves around couples who try to resolve their differences and arguments. In the video, scenes of Lewis performing in front of a heart engulfed in flames and sitting on an apartment floor barefoot are intercut. In the United States, Lewis performed the song live on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'', whilst in the United Kingdom, she performed on multiple television shows, including '' So You Think You Can Dance'', ''

The Alan Titchmarsh Show ''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" them ...

'' and ''The National Lottery Draws''. It was included on the set list of her debut tour The Labyrinth (2010).

Recording, production and release

"I Got You" was written by

, Max Martin and

for Lewis' second studio album, '' Echo'' (2009). Production of the song was helmed by Birgisson. It was recorded by Birgisson at

Westlake Recording Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experienc ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and The Vault,

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

. Birgisson and Lewis both handled the vocal production. It was mixed by

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

at Soapbox Studios in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and Damien Lewis served as the

assistant engineer Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

. Background vocals were sung by Vicky Sandström and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

was provided by Esbjörn Öhrwall. "Heartbeat" was co-written by Lewis, Birgisson and

Ina Wroldsen Ina Christine Wroldsen (born 29 May 1984), previously known simply as Ina, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. She was a part of the electropop duo Ask Embla with Icelandic producer and songwriter Arnthor Birgisson. Career Wroldsen's caree ...

, with production of the song once again helmed by Birgisson. It was recorded by Chris Kasych at Chalice Studios, Los Angeles, California, and The Vault in Stockholm, Sweden. It was mixed by Manny Marroquin, Christian Plata and Erik Madrid at Larrabee Studios,

Universal City, California Universal City is an unincorporated area within the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Approximately 415 acres (1.7 km) within and around the surrounding area is the property of Universal Picture ...

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

were provided by Janson & Janson and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, which were recorded by Marcus Bergqvist. Guitar was provided by Esbjörn Öhrwall. In the United States, "I Got You" was released to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on 8 December 2009. In Europe, "I Got You" was released as an A-side and B-side, with "I Got You" as the A-side single, and "Heartbeat", a song which does not appear on any edition of ''Echo'', as the B-side. It was released in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, for digital download on 19 February 2010.

Composition

"I Got You" is a

and R&B

, which lasts for a duration of 3 minutes, 49 seconds. The song was composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

using common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

at 104 beats per minute. Lewis' vocal range spans over two

octaves In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

, from the low note of G₃ to the high note of A₅, on the song. It incorporates elements of

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

genres. Instrumentation consists of

and

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. Fraser McAlpine for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

compared "I Got Yous structure to her cover of

's "

". McAlpine noted that it follows the same four chord progression as "Run", and also is instrumentally complete with guitars. He also noted that Lewis performs the verses of "I Got You" quietly, and belts the chorus, like on "Run".

Critical reception

"I Got You" garnered mixed reviews from music critics. Peter Robinson for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote that "I Got You" "is an impressive distant relative of

Bleeding Love "Bleeding Love" is a song recorded by English singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album ''Spirit'' (2007). It was written and originally recorded by Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder. The song was released as t ...

". Leah Greenblatt for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' praised "I Got You", along with "

Happy Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. Sinc ...

", as they allowed ''Echo'' to redeem itself from the "soppy balladry and standard-issue dancery" present on the rest of the album. Greenblatt's only criticism was that "it can be difficult to connect with the woman who wields it." Mayer Nissim for

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

awarded the song three stars out of a possible five; Nissim was complimentary of Lewis' vocal performance, which he described as "effortless" in the verses and that she belts out the chorus with "gusto." However, Nissim was critical of the song's production, writing that although Lewis sings with conviction, it is not as memorable as other ballads. He continued to write that her voice will allow the song to chart fairly well, and that she should collaborate with other producers to make more memorable songs. Fraser McAline for the BBC awarded the song three stars out of a possible five; McAlpine noted that although Lewis is able to provide "some kind of musical movement, by wandering off the path set down by the song," he was critical of the song's structure, and labeled it "lazy."

Chart performance

"I Got You" failed to achieve commercial success, and managed to peak inside the top 50 singles charts in most regions. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number 127 on the

on 6 February 2010, two weeks before its release as single. It debuted inside the official top 40 at number 40 on 27 February 2010, and leaped to its peak position of number 14 the following week. It managed to attain more success on the UK R&B Chart; it debuted inside to top 40 R&B singles at number 40 on 6 February 2010, and reached its peak of number three on 6 March 2010. In Ireland, "I Got You" debuted at number 47 on 25 February 2010, and reached a peak of number 43 the following week. Elsewhere, "I Got You" peaked at number 30 in Austria, number 20 in the Flanders region of Belgium, number 13 on the singles chart and number 30 on the airplay chart in the Wallonia region of Belgium, number 43 in Germany, number 29 in New Zealand, and number 57 in Switzerland. In South Korea, "I Got You" peaked at number 15 on the international chart, placing at number 138 on the 2010 year-end Download chart, with 92,744 units sold.

Music video

The song's accompanying

was directed by Dave Meyers, and shot at Venice Beach, California on 21 December 2009. The content of the video revolves around "several couples as they deal with the ups and downs of relationships." Prior to the release of the video, Lewis tweeted "It's a strong, cool performance, lots of actors with a movie feel to it. I'm so proud of it and hope you love it – enjoy!" The video was released on 12 February 2010. In the video, scenes of Lewis performing in front of a heart engulfed in flames, as well as sitting on an apartment floor barefoot, are intercut throughout the video amongst the narrative of the video. The video shows several couples ending their relationships, showing many of them are who angry and cannot cope with the heartbreak, but progresses to show how they manage to rebuild their relationships with one another, ending with images suggesting healing, happiness and new relationships.

Live performances

Lewis performed "I Got You" for the first time at a one-off private concert at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in Lon ...

in London, United Kingdom, on 2 November 2009, which served as a taster show to Lewis' The Labyrinth (2010). On 2 December 2009, the singer performed the song on ''The National Lottery Draws''. The following day on 3 December 2009, Lewis on the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

show ''Live Sessions with Ken Bruce'', as part of a set list which included "

", "

Better in Time "Better in Time" is a song recorded by English singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album ''Spirit'' (2007). It was written by J. R. Rotem and Andrea Martin and was produced by Rotem. Lyrically, the song tells the story of a woman who cann ...

", "

" and her own cover of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

's "

Stop Crying Your Heart Out "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" is a song by the English rock band Oasis. The song was written by Noel Gallagher and produced by Oasis. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 June 2002 as the second single from the band's fifth studio album, ...

". On 15 December 2009, to coincide with the song's radio release in the United States, Lewis performed the song on the ''

''. On 21 January 2010, Lewis appeared on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

where she performed "I Got You" as well as covering Oasis' "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" for a second time, and also gave an interview as to why she decided to cover that song. On 6 February 2010, Lewis performed "I Got You" on the semi-final of '' So You Think You Can Dance'' on 6 February 2010. Lewis also performed the song to coincide with the official release in the UK on ''

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

'' on 22 February 2010, Promotion of the song ended with a performance and interview ''

'' on 26 February 2010. In late May 2010, the song was included in the setlist for Lewis' first concert tour, The Labyrinth.

Track listing

;Digital Download #"I Got You" – 3:46 #"Heartbeat" – 3:51

Credits and personnel

"I Got You"

;Recording * Recorded at Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA; The Vault, Stockholm, Sweden. * Mixed at Soapbox Studios, Atlanta, GA. ;Personnel *Production – Arnthor Birgisson *Vocal recording – Arnthor Birgisson *Vocal production – Arnthor Birgisson, Leona Lewis *Mixing – Phil Tan *Additional engineering – Damien Lewis *Background vocals – Vicky Sandström *Guitar – Esbjörn Öhrwall

"Heartbeat"

;Recording * Recorded at Chalice Studios, Los Angeles, CA; The Vault, Stockholm, Sweden. * Mixed at Larrabee Studios, Universal City, CA. ;Personnel *Production – Arnthor Birgisson *Vocal recording – Chris Kasych *Mixing – Manny Marroquin, Christian Plata, Erik Madrid *Strings – Janson & Janson, Czech National Symphony Orchestra *String recording – Marcus Bergqvist *Guitar – Esbjörn Öhrwall "Heartbeat" credits adapted from "I Got You"

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

, and "I Got You" credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Echo'', Syco Music, J Records, Sony Music.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

Notes

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I Got You (Leona Lewis Song) Leona Lewis songs 2010 singles Songs written by Max Martin Pop ballads Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Songs written by Savan Kotecha Songs written by Arnthor Birgisson 2009 songs Syco Music singles J Records singles 2000s ballads Contemporary R&B ballads