"My First Night with You" is a song written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

. It was originally recorded by Canadian singer

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

for her self-titled debut studio album (1995). In 1998, American singer

Mýa Mya Marie Harrison (; born October 10, 1979), (stylized as Mýa), is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Initially, Mýa began her career as a VJ ...

covered the song for her self-titled debut studio album, serving as the album's third and final single. The album version was produced by

Daryl Simmons Daryl L. Simmons is an American R&B musician, songwriter and record producer, who worked with the production duo of L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. In 1977–1980 Daryl, with Manchild (band) recorded 2 soul & funk albums & the minor h ...

, allowing Mýa to put her own spin on the record, while the Ric Wake pop-produced version was marketed at pop and

adult contemporary 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, quie ...

radio. The lyrics of the ballad speak of a non-sexual experience with a man. The song received generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, some of whom were divided over Mýa's vocal performance. "My First Night with You" peaked at number 28 on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts. The song's accompanying music video was directed by G. Thomas Ferguson and University Music CEO Haqq Islam and features appearances by actor Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and rapper Saafir who portray Mýa's father and boyfriend, respectively.

Composition

"My First Night with You" was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and

. The song was originally produced by Edmonds and recorded by Canadian singer

for her self-titled debut studio album, released by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

in 1995. In 1998, American singer

covered it for her self-titled debut, with producer

replacing Edmonds. The song is in the key of ab major, while it's

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 ...

is set at a moderate slow beat at 80 beats per minute in common time. Harrison's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

span from an Eb₃ to Eb₅. The lyrics of "My First Night with You" are composed in the traditional verse-chorus form. Mýa opens the song with the first verse, followed by the chorus leading her into the second verse. The song continues to the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, chorus, then fades out until its run time.

Critical reception

In its 1999 review, ''

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 ...

'' magazine gave the song a positive review, writing, "It's hard to go wrong at pop radio these days with either

or Babyface on your side, and here the two ably join forces for a gentle love ballad about that unforgettable first night together ..Mya's voice is not the most robust around and this song perhaps makes that clearer than before but "My First Night With You" totally works that Backstreet Boys-ballad vibe that's so hot right now. For that reason and in light of the song's universal lyric about the first touch of love, it's quite likely that the song could continue this budding artist's hot streak, even crossing her over to AC." Ayana D. Bird from ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' called "My First Night with You" a "beautifully arranged Babyface-penned tune hatis perfect by her sweet (but never fragile)

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, reminiscent of

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

's." In a retrospective review of parent album ''Mýa'', her colleague Preezy Brown described the song as "an impassioned ballad."

Accolades

Chart performance

"My First Night with You" was released as the third single from ''Mýa'' in 1999. In the United States, it debuted at number ninety on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the issue dated week of March 20, 1999. It ascended from 90–66 in its second week in the issue dated week of March 27, 1999. The song reached its peak at number twenty-eight in the issue dated week of April 17, 1999 ascending 46–28. It spent a total of 14 consecutive weeks on the chart and Mýa's second single with a short life span on the Hot 100 behind " Fallen" (2003) with 12 consecutive weeks. It performed equally on the

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart. The song made its debut at number eighty-nine in the week of March 13, 1999. It rose from 85–35 in its second week on the chart, in the week of March 20, 1999. It spent 19 consecutive weeks on the chart. "My First Night with You" reached its peak at number twenty-eight in the week of April 17, 1999. It became Mýa's third consecutive Top 40 (solo), fifth overall hit on both charts.

Music video

A music video for "My First Night with You" was directed by G. Thomas Ferguson and University Music CEO Haqq Islam and produced by Geronimo Film Productions. It was filmed in March 1999 and includes appearances by actors Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Cathleen Bradley, who portray Mýa's parents, as well as rapper Saafir. In the video, Mýa tries to convince her father that her date is a good guy before they head out for a big night on the town. The whirlwind evening concludes with Mýa and her beau falling asleep on a beach.

Track listings

Notes * denotes remix producer

Credits and personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of ''Mýa''. *E'Lyk – mixing assistance *Thom "TK" Kidd – engineer *Ronnie Garrett –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Jon Gass – mixing engineer * Mýa Harrison – vocalist *Kevin Lively – engineering assistance *

– drum programming, keyboards, producer *Ivy Skoff – production coordinator *Tanya "Tann" Smith – background vocalist *P. Sound Productions – additional drum programming

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:My First Night With You 1990s ballads 1995 songs 1999 singles Deborah Cox songs Interscope Records singles Mýa songs Pop ballads Contemporary R&B ballads Song recordings produced by Daryl Simmons Songs written by Diane Warren Songs written by Babyface (musician)