"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a song by American musician BT, which contains vocals from American singer

JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and occasional actor. He started out his career as a cast member on '' The Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to stardom with NSYNC, and ...

. It was released through

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

in August 2003, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from BT's fourth studio album, ''

Emotional Technology ''Emotional Technology'' is the fourth studio album by electronica artist BT. Transitioning towards a more pop music oriented sound, the album features some of BT's more commercially successful releases, including "Somnambulist (Simply Being L ...

'' (2003). The

techno-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

song was written and produced by BT. It consists of a

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

, snare drum and

Roland JP-8000 The Roland JP-8000 is an analog modeling synthesizer released by the Roland Corporation in 1996. Overview The Roland JP-8000 was released in early 1997 as part of the first wave of virtual analog modeling synthesizers (VA synths). Others from ...

, and contains 6,178 stutter edits. The lyrics were influenced by American writer

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

and use a recurring

mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

; some praised the production and Chasez's vocals, while other reviewers criticized the song's mainstream sound. It peaked at number 98 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and charted at number four on the Dance Club Songs chart. 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 ...

was directed by Paul Minor. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" was included on the '' Guinness Book of World Records'' in 2003 for the largest number of vocal edits in a song, as well as on the North American version of the

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press ...

, ''

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme is a music video game by Konami and is the eighth release in the main '' Dance Dance Revolution'' (''DDR'') series. It was released on December 25, 2002 for Japanese arcades, on October 9, 2003 for the Japanese PlayStation 2, and on Septembe ...

'' (2004).

Background and release

BT asked

to appear on "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)", after the former musician produced NSYNC's 2001 song " Pop". "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is the

from BT's fourth studio album, ''

'' (2003), and was released in August 2003. The song was written, produced, and engineered by BT at the Buddha Room. An accompanying

was directed by Paul Minor, which Khalil Hegarty of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' described as "slick MTV-style". "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" peaked at number 98 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated September 13, 2003, where it remained for three weeks. The song also peaked at number five on the Dance Club Songs chart dated July 19, 2003, and charted for 15 weeks. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" was included on the North American version of the

, ''

'' (2004).

Composition

Musically, "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a

song. It includes BT's signature stutter edits with the audio manually altered by being "split, cut, joined, and ..mangled", which was created using BT's setup titled Laptop Symphony. The stutter edits contributed to the song's inclusion on the '' Guinness Book of World Records'' in 2003 for the largest number of vocal edits in a song, with 6,178 edits. A " frequency-specific swing" is incorporated in "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)", which BT described on the January 2004 issue of ''

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

'' as "higher frequencies ..swinging harder, and lower frequencies ..swinging less". The beats on the song's

kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

and

snare SNARE proteins – " SNAP REceptor" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts, more than 60 members in mammalian cells, and some numbers in plants. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to mediate vesicle f ...

contain 1,025 samples, while the

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

on the

's acid line contain 202 samples. The lyrics are inspired by American writer

, and include the

: "Simply being love, love, loved is more than enough."

Critical reception

Writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Richard Harrington described "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" as "lightly propulsive". '' Billboard'' writer Keith Caulfield wrote that it is "hypnotic" and singled out the song as a highlight from ''Emotional Technology''. Michael Hamersly of '' Miami Herald'' compared the "quirky" sound in "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" to '' Star Wars'' character

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, ...

and commented that the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

is "spiritual". However, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' writer Tommy Nguyen opined that it is "hopelessly moderate" in BT's attempts for a " aguecrossover sound". Matt Frilingos of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' stated that "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" " itthe mark" and acknowledged that BT could identify "emotive vocals", while '' Calgary Herald'' writer Nick Lewis praised Chasez's vocals on the "catchy" song. Writing for ''

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 ...

'', Andy Hermann criticized the repetitive lyrics and described BT's foray into the pop genre as "drivel".

Track listing

US Remixes

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 ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the back cover of "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)". * Written, produced and engineered by BT * Vocals by BT * Recorded at the Buddha Room * Vocal sound design and additional production in Kyma

Charts

Notes

References

{{JC Chasez 2003 singles 2003 songs Nettwerk Records singles BT (musician) songs