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"These Words" (also known as "These Words (I Love You, I Love You)") is a song by British singer-songwriter
Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...
. It was written by
Steve Kipner Stephen Alan Kipner (born 1950) is an American-born Australian songwriter and record producer, with hits spanning a 40-year period, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words", an ...
, Andrew Frampton,
Wayne Wilkins Wayne Wilkins is a British record producer, songwriter, record engineer and record mixer. He has produced and written for artists such as Rick Astley ("Cry for Help"), Natasha Bedingfield (" These Words", "Single" and " Love Like This"), Beyon ...
and Bedingfield for her 2004 debut album, '' Unwritten''. The song is the album's
opening track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
, and was released as its second
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
. "These Words" details Bedingfield's lack of inspiration and her reaction to pressure from her record label to produce a hit song. "These Words" was released as the album's second international single and 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 ...
in North America. The single sold well, reached the top forty worldwide, and topped the charts in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was certified platinum in the United States and Australia, and was nominated for "Best British Single" at the 2005
BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
. The song was very well received by music critics, and was frequently cited as a highlight of the album.


Background and writing

Bedingfield began recording her debut album in mid-2003, following the signing of a recording contract with
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
earlier that year. She was determined not to be shaped into "some music biz pigeonhole" and wanted to write songs that were "organic, different and real"."Biography"
. Artist Direct. Retrieved 3 May 2007. Bedingfield began collaborating with
Steve Kipner Stephen Alan Kipner (born 1950) is an American-born Australian songwriter and record producer, with hits spanning a 40-year period, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words", an ...
, Andrew Frampton and
Wayne Wilkins Wayne Wilkins is a British record producer, songwriter, record engineer and record mixer. He has produced and written for artists such as Rick Astley ("Cry for Help"), Natasha Bedingfield (" These Words", "Single" and " Love Like This"), Beyon ...
in London and Los Angeles, but their sessions were largely unproductive due to Bedingfield's
writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
and the pressure that she felt to produce a hit song. Frustrated, she began to sing "I love you, I love you, I love you" over and over. She was at "wit's end and just wanted to say what I meant in a simple way, without using all those flowery words." The line that Bedingfield sang out of frustration became the song's
hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...
and its subject matter inspired by her real life difficulty writing a love song.


Critical reception

"These Words" was generally very well received by contemporary pop music critics.
PlayLouder Playlouder was a digital music and media company. providing news, reviews, and other music-related content. It also claimed to be the world's first music service provider— an Internet service provider bundling access to music content along with ...
's Daniel Robson described the song as a "compelling chunk of popply joy", 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 ...
wrote that the track was "near-perfect" and merged "the rhythms and flavors of hip-hop and R&B with unique melodies and Bedingfield's vocal confidence". The
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 exam. ...
...
called it a "classic love song" with a "really catchy tune", and commented that it was worthy of reaching number one 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 ...
. Josh Timmermann of ''
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
'' called it "best single so far this year", and David Welsh of musicOMH.com wrote that the song had a "virally-infectious chorus and (relatively) clever wordplay." ''
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
'' Colin Cooper ranked "These Words" at number thirteen on his list of the Top 20 Singles of 2004 and
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
ranked the song at number five on its list of the Top 10 Most Memorable Pop Song Lyrics 2005. The
website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
wrote that Bedingfield's naming of the famous poets George Byron,
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
, and
John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...
in the song enables the listener to "almost hear the classic poetry over a drum machine" as Bedingfield sings. Bedingfield's mispronunciation of "hyperbole" as "hyperbowl" has been regularly pointed out throughout the years, including in ''
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 ...
'' ten years after the song's release.


Commercial performance

"These Words" entered 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 ...
on 22 August 2004 at number one, remaining on the chart for thirteen weeks. It maintained the number one position for two weeks. In the United Kingdom, Bedingfield and her brother, pop-singer
Daniel Bedingfield Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...
, became the first sister and brother to achieve separate number one singles. The track also charted at number one in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, remaining on the singles chart for seventeen weeks. Across Europe, "These Words" was largely successful, reaching number one in Poland, number two in Austria, Germany and Norway, and the top ten in the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Elsewhere, the song peaked within the top ten on the majority of the charts it entered. In Australia, "These Words" debuted at number six and reached a peak position of number five three weeks later. On the 2004
ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
end of the year chart, the song charted at number forty-nine and was certified gold. In New Zealand the single performed stronger, reaching number two on the singles chart. "These Words" performed moderately well in North America. The single debuted at number one hundred on the ''
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 ...
''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
on 2 July 2005 and reached a peak position at number seventeen, remaining on the chart for twenty weeks."World Chart Positions"
. Music Square. Retrieved 30 April 2007. The song did well on pop-oriented charts, reaching number nine on the
Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...
and number ten on the
Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...
. "US Billboard Chart Positions"
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 ...
. Retrieved 30 April 2007. "These Words" was helped on the Hot 100 by its strong digital downloads, peaking at number seven on the
Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally start ...
chart. "US Billboard Chart History"
Billboard.com ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
. Retrieved 1 May 2007. The single had crossover success in the dance charts, reaching number one on the
Hot Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...
chart and number thirty-five on the
Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart.


Music videos

Two
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 ...
s were produced for the international and North American markets.


International version

The song's international music video was directed by Scott Lyon and
Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's son ...
and premiered in July 2004. The video features several sequences. It opens with Bedingfield sitting at a table in her Spanish villa, in
Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
, frustrated by her inability to find inspiration to write a song. Afterwards, there are multiple scenes which include her walking and dancing through the villa in colorful outfits, sitting by the swimming pool, lying on the beach and being surrounded by dancing chairs, dancing radios, dancing books in the library, and multiple versions of herself on a sofa. The video concludes with Bedingfield scribbling in her notebook on the roof of her villa. Her scribblings lead her boyfriend to her home where she goes to the balcony, telling him "I love you, is that okay?". During each sequence of the video, Natasha is wearing different outfits and haircuts, with the only constant being that she is always
barefoot Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear. There are health benefits and some risks associated with going barefoot. Shoes, while they offer protection, can limit the flexibility, strength, and mobility of the foot and can lead to ...
.


North American version

The North American music video was directed by
Chris Milk Chris Milk is an American entrepreneur, innovator, director, photographer, and immersive artist. He is co-founder and CEO of Within (Virtual Reality) (formerly Vrse), a virtual reality technology company, and co-founder of Here Be Dragons (for ...
and filmed in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil, in March 2005. The music video, however, was discarded by the record label, though this version won four Annual MVPA Awards. The video begins with Bedingfield waking up next to a
boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...
, dressing, brushing her teeth and leaving her home with the boombox. While performing on Copacabana beach, she kicks her boombox, which comes alive and begins to dance, and she leaves the beach and walks down the street. The video concludes with Bedingfield arriving back home to a house full of dancing boomboxes in the bedroom. An alternate version of the North American video was directed by Jim Gable using much of the footage from the original. The boomboxes featured in the video are animated to look like drawings and a performance by Bedingfield in a room with flowing white drapery has been added. The video debuted in June 2005 and proved successful on US video chart programs. It debuted on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's ''
Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...
'' on 28 June 2005 at number ten and remained on the program for a total of six days. VH1 ranked the video at number twenty-two on its Top 40 Videos of 2005 countdown.


Formats and track listings

Enhanced CD single # "These Words" – 3:34 # "These Words" (Bimbo Jones Remix) – 6:56 # "The One That Got Away" – 4:16 # "
Single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
" (
Radio 1's Live Lounge ''Radio 1's Live Lounge'' is a collection of live tracks played on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show. It consists of both covers and the bands' own songs. Originally, it was scheduled for release in May 2006, but later changed to be released on 16 Octob ...
Recording) – 3:19 # "These Words" (Video) # "These Words" (The Making of the Video) CD single # "These Words" – 3:34 # "Single" (
Radio 1's Live Lounge ''Radio 1's Live Lounge'' is a collection of live tracks played on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show. It consists of both covers and the bands' own songs. Originally, it was scheduled for release in May 2006, but later changed to be released on 16 Octob ...
Recording) – 3:19


Personnel

The following people contributed to "These Words".''Unwritten'' (CD liner notes).
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
. September 2004. * Natasha Bedingfield – guitar, lead and backing vocals *
Wayne Wilkins Wayne Wilkins is a British record producer, songwriter, record engineer and record mixer. He has produced and written for artists such as Rick Astley ("Cry for Help"), Natasha Bedingfield (" These Words", "Single" and " Love Like This"), Beyon ...
–
keyboards 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 ...
,
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, programming * Andrew Frampton – keyboards, programming *
Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...
– mixing * David Treahearn, Rob Haggart – mixing assistant * Herb Powers – mastering * Katherine Lanson – drums


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References


External links


natashabedingfield.com
— official website {{Authority control 2004 singles 2004 songs 2005 singles Music videos directed by Chris Milk Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Natasha Bedingfield songs Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Steve Kipner Songs written by Natasha Bedingfield Songs written by Wayne Wilkins Songs written by Andrew Frampton (songwriter) Phonogenic Records singles