"I Miss You" is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé, taken from her fourth studio album, '' 4'' (2011). It was written by Beyoncé,

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

and

Shea Taylor Robert "Shea" Taylor is a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. He established an early successful songwriting partnership with Def Jam's R&B singer-songwriter phenom Ne-Yo, and has also worked with Rihanna, Beyoncé ...

, while production was handled by Beyoncé and Taylor. The song's development was motivated by the fact that Beyoncé wanted to focus on songs being classics, songs that would last, and songs that she could sing when she becomes old. A mid-paced 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 ...

, "I Miss You" is influenced by the ballads of the 1980s. Its

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

consists essentially of synthesizers and

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 ...

. "I Miss You" finds Beyoncé, as the protagonist, thinking deeply over her relationship with her

love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

from whom she parted; however, she still pines for him and feels self-conscious for doing so. "I Miss You" was generally praised by

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 ...

who complimented its very sparse production as well as its aurally remarkable 1980s influence. Some of them also described the song as a "haunting" ballad and called it the highlight of the record. Critics also complimented how Beyoncé's vocals keep on alternating from desperate and calm throughout the song, and highlighted the vulnerability in her voice. Following the release of ''4'' in early July 2011, "I Miss You" charted at number 184 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 ...

and at number 34 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart, based on downloads alone. The song was part of Beyoncé's

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for her

4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé was the second concert residency by American recording artist Beyoncé. Held during four non-consecutive nights in August 2011 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, the concerts were part of Beyoncé's campa ...

residency, held in

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. The venue, according to its website, accommodat ...

, New York City in August 2011.

Background and development

"I Miss You" was written by Beyoncé,

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American hip-hop music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Tyler, the Creator, Casey Veggies, ...

collective member

, and Shea Taylor while production was handled by Beyoncé and Taylor themselves. In early March 2011, Ocean made known that Beyoncé was back in the studio working on her then upcoming fourth studio album, '' 4''. Ocean posted a snap of Beyoncé in his studio on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, fuelling reports that he had worked with Beyoncé on the new record. As well as posting a picture of Beyoncé recording new material, he also accompanied the image with the comment: "This is the room i am working in this day. not to brag but man, this is surreal. like ..she is singing my songs. If time were to stop right now, the past couple weeks would be near the top of the highlight reel for my short time on earth ic" In July 2011, Beyoncé sat for an interview with Gabriel Alvarez of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' magazine, where she elaborated on how she came to know about Ocean: "Jay Zhad a CD playing in the car one Sunday when we were driving to Brooklyn. I noticed his tone, his arrangements, and his storytelling. I immediately reached out to him—literally the next morning. I asked him to fly to New York and work on my record." In this way, Ocean ended up co-writing "I Miss You". Beginning on June 16 to June 27, 2011, the songs from ''4'' were available to listen to in full each day on Beyoncé's official website, paired with its accompanying photo spread from the album packaging and an insightful quote. On June 18, 2011, "I Miss You"" was the third song to be chosen. The quote found Beyoncé elaborating on what motivated her to record a song like "I Miss You":

'4''is definitely an evolution. It is bolder than the music on my previous albums because I’m bolder. The more mature I become and the more life experiences I have, the more I have to talk about. I really focused on songs being classics, songs that would last, songs that I could sing when I’m 40 and when I’m 60.

Composition

"I Miss You" is a

that draws from the genres of R&B and contains elements of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

and

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

. Michael Cragg, writing for both ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', noted that it is heavily influenced by the 1980s ballads. This was further noted by Charles Ubaghs of

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

and Priya Elan of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', who commented that "I Miss You" is influenced by the 1980s electro

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

music styles respectively. A generally low-key song, "I Miss You" is built on a simple puttering metronomic

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

, The song's instrumentation consists of "layers of atmospheric

", ambient synthesizers, and tinny 808 drums The synthesizers expand and contract as they progress through their

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

, maintaining an even level of intensity throughout. Additionally, Rich Juzwiak of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' commented that

Martika Marta Marrero (born May 18, 1969), better known by her stage name Martika ( ), is an American pop singer and actress. She released two internationally successful albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which sold over four million copies wor ...

's 1991 song " Love... Thy Will Be Done" is conjured in "I Miss You". Matthew Horton of

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. ...

...

Background and development

Composition

Critical reception

Live performances

Cover versions

Chart performance

References

External links