7 Things
"7 Things" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus. The song was co-written by Cyrus, Antonina Armato and Tim James, and produced by John Fields. It was released on June 17, 2008, by Hollywood Records as the lead single from Cyrus’ second studio album Breakout (2008), with no ties to her character Hannah Montana from the Disney Channel comedy series of the same name. Also registered as "Seven Things I Hate About You", Cyrus developed the song during the Best of Both Worlds Tour while feeling numerous emotions for an ex-boyfriend, mainly anger. The song's release prompted allegations that it was about Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, which Cyrus neither confirmed nor denied. Musically, "7 Things" bears aspects of both country and pop punk, while the lyrics in the song's refrain list seven traits Cyrus hates about an ex-boyfriend.
"7 Things"
"7 Things" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics and enjoyed worldwide commercial success, becoming a top ten hit on charts in Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United States. The single was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while its appearance on the Japan Hot 100 made "7 Things" Cyrus' first song to chart in an Asian country. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Brett Ratner and features Cyrus performing the song with a backup band as many teenage girls lip-sync along. The girls clutch a variety of props, such as love letters and snow globes, inspired by personal items Cyrus' ex had given her. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award at both the 2008 and 2009 award shows. Cyrus promoted the song through several venues including her world tours, the Wonder World Tour and the Gypsy Heart Tour. The song premiered before its official release as a single on May 13, 2008, at the Elvis Duran Show.[2]
Composition[edit]
"7 Things" is a pop song with a length of three minutes and 33 seconds.[15] According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song's verses are tinged with country while its refrains bear pop punk aspects.[16] The song is set in common time and has moderate rock tempo of 108 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E major while Cyrus' vocals span two octaves, ranging from C#3 to C#5.[17] Fraser McAlpine of the BBC called the song "a three-tempo patchwork quilt".[18] In the song's introduction, the band begins to strum acoustic guitars[19] at a moderate tempo while Cyrus chants "sha".[17] The tempo continues as Cyrus begins the first verse in the song's fourth bar.[17] At each chorus, "7 Things" speeds up dramatically and Cyrus' vocals become aggressive and forceful;[20] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly described the transition as "from sensitive breakup song in the strummy verses to punky-pop kiss-off in the double-time choruses."[21] McAlpine noted the stress Cyrus places on vowels in the song: "'yerw' instead of 'you', 'erw' instead of 'oh', and so on...".[18]
The song's lyrics are written in second person, a message from the singer to her ex-boyfriend detailing the hurt he caused her while they were dating. The refrain is a list of the seven traits the singer "hates" most about her ex, with the seventh item being her frustration that despite his flaws, he makes her love him.[19] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times noted that the list actually "runs to 8 to 11 things, depending on how you parse it".[22] Henry Freedland of Paste magazine compared it to a similar list featured as a poem in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You.[10] In one verse, Cyrus asks for a sincere apology and states, "If you text it, I'll delete it", which Molly Lambert of The New York Times said "perfectly captur[es] our confusing age of technologically mediated courtship."[11] The song concludes with a variation of the refrain, in which Cyrus names the seven things she likes the most about her ex, again concluding with "you make me love you".[22]
Chart performance[edit]
On the week ending June 21, 2008, "7 Things" debuted at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100.[29] The song ascended to number seventy the week ending July 5, 2008, before jumping to number 10 in its third week due to sales of 130,000 digital downloads.[30][31] "7 Things" moved up to number nine on the week ending July 26, 2008, surpassing "See You Again" and becoming Cyrus' best charting effort on the Hot 100.[32][33] The single managed to spend fifteen weeks on the Hot 100, and was ranked at number 92 in the Year-End in 2008. "7 Things" also peaked at number 14 on the now-canceled Pop 100 chart.[34] In Canada, the song debuted at number 40 on the week ending July 5, 2008, and peaked at number 13 on the week ending July 26, 2008.[29][33] As of March 2023, "7 Things" has sold 2,000,000 units in the United States and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[35]
"7 Things" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song made its debut on the Australian Singles Chart at number 38 on August 17, 2008.[36] After five weeks, "7 Things" reached its peak on the chart at number ten.[36] The song has been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipping over 35,000 copies.[37] "7 Things" debuted at number 27 on the New Zealand Singles Chart on August 17, 2008, and, after eight weeks on the chart, reached number 24.[38] "7 Things" also became Cyrus' first song to chart in an Asian country: On the week ending September 27, 2008, "7 Things" debuted at number 81 on the Japan Hot 100;[29] it reached number nine on the week ending October 17, 2008, and reached its peak at number eight on the week ending October 24, 2008.[39][40]
In the UK Singles Chart, "7 Things" made its entry at number 87 on September 13, 2008, and reached its peak at number 25 on December 13, 2008.[29][41] In mainland Europe, the song peaked at number 44 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles and at number 14 in Austria.[33][42] "7 Things" debuted and peaked at number eight on the Norwegian Singles Chart on August 19, 2008.[43] The song experienced similar commercial outcomes throughout the rest of Europe; it charted within the top 40 of charts in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Germany, and Switzerland.[43]