Catch My Breath
"Catch My Breath" is a song by American pop artist Kelly Clarkson, from her first greatest hits album, Greatest Hits – Chapter One. One of the three newly recorded songs for Chapter One, it was released as the album's lead single through RCA Records on October 10, 2012. It was written by Clarkson, and co-written and produced by her musical director Jason Halbert, along with producer Eric Olson.
For the Westlife song, see Back Home (Westlife album)."Catch My Breath"
October 10, 2012
2012
Studio City, California (Studio City Sound)
Pasadena, California
(The Listening Station)
Nashville, Tennessee
(The Inc. Spot)
4:10 (album version)
3:56 (radio edit)
- Kelly Clarkson
- Jason Halbert
- Eric Olson
Sound Kollectiv
"Catch My Breath" is an electropop dance song with pop rock arrangements. Its lyrical content represents Clarkson's journey from winning the inaugural season of American Idol in 2002 to where she is headed as both an artist and an empowered woman; and is celebrated as a song of strength for her fans, friends and family who had supported her throughout the years.[1] Upon its release, "Catch My Breath" was met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song's uplifting theme and Clarkson's vocal performance. The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 19 and topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. It has also charted within the top five of Adult Pop Songs and Adult Contemporary charts, and on the top twenty of Pop Songs chart.
Directed by Danish director Nadia Marquard Otzen, the song's accompanying music video features Clarkson performing above the water, as gusts of wind, fire and smoke surround her. The video has met with positive reception from critics, who noted its simplicity as giving focus on her vocal performance. Clarkson has performed the "Catch My Breath" televised performances, including the 2012 American Music Awards and VH1 Divas 2012.
Composition[edit]
"Catch My Breath" is a midtempo electro-pop song with EDM builds[10] and pop rock[11] arrangements that gradually builds up to an uptempo song in the chorus. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard noted the song's slow start as "a red herring for the upbeat anthem that "Catch My Breath" becomes.[11] The song has a length of 4:11 (4 minutes and 11 seconds) and is written in the key of F♯ minor in common time with a tempo of 124 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of Dsus2 – E – F♯m7 – Dsus2 – F♯m7 – E. Clarkson's vocal range spans two octaves, from F♯3 to F♯5.[12]
Written in an uplifting first person narrative, the song depicts Clarkson's journey from the past and her vision in the future, with the chorus revealing her new life mantra.[13] Lipshutz noted, "I've spent most of my time catching my breath, letting it go, turning my cheek for the sake of the show!" Clarkson sings, before promising to spend the rest of her days appreciating what she has and being herself."[11] Jocelyn Vena of MTV News wrote, "While Clarkson has clocked plenty of songs about the perils of love over the course of her career, her romance on this single is more positive than in the past."[13]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
The song received positive reviews, with most critics commending the song's uplifting theme and lyrical content. Immediately after premiering on radio, Sam Lansky of Idolator remarked: "The song is classic Kelly Clarkson, although much less bruised than many of her heartbreak anthems: The production is clean and sparkly, with a propulsive back-beat and clear vocals."[6] Neon Limelight wrote, "The upbeat song is really less about her career and more about where she is now in her life and her new found ability to appreciate what really matters."[14] Jocelyn Vena of MTV News also added, "Kelly Clarkson is still pop's sassy "Miss Independent", but these days, she's a bit more willing to ask for help. Clarkson's uplifting new single "Catch My Breath" not only pays homage to her strong-willed musical persona, but also to the people who have helped her grow into the woman she is today".[13]
Critics also applauded Clarkson's vocal performance harmoniously interweaving with the song's arrangement. Mark Hogan of Spin wrote: "American Idol's most successful champion demonstrates just how she plans to keep up with the young guns on the triumphant midtempo song, which moderately incorporates the EDM builds recently in favor with everyone from Pink to Taylor Swift. Clarkson's always-powerful voice still sets her apart from the club-pop pack. If there's a whiff of lite-FM maturity, it feels earned."[10] Amy Sciarretto of Popcrush gave the song three and a half stars out of five, she wrote: "It's her voice and the undulating beat that make this song a toe-tapper from the opening note to the closing one. The organic tone of Clarkson's voice is what prevents the song from sounding too "synthy" or studio-created, which is often an issue with pop songs. There is no trickery here; it's all Clarkson being a vocal diva."[15] Jenna Hally Rubenstein of MTV Buzzworthy remarked, "As you might expect, "Catch My Breath" is a sunny, synth-laden pop jam that showcases Kelly's unreal set of pipes, and speaks to the difficulties that come with staying in the record industry."[16] Bené Viera of VH1 remarked, "The song is celebratory in that it acknowledges she's going to live her life the way that makes her happy. Her voice flows from a leveled alto to a high near-scream for the chorus."[17] On March 5, 2013, Billboard ranked the song #49 in its list of Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time.[18]
Chart performance[edit]
"Catch My Breath" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week ending October 21, 2012, at number 54,[19][20] making it her twenty-fourth entry on the chart. It also debuted at number 32 on the Adult Pop Songs and at number 11 on the Hot Digital Songs with 87,000 digital downloads.[20][21] On the week ending January 26, 2013, the song jumped from number 12 to number 10, making Clarkson as the female singer with the most Adult Pop Songs top 10s among women.[22] The song also becomes Clarkson's 80th Billboard number one when it jumped from number two to number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs on the week ending February 2, 2013. It is also her third consecutive number one in the chart, following "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) and "Dark Side".[23] The song peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Clarkson's 14th Top 20 hit on the chart.[24] On February 28, 2013, the song has passed one million downloads, giving Clarkson the 11th million-selling single of her career.[25] As of September 10, 2017, it has sold 1,834,000 paid digital downloads.[26] In Canada, the song debuted at number 25 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart on the week ending October 21, 2012.[20] In South Korea, "Catch My Breath" debuted at number 2 on the Gaon International Digital Singles Chart and at number 1 on the Gaon International Download chart on the week ending October 20, 2012.[27] In Ireland, the song debuted at number 88 on the Irish Singles Chart on the week ending October 18, 2012.[28] In Australia, the song debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number 40 on the week ending October 29, 2012.[29]
Live performances[edit]
Clarkson had included the song in the final leg of her Stronger Tour in Europe, debuting the song live on October 10, 2012, at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland.[6] Before performing the song, Clarkson described the recording process and working with her musical director, Jason Halbert.[39] Zara Golden of VH1 gave a positive review towards Clarkson's performance, writing "she certainly earned her "Greatest" status by hitting all the high points without taking even a beat to actually catch her breath".[40] The same opinion was echoed by Sam Lansky of Idolator who praised Clarkson's voice for being "effortlessly flawless".[6][41] Alexandra Capotorto of PopCrush also complimented Clarkson's performance, writing "Clarkson gave a performance that she always does: energetic and near pitch perfect, all the while making sure to focus on the audience before her to get them involved."[42] The first televised performance of the song was at the 2012 American Music Awards, where Clarkson performed a medley of "Miss Independent", "Since U Been Gone", "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" and ending with "Catch My Breath".[43] Ray Rahman of Entertainment Weekly gave the performance an "A−", lauding her intro performance bearing her audition number "2311" as a reference to her American Idol audition.[44] On November 20, 2012, she performed "Catch My Breath" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[45] Clarkson performed the song on 2012 VH1 Divas on December 16, 2012.[46] On December 18, 2012, she performed the song along with Team Blake's Cassadee Pope and Terry McDermott on the third-season finale of The Voice.[47]