Love You like a Love Song
"Love You Like a Love Song" is a song by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene recorded for their third studio album When the Sun Goes Down (2011). It was released as the second single from the album internationally. The song was released for digital download on June 17, 2011, and serviced to mainstream radios on August 16, 2011, in the United States, through Hollywood Records.
"Love You Like a Love Song"
It was written by Antonina Armato and Tim James while both receive production credits under the stage-name Rock Mafia. Additional songwriting comes from Adam Schmalholz, while Devrim Karaoglu co-produced the track. The song, according to Gomez, was meant to sound different from her previous material, achieving a "high fashion" sound. "Love You Like a Love Song" is a midtempo electropop and dance-pop song with a Euro disco rhythm. The lyrics deal with a love relationship in its primary stage.
"Love You Like a Love Song" was a success in North America, peaking at number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number ten on the Canadian Hot 100. It stands as the band's most successful single in the United States, lasting the longest on the chart, selling more than two million copies and earning a penta-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song peaked at number one in Russia, inside the top ten in Hungary, Mexico and Slovakia, and earned gold certifications in Australia and Sweden, and a platinum one in Norway. In 2022, Billboard ranked the song as the biggest hit that peaked at number 22.
The music video for "Love You Like a Love Song" was directed by Geremy Jasper and Georgie Greville. It features Gomez performing the song at a Japanese karaoke bar while scenes of the band performing in different settings are intercut through the video. The video received controversy for the use of paint, later proven to be non-toxic, on a horse. Despite the use of non-toxic paint and supervision by the Humane Society, the scenes with the horses were removed in the final edit.
Background and release[edit]
"Love You Like a Love Song" was written and produced by Antonina Armato and Tim James, while they are credited under the stage-name Rock Mafia for the production. Armato and James have collaborated on The Scene's previous songs including "Naturally" and "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" (Kiss & Tell, 2009). A month after the release of "Who Says", there was already talk of a release of a new single, to be called "Love You Like a Song", a rumor that arose when the provisional name of the third studio album was still Otherside. On April 30, 2011, the production/songwriting duo, through Twitter, 'confirmed' "Love You Like a Song" was not correct and the correct name of the song is "Love You Like a Love Song" or "Lovesong".[1] In May, the official name of the song, "Love You Like a Love Song", was confirmed.[2]
In an interview with Billboard, Gomez described as a "one of those tracks that's addictive because it's kind of repetitive in the best way. It's one of those songs that you can't get out of your head."[3] In an interview with another publication, Gomez explained what she expected from the record: "This song is fun and I wanted it to be really high fashion and different and I think we have accomplished that. It's basically talking about how crazy you are about someone whenever it's the beginning. It's the honeymoon stage if you will."[4] "Love You Like a Love Song" was released as the second single from When the Sun Goes Down (2011), after the international success of "Who Says", on June 17, 2011, through digital distribution.[5] The song was serviced to contemporary hit radio airplay on August 16, 2011, in the United States.[6]
Composition[edit]
"Love You Like a Love Song" is three minutes and eight seconds long.[7] Armato and James collaborated with Paul Palmer on the song's mix, which was orchestrated at Rock Mafia Studios in Santa Monica, California, while Steve Hammons serves as the mix engineer. Hammons and Ross Hogarth were signed as the song's engineers, while Adam Comstock serves as the second engineer. Brooke Adams performed background vocals with Armato and James. Tim Pierce contributed guitars. The song was then digitally edited by James and Nigel Lundemo.[8] Musically, according to the digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is set in common time and moves through a moderate tempo, having a tempo of 117 beats per minute. It is written in the key of C♯ minor. Gomez's vocals range from a low register of E3 to a high register of C♯5. It has a basic descending fifths sequence of C♯m-F♯m-B-E-A-D♯dim-G♯7 with the eighth chord being G♯ in the verses and C♯m in the chorus as its chord progression. It changes to A-E-B-C♯m-A-E-G♯7-G♯7 in the bridge.
"Love You Like a Love Song" is a mid tempo electropop and dance-pop song incorporating a Euro disco rhythm and pulsing beats,[9] Lyrically, "Love You like a Love Song" is about a relationship in its honeymoon phase. Kitty Empire of The Guardian commented the song "combines a lyrical weariness beyond her years with some acrylic pump action".[10]
Critical reception[edit]
The song received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who criticized its lyrics and Gomez's monotone vocals. John Bergstrom of PopMatters expressed a mixed opinion about the song, writing it "benefits from a great title, and the squishy Eurodisco rhythm is credible, catchy and even sultry. But it's all undone by a stuttering, Max Headroom non-chorus."[11]
Victoria Meng of TheCelebrityCafe, in her review of the single, found faults with the lyrics and the production.[12] Calling the production "sub-par", Meng criticized it for sounding "mechanical" due to the electronic nature, writing "a love song shouldn’t sound mechanical unless it’s deliberately meant to be subversive and to highlight dark, pathological obsessions like in many of Lady Gaga's songs."[12] Meng also criticized it for the use of monotone vocals and Auto-Tune, in regards to a love song which she claims should be "passionate".[12] Meng found the lyrics to be "mediocre", writing "to surround them with a beautiful tune" would help them stand out.[12] Blair Kelly of musicOMH expressed similar feelings towards the song; she deemed it "forgettable" and stated it and "Bang Bang Bang" were both "wannabe electro-pop songs which lack both lyrical merit and a really catchy hook to make up for it."[13]
In 2017, Alex Frank from Pitchfork called the song "a cult karaoke classic".[14]
Commercial performance[edit]
"Love You Like a Love Song" debuted at number 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100 issued for July 9, 2011. The song peaked at number 22 on March 3, 2012. With 38 weeks spent on the chart, it is Selena Gomez & the Scene's longest-charting single.[15] On April 20, 2012, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the single double platinum.[5] It is Gomez's best-selling song in the US and had sold 2.7 million copies as of May 2017.[16][17] In Canada, "Love You Like a Love Song" entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number 64 on July 9, 2011.[18] The song rose to number 21 in the following week.[19] It ascended and descended inside the top 30 for eighteen weeks until it peaked at number 10 on November 19, 2011.[20][21] The song lasted another fifteen weeks inside the top 30 and exited the charts after forty-two weeks.[20]
In Belgium, "Love You Like a Love Song" peaked at number 15 and charted for thirteen weeks.[22] In New Zealand, the song entered the singles chart at number 34 and peaked at number 21 two weeks later.[23] In Australia, it peaked at number 48 and, despite lasting two weeks on the chart, was certified gold for shipments of 35,000 units by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[24] In Sweden, the song peaked at number 41 on the singles chart and earned a gold certification by the Swedish Recording Industry Association (GLF) for shipments of 10,000 units.[25] The song showed similar success across Europe, peaking in the lower end of the top fifty in several other countries, though it went to #1 in Russia staying 20 weeks atop (the most of any song), and top 3 in several other Eastern European countries. It also made #1 in both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.
Live performances[edit]
Gomez performed the song on Good Morning America on June 17, 2011. The song has also been performed on the UK program Daybreak on July 8, 2011. She also performed it at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday, August 7, 2011. Gomez performed the song on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on September 19, 2011.[32] The song was also performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 17, 2011. Gomez and her band performed the song at their first headlining tour We Own the Night Tour.
The band performed the song at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards following their win for "Best Love Song".[33]
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of When the Sun Goes Down.[8]
Cover versions, parodies and usage in media[edit]
In 2012, Naya Rivera performed the song as her character Santana Lopez in the third-season episode "Prom-asaurus" of the television series Glee.
RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Willam Belli parodied the song on his album The Wreckoning, entitled "Love You Like a Big Schlong".[34]
The song was featured in the episode "No, You Can’t Sit With Us" of Suburgatory.[35]
The song was covered by Marshall Williams and Kelli Berglund in the Disney Channel television film How to Build a Better Boy, as their characters Albert Banks and Mae Hartley respectively.
The song was featured in the 2012 dance video game Just Dance 4.
In 2014, Cats on Trees released a cover version of the song. It charted on the SNEP, the official French Singles Chart peaking number 44 and 43 at Wallonia.[36][37]
In 2015, Sami released a cover version of the song.[38]
The song was featured in episode 7 of the Netflix series Ginny and Georgia.[39]