My Life Would Suck Without You

"My Life Would Suck Without You"
Single by Kelly Clarkson
from the album All I Ever Wanted
Released	January 13, 2009 (2009-01-13)
Format	Digital single, CD single
Recorded	2008
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:31
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Claude Kelly
Producer	Max Martin, Dr. Luke
Kelly Clarkson chronology "Don't Waste Your Time" (2007) "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009) "I Do Not Hook Up" (2009)

"My Life Would Suck Without You" is a song performed by American pop rock singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson. It is the first single from her fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted.^[1] Dr. Luke and Max Martin, writers of her hit "Since U Been Gone", co-produced and co-wrote the song.^[2][3] Claude Kelly also contributed to the lyrics.^[4][5] It is her second number-one single in the United States and Canada after 2002's "A Moment Like This" and her first number-one in the United Kingdom, making her to date the only American Idol contestant to have UK number one song.^[6]

Music and structure

"My Life Would Suck Without You" is a moderately fast pop rock song composed in the key of A major at 145 beats per minute.^[7] The tempo is set in common time.^[7] Clarkson's vocal range spans from A₃ to E₅.^[7] The instruments used in this song are synthesizers, guitars, a drum machine, and bass.^[8] The song begins with mellow guitar plucking and transcends into a melody of synthesizers, guitars, and synthesized drums.^[1] The melody then cascades into a chorus of crashing cymbals, bass, synthesizers, and loud guitars.^[1]

Reception

The song received generally positive reviews. Billboard labelled it "a propulsive blast of rock-tinged pop"^[9] and stated that "the countdown to No. 1 begins."^[10] About.com's Bill Lamb named it "pop perfection that could easily end up one of the biggest hits of the year."^[11] Rolling Stone called the song "fantastic — the early favorite for single of the year." and "straight-up pop [that] cascades into an avalanche of synths and a steady beat," mentioning that it "has all the characteristics of a surefire radio hit."^[1] TIME also listed "My Life Would Suck Without You" as #1 in their top 10 songs of 2009.^[12]

Brian Mansfield from USA Today stated that there were "disco rhythms and lots of synth-dance-pop layers over the top, but the guitar pattern... keeps it from sounding too artificial"; eventually stating that he was "liking it".^[13] The Los Angeles Times said the song "zooms forward from its guitar-plucky intro toward a cymbal-crashing climax without ever slowing down", commenting that the song would be "huge"; however, it also stated that the song had "empty calories delivered within those compressed, subtly Auto-Tuned vocals [riding] high-fructose beats."^[2]

Release

Originally scheduled to hit airwaves on January 19, the song debuted on New York Top 40 station Z100 on January 13,^[1] and the single was then transmitted digitally to radio stations at 6:00 pm EST for immediate airplay.^[14] It went officially for adds on radio station playlists on January 20, 2009. It was given a digital release on January 16, 2009 at Amazon.com's MP3 store,^[15] with a subsequent release on the US and Canadian iTunes Stores on January 20, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

The song was also released as a download on January 16 in Australia on iTunes. On January 23, the song was announced as the most added song to radio in Australia.^[16] The song was sent to radio stations in the United Kingdom on the week of January 19 and was digitally released there on February 21.^{[citation needed]}

It was covered by the cast of the hit Fox television series Glee in the first season episode "Sectionals". Their version of the song has been released as a single on iTunes and is the final song on the soundtrack compilation Glee: The Music, Volume 2.

Chart performance

"My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of January 29, 2009 and went to #1 in its second week, setting the record for the furthest jump to #1 in history.^[17] This makes it the second time Clarkson has set this record, after her debut single "A Moment Like This" went from #52 to #1 in 2002.^[5] "My Life Would Suck Without You" is also the only song by an Idol alum to top the Hot 100 chart that is not associated with the show.^[18] The song also advanced to #3 on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart, giving her her first top ten airplay hit since "Because of You".^[19] The song was dethroned from the top of the Hot 100 chart by Eminem's "Crack a Bottle".^[20] The song has so far sold over 2,300,000 downloads in the United States.^[21]

On the Canadian Hot 100, the song debuted at #82. The following week, it jumped to the top spot, breaking the record previously set by Rihanna with "Take a Bow", which moved from #70 to #1.^{[citation needed]} She held that record for 10 months, until October 2009, when Britney Spears' "3" jumped from #86 to #1.

"My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted on the Australian ARIA Charts at #16 and peaked at #5, and is also Clarkson's first physical number #1 single. The single debuted on the New Zealand RIANZ chart at #25 and peaked at #11.^{[citation needed]}

"My Life Would Suck Without You" became Clarkson's biggest hit in Sweden (peaking at #2), Ireland (#4), and Germany (#6).^{[citation needed]}

In the Netherlands, "My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted at number 26 and peaked at number 3, becoming her first top 10 hit in the Netherlands since the release of Breakaway's last European single "Because of You".^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom, the song climbed from #103 on the UK Singles Chart to #1 on March 1, 2009, becoming Clarkson's first British number-one single, selling 51,114 copies in its first week as a digital release.^[22][23] Despite being Clarkson's highest charting single in the UK, it's stay on the chart is considerably less than some of her other singles. With 17 weeks inside the UK charts it ranks behind her #5 hit "Since U Been Gone" at 37 weeks and her #7 hit "Because of You" at 25 weeks.^[24]

"My Life Would Suck Without You" has been certified Platinum in Australia and Canada, Gold in New Zealand, and Silver in the United Kingdom.

It made it to the 2009 Year-End Billboard Chart at #23, becoming the highest peak for a Clarkson single in the Year-End chart since "Behind These Hazel Eyes" (#10) and "Since U Been Gone" (#4) charted in 2005.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Wayne Isham and was shot in Los Angeles in December 2008. It is now available for digital download on iTunes and is featured on the DVD of the Deluxe Edition of All I Ever Wanted. A preview of the video was shown during a commercial break for American Idol on its January 28, 2009 episode. The full video then premiered via AT&T's website directly after the broadcast.^[25]

The video begins with a small boy and girl playing on a playground together, teasingly pushing each other around. The young girl is intended to be Clarkson as a child, presumably with her young male best friend. The boy hands her a beaded necklace, which she puts on admiringly. The shot closes in on the necklace, then pulls back to reveal it's still worn as a bracelet on the wrist of now-adult Clarkson.

Clarkson's boyfriend (played by Houston Rhines) shows up at her apartment door, presumably after an argument. Clarkson teases him with a set of keys, which she then throws down the toilet.

The two are then shown sitting on a couch, reading magazines, when Clarkson grabs her boyfriend's magazine. The two are shown throwing various possessions of one another out of the apartment window, though in a playful manner. Such items include numerous articles of clothing, magazines, a guitar (which Clarkson tries to stop him throwing out), and a fishbowl (with the fish being taken out and put in a glass first, after which they look out the window). After throwing these items out the window, the two are seen sitting affectionately on the couch. Clarkson and her boyfriend are shown still fighting and bickering as they did as children, over the TV Guide and remote control.

The latter portion of the video shows the two driving in a first generation Ford Bronco (with the necklace/bracelet hanging from the rear view mirror), eventually getting into an argument. Distracted by the tiff over directions, the Bronco nearly ends up in a head-on collision with an approaching car. After spinning out to avoid the crash, Clarkson simply grabs her boyfriend and pulls him into a kiss, where the video ends.

Interspersed with the storyline are performance shots of Clarkson on a swing set and band shots of Clarkson singing throughout the chorus with bright, football stadium lighting behind her. The lights fluctuate along with the song, becoming bright during certain key moments of musical crescendo and then dimming for others.

The video was nominated for a 2009 MTV Video Music Award in the category for Best Female Video.

Track listing

Digital Download

1. "My Life Would Suck Without You" – 3:31

CD Single

1. "My Life Would Suck Without You " – 3:31
2. "My Life Would Suck Without You (Instrumental Version)" – 3:33

Remixes

• Dr. Luke Remix featuring Former Fat Boy
• Friscia & Lamboy Radio Edit
• Bryan Reyes & Amy Alderman Miami Mix
• Chriss Ortega Radio Mix
• Chriss Ortega Club Mix
• DJ Earworm 'My Life Would Suck Without You In My Place' mashup (vs. Coldplay)
• U.S. X Factor's inTENsity

Release history

Country	Release date	Format	Label
North America	January 13, 2009	Airplay	RCA Records
Europe	January 16, 2009	Digital download	Sony Music
Canada
United States			RCA Records
Australia	January 19, 2009		Sony Music
	February 2, 2009[26]	CD single
New Zealand	January 19, 2009	Digital download
Italy	January 30, 2009[27]
United Kingdom	February 21, 2009		RCA Label Group (UK)
	March 2, 2009	CD single
The Netherlands	February 16, 2009	Digital download	Sony Music
Germany	February 27, 2009[28]	CD single, digital download

Charts, certification and procession

Chart (2009)	Peak position	Year end chart	Certification	Sales
Australia (ARIA)[29]	4	40[30]	Platinum	70,000[31]
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[32]	6	—	—	—
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[33]	18	—	—	—
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[34]	3	—	—	—
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[35]	1	—	Multi-Platinum	80,000[36]
Czech Airplay Chart[37]	15	—	—	—
Denmark (Tracklisten)[38]	29	—	—	—
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[39]	3	15[40]	—	—
Germany (Media Control AG)[41]	6	31[42]	—	—
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[43]	1	16	—	—
Ireland (IRMA)[44]	4	—	—	—
Japan (Japan Hot 100)[45]	7	—	—	—
New Zealand (RIANZ)[46]	11	—	Gold	7,500[47]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[48]	38	—	—	—
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[49]	2	—	—	—
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[50]	5	55	—	—
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[51]	1	46	Silver	300,000`
US Billboard Hot 100[52]	1	23[53]	—	2,372,000[54]
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[55]	16	—

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (Canada)
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)

Cover versions

• "My Life Would Suck Without You" was covered in the episode "Sectionals" of the TV series Glee in 2009.
• "My Life Would Suck Without You" was covered in the seventh series of The X Factor by the boyband One Direction in 2010.
• "My Life Would Suck Without You" was covered in St. Mary's Halls, Twickenham by singing sensations Aislinn Kavanagh and Ciara Mernagh in 2011.

References

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