Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)

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"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)"
BT - Somnambulist.jpg
Single by BT
from the album Emotional Technology
ReleasedAugust 2003
Studio Buddha Room
Genre Techno-pop
Length4:38
Label Nettwerk
Songwriter(s) BT
Producer(s) BT
BT singles chronology
"Shame"
(2001)
"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)"
(2003)
"Love Comes Again"
(2004)
Music video
"Somnambulist" on YouTube

"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a song by American musician BT, which contains vocals from American singer JC Chasez. It was released through Nettwerk in August 2003, as the lead single from BT's fourth studio album, Emotional Technology (2003). The song contains 6,178 stutter edits, and was subsequently awarded by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2003 for the largest number of vocal edits in a song. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" peaked at number 98 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and charted at number four on the Dance Club Songs chart.

Contents

Background and release

BT asked JC Chasez to appear on "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)", after the former musician produced NSYNC's 2001 song "Pop". [1] "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is the lead single from BT's fourth studio album, Emotional Technology (2003), [2] and was released in August 2003. [3] The song was written, produced, and engineered by BT at the Buddha Room. [4] An accompanying music video was directed by Paul Minor, [2] which Khalil Hegarty of The Age described as "slick MTV-style". [5] "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" peaked at number 98 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated September 13, 2003, where it remained for three weeks. [6] The song also peaked at number five on the Dance Club Songs chart dated July 19, 2003, and charted for 15 weeks. [7]

Composition

"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a techno-pop song. [1] [8] It includes BT's signature stutter edits, with the audio manually altered by being "split, cut, joined, and [...] mangled". [9] The edits contributed to the song's inclusion on the Guinness Book of World Records in 2003 for the largest number of vocal edits in a song, with 6,178 edits. [3] [10] [11] A "frequency-specific swing" is incorporated in "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)", which BT described on the January 2004 issue of Keyboard as "higher frequencies [...] swinging harder, and lower frequencies [...] swinging less". The beats on the song's kick and snare contain 1,025 samples, while the percussion on the Roland JP-8000's acid line contain 202 samples. [12] The lyrics are inspired by American writer Henry Miller, [2] and include the mantra: "Simply being love, love, loved is more than enough." [1] [8]

Critical reception

Writing for The Washington Post , Richard Harrington described "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" as "lightly propulsive". [1] Matt Frilingos of The Daily Telegraph stated that the song "[hit] the mark" and acknowledged that BT could identify "emotive vocals", [13] while Calgary Herald writer Nick Lewis praised Chasez's vocals on the "catchy" song. [14] Writing for Billboard , Keith Caulfield believed that "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" was "hypnotic" and singled out the song as a highlight from Emotional Technology. [15] Los Angeles Times writer Tommy Nguyen opined that it was "hopelessly moderate" in BT's attempts for a "[vague] crossover sound". [16]

Track listing

US Remixes CD single [4]

No.TitleLength
1."Somnambulist" (Original Version) (edit)4:38
2."Somnambulist" (Junkie XL Vocal Mix)8:51
3."Somnambulist" (Sander Kleinenberg's Convertible Mix)9:59
4."Somnambulist" (Burufunk Remix)7:28

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the back cover of "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)". [4]

Charts

Chart performance for "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)"
Chart (2003)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [6] 98
US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [7] 5
US Dance/Electronic Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [17] 18
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay ( Billboard ) [18] 4

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