| "The Writer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ellie Goulding | ||||
| from the album Lights | ||||
| Released | 8 August 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:11 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Starsmith | |||
| Ellie Goulding singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Writer" is a song by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding from her debut album, Lights (2010). It was released as the album's fourth and final (not including the Bright Lights re-release) single on 8 August 2010.
Goulding told Sky Songs that "The Writer" is "the most personal and emotional song I've written yet", adding, "It's about how you'd do anything and change absolutely everything about yourself if necessary, just to be noticed by this one person." [1]
The Observer 's Polly Vernon named "The Writer" the "love song of the summer" and called it "raw, eloquent, generally gorgeous", while describing Goulding's voice as "ghostly sweet, saved from sickliness by guttural Björk-ish quirks." [2] OddOne of Unreality Shout felt that "[n]ot once has she sounded more warming than in this beautifully written love song of devotion to a lover", but noted that "being her first ballad, she does fall at some hurdles, like the middle 8: whilst Ellie's breathy vocals may appear to bridge the emotion between the two final choruses, it actually does feel a bit like she's gone back to her colder self, not making the emotion clearly defined despite the very comforting lyrics." [3]
Ryan Love of Digital Spy gave the track three out of five stars and wrote that "Starsmith's typically twinkly production allows those vocals to shine through as she urges a potential boyfriend to help her become just the right kinda gal for him—and the overall effect is as sweet and pretty as a pink frosted cupcake." [4] Michael Cragg of musicOMH compared the song to Dido "with a more four-to-the-floor backing." [5] Pitchfork Media's Stephen Troussé, however, referred negatively to it as "a big bluster of a song, with a chorus where the spectre of the Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan is all too vivid, whose future success could be Goulding's undoing." [6]
"The Writer" debuted at number 101 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 24 July 2010, [7] entering the top 100 at number sixty-eight the following week. [8] In its fifth week on the chart, [9] the single peaked at number nineteen with 12,446 copies sold. [10]
The music video for "The Writer" was directed by Chris Cottam and filmed at Happisburgh Lighthouse in Happisburgh, Norfolk in June 2010 and was uploaded onto Goulding's official YouTube channel on 9 July 2010. [11] [12] The video shows Goulding walking around a field and exploring Happisburgh Lighthouse. It also includes in-studio sequences of her in front of a bright screen, giving the impression that she is in front of the actual light of the lighthouse.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Writer" | 4:14 |
| 2. | "The Writer" (Live Acoustic Version) | 4:12 |
| 3. | "The Writer" (Alan Braxe Remix) | 6:05 |
| 4. | "The Writer" (Friend's Electric Remix) | 3:50 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Writer" (Starsmith Edit) | 3:43 |
| 2. | "The Writer" (Album Version) | 4:14 |
| 3. | "The Writer" (Instrumental) | 4:13 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lights. [15]
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| European Hot 100 Singles [16] | 60 |
| Scotland (OCC) [17] | 17 |
| UK Singles (OCC) [9] | 19 |
"Your Song" is a song written by musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single.
Elena Jane Goulding is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, Goulding began writing songs at the age of 15. She released her debut single "Under the Sheets" through Neon Gold Records in 2009, and signed with Polydor Records that same year, releasing her debut extended play (EP) An Introduction to Ellie Goulding. Her debut studio album, Lights (2010), debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, and was reissued as Bright Lights, spawning three successful singles: a cover of Elton John's "Your Song", "Starry Eyed" and "Lights". Her second studio album Halcyon (2012) was preceded by its lead single "Anything Could Happen", and a repackaged edition titled Halcyon Days (2013) produced the single "Burn", which became her first No. 1 single in the UK. She then collaborated with DJ Calvin Harris on two singles: "I Need Your Love" and "Outside".
"Under the Sheets" is the debut single by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding from her debut album, Lights (2010). Produced by Starsmith, it was released as the album's lead single. The song premiered on Huw Stephens's BBC Radio 1 show on 30 September 2009 and was released on the UK iTunes Store on 15 November 2009, peaking at number fifty-three on the UK Singles Chart. It was also used to promote the second season of 90210 on E4 in the UK. According to Goulding, the single was released on independent label Neon Gold Records rather than Polydor so that she would not be put under too much pressure.
Finlay Dow-Smith, known professionally as Starsmith, is a British songwriter, record producer and DJ.
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Lights is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding, released on 26 February 2010 by Polydor Records. Goulding collaborated with several producers on the album, including Starsmith, Fraser T. Smith, Frankmusik, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Ash Howes, Liam Howe, Fred Falke and Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett.
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English singer Ellie Goulding has released five studio albums, two remix albums, eight extended plays, 47 singles, 13 promotional singles and 49 music videos. As of February 2023, Goulding had sold 27 million albums and 216 million singles, and amassed 43 billion streams worldwide. Additionally, she had sold over 2.6 million albums and over 15 million singles in the United Kingdom alone as of August 2024.
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"Anything Could Happen" is a song by English singer Ellie Goulding from her second studio album, Halcyon (2012). It was released on 17 August 2012 as the album's lead single. Written and produced by Goulding and Jim Eliot of English electropop duo Kish Mauve, the song received positive reviews from music critics. "Anything Could Happen" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, "Anything Could Happen" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Poland, the top 20 of the charts in Australia, the Czech Republic Ireland and New Zealand and the top 50 of the charts in the United States.
"Hanging On" is a song by American singer and songwriter Active Child from his debut studio album, You Are All I See (2011). It was written by Active Child and Ariel Rechtshaid, and produced by Rechtshaid. The song's music video, directed by T.S. Pfeffer and Robert McHugh, debuted on January 19, 2012. English singer Ellie Goulding covered "Hanging On" in 2012, while Australian alternative rock band Something for Kate included an acoustic cover of the song as a bonus track on the two-disc special edition of their 2012 album Leave Your Soul to Science.
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