Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 16:51, 5 October 2005

"Breakaway" is the first single (in North America and Australia only) from Breakaway, the second album by pop rock singer, Kelly Clarkson, although the song is often seen as a stopgap between "The Trouble with Love Is" and "Since U Been Gone".

Released in 2004, the single reached number six in the United States, becoming Clarkson's third top-ten single. The song is most remembered for helping her to popularize and explore the pop rock sound to a greater degree for the first time (a new feel that would be solidified in her next single, "Since U Been Gone"). The song is also remembered for its chart longevity, entering in the summer of 2004 and not leaving until the summer of 2005.

Song information

The single was co-written by Avril Lavigne, B. Beneate, and Michael Gerrard and produced by John Shanks. It was originally written in part by Lavigne for her second album, Under My Skin, but she did not release it as she did not feel the song suited her album at the time. As a result, it was handed to Kelly Clarkson, who recorded it–as a stopgap between her albums–for the soundtrack of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

Also because of the single's success, Clarkson's second album was renamed Breakaway at the last minute, and this song was included (it had not been planned to be). Although Clarkson did not write the song, its coming-of-age theme struck a chord with her.

Chart performance

After two underperforming singles, "Low" and "The Trouble with Love Is", a few critics had written off Clarkson as an American Idol has-been. However, "Breakaway" went on to become one of the biggest hits of late 2004. The song proved to be popular among children as well as adults. It peaked in the top ten of all the charts that it had entered and ended up peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing "Miss Independent"'s peak of number nine.

However, the song is not known most for its peak position on the Hot 100, but for its longevity on the chart. The song entered the Hot 100 in August of 2004, and did not leave until July of 2005, being on the charts for nearly one full year. This made "Breakaway" one of the songs with the highest amounts of longevity ever on the Hot 100. "Breakaway" is also known for breaking records on the Adult Contemporary charts where it spent twenty-one non-consecutive (twenty consecutive) weeks at number one. It is the longest running AC number-one from a movie soundtrack, and tied for the second-longest overall with Céline Dion's "A New Day Has Come", behind Uncle Kracker's "Drift Away" with twenty-eight weeks on top.

The song's longevity in part can be attributed to the song's steady digital downloads, which have gained the single a double platinum certification, with over 400,000 downloads.

"Breakaway" debuted at number forty-five in Canada before climbing to its peak of number three only seven weeks later (and maintaining its peak position for six weeks). It subsequently remained in the top-forty for an additional nine weeks.

In Australia, "Breakaway" debuted at number ten, but was unable to climb to a higher peak.

Music video

As "Breakaway" was originally recorded for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the music video required a tie-in of sorts to the film. Clarkson wanted the video to be balanced (unlike many music videos from soundtracks nowadays) between the theme of the song and the theme of the film. As a result, the video ties in both themes, starting out with a young actress representing Clarkson as a child. A child can be seen looking forlorn, as although she is happy in a way, she feels the need to break away. Years pass, and an adult Clarkson, now a superstar, is seen attending the fictional premiere of the film, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Scenes from the film can be seen as Clarkson remembers her past, and how she broke away. Originally the video was supposed to be longer to show more scenes of Clarkson growing up at a more gradual pace, but they had to be eliminated due to time constraints.

Comprehensive charts

World

Billboard

• Twenty of the twenty-one weeks spent at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart were consecutive. Clarkson holds the record for the longest consecutive run at number one (breaking a record previously set by Céline Dion and her song, "Because You Loved Me").

Chart trajectory

• 2004 singles
• Pop songs
• Kelly Clarkson songs