Someone's Watching Over Me

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"Someone's Watching Over Me"
Single by Hilary Duff
from the album Hilary Duff
B-side"My Generation"
ReleasedFebruary 21, 2005 (2005-02-21)[1][2]
Recorded2004
Genre
Length4:11
LabelHollywood
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)John Shanks
Hilary Duff singles chronology
"Fly"
(2004) 		"Someone's Watching Over Me"
(2005) 		"Wake Up"
(2005)
Audio video
"Someone's Watching Over Me" on YouTube

"Someone's Watching Over Me" is a song recorded by American singer Hilary Duff for her self-titled third studio album (2004). It was released by Hollywood Records as the second single just in Australia. The song was written by Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks, who also produced the song.

Background and composition[edit]

The song was written by DioGuardi and Shanks for the film Raise Your Voice, in which Duff stars. In the movie, which is set at a performing arts summer school, Duff's character, Terri Fletcher, writes the song with her fellow student Jay, played by Oliver James, and performs it at the film's climax in front of the students, staff and parents. The song is dedicated to Terri's late brother, Paul, who supported her dream to become a musician. The song states that in all the challenges Terri needs to overcome in her journey to fulfill her dream, although not physically present, someone is still there watching over her.

Musically, "Someone's Watching Over Me" is a moderately paced pop song, moving at a tempo of 78 beats per minute.[3] Written in the key of E Major, the song has the sequence of C#m—F#m—B—B/G♯—G#m—G#/C as its chord progression in the verses, and then moves to E-B-C#m-B-A-B in the chorus.[3] Lyrically, the song speaks about "holding on no matter what happens in life, believing that someone's watching over".

Reception[edit]

According to Paul Broucek, executive vice president of music for New Line Cinema, in November 2004, "Someone's Watching Over Me" was one of the studio's possible contenders for an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards.[4] The Herald Sun wrote of "Someone's Watching Over Me", which it awarded one star, "Yeah, that'd be Lindsay Lohan. They're single-white-femaling each other when it comes to music, though Duff got in first with the polite Avril-lite soft rock. However, this positivity-laden ballad sucks."[5] The Sunday Telegraph published a two-star review of the song, editorializing that "The banging migraine kicked in somewhere around the lyrics: "I've seen that ray of light/It's shining on my destiny" [...] a brainless, infectious dose of made-to-order teen empowerment pop."[6]

Chart performance[edit]

As of July 27, 2014, the song had sold 238,000 digital copies in the United States.[7] Outside US, during the week of the single's radio release in Australia in January, it was the fifth most added song to station playlists.[8] After its release as a single the following month, it peaked at number twenty-two on the ARIA Singles Chart and remained in the top forty for nine weeks.[9] The single's B-side is a cover of The Who's "My Generation".

Music video[edit]

The performance scene on the movie served as the single's video, which premiered on the program Rage on ABC Broadband in mid January 2005.[10]

Track listing[edit]

CD single
  1. "Someone's Watching Over Me" – 4:11
  2. "My Generation" – 2:41

Charts[edit]

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 22

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Hilary Duff.com.au - the official Australian website for all things Hilary Duff!". Archived from the original on April 5, 2005. Retrieved 2013-11-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue 782" (PDF). Webarchive.nla.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Unsupported Browser or Operating System". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  4. ^ Guerin, Ada. "Sound Investments". The Hollywood Reporter. November 16, 2004.
  5. ^ Adams, Cameron. "the singles". Herald Sun. February 24, 2005, Hit, pg. I08.
  6. ^ Holmes, Peter. "CD Reviews". The Sunday Telegraph. February 13, 2005, Features, ExpressMusic, pg. 124.
  7. ^ "Ask Billboard: How Has Enrique Iglesias' 'Bailando' Become Such A Big Hit?". Billboard. July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  8. ^ "hit list". Herald Sun. January 19, 2005, Guide, pg. H10.
  9. ^ "Hilary Duff - Someone's Watching Over Me" Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine. MusicSquare. Retrieved August 16, 2006.
  10. ^ "Hilary Duff's 'Someone's Watching Over Me' Video"[permanent dead link]. popdirt.com. January 14, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  11. ^ "Hilary Duff – Someone's Watching Over Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
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