Recent from talks
What Took You So Long?
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
What Took You So Long?
"What Took You So Long?" is the debut solo single of English singer Emma Bunton from her debut solo studio album, A Girl Like Me (2001). The song was written by Bunton, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, Martin Harrington, John Themis and Dave Morgan, and produced by Stannard and Gallagher in Biffco Studios in Dublin, Ireland. It was released as the album's lead single in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2001. A pop rock song, its sound is influenced by the work of AOR artists such as Sheryl Crow, Gabrielle, and the band Texas. For the lyrics, Bunton explained that the song is about men taking longer than women to realise they are in love, a concept inspired by her past romantic relationships. The song received mixed reviews, with many critics praising the melody and Bunton's vocal delivery, while others were critical of its production.
The song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, becoming Bunton's first and only number-one, making her the fourth member of the Spice Girls to top the chart with a solo record. "What Took You So Long?" attracted moderate success in Europe and Oceania, topping the chart in New Zealand and peaking inside the top 10 in the charts of Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Romania. An accompanying music video, directed by Greg Masuak, was shot in mid-February 2001 at the Mojave Desert near Lancaster, California. The song's promotional campaign included a series of appearances on television programmes and festivals worldwide, and it has since been regularly included on the setlists in most of her concerts and presentations.
After finishing the Spiceworld Tour in September 1998 and releasing their single "Goodbye" in December, the Spice Girls went into a hiatus period, during which the members of the group launched their solo careers and focused on their personal lives. The group resumed work on their third studio album in August 1999. Unlike her bandmates, Bunton displayed little desire to launch a music career outside of the Spice Girls, but by the end of 1999, she decided to accept an offer to collaborate with English electronic dance music duo Tin Tin Out on a cover version of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians's song "What I Am" (1988), which was released in the UK on 1 November 1999. In December, the Spice Girls performed on their UK-only tour, Christmas in Spiceworld, in London and Manchester, also showcasing songs from Forever.
The recording process for Bunton's first solo studio album A Girl Like Me took place between late 1999 and October 2000 at recording studios in London, Dublin, Stockholm, Miami, Los Angeles and New York. She worked with a mix of familiar writers and producers from the Spice Girls' recording sessions, including Richard Stannard ("Wannabe") and Rodney Jerkins ("Holler"), as well as new songwriters and record producers, such as Andrew Frampton, the duo Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, and Rhett Lawrence. In a web chat on the group's official website, she described the sound of A Girl Like Me as a "bit of R&B; quite a lot of guitar and quite folky. It's even got some country on there." Bunton said that the album would likely include 11 or 12 tracks and the release date was planned for early 2001.
"What Took You So Long?" started as a backing track on an "in progress" DAT tape in Richard Stannard's Biffco Studio in Dublin, Ireland. The chords were put together by songwriter Martin Harrington, and the track was then used as the basis for a writing session. Stannard explained that the two of them worked in an "organic manner", placing a microphone in the middle of a room, then playing the chords and laying down tracks on top of them, finally singing the first ideas that came up. The melody was composed by singing over the chords, before Stannard wrote some of the lyrics on his hand from watching a film the night before. Because of his professional and personal relationship with Bunton from their previous work during the Spice Girls' sessions, the creative process was fairly simple, he commented: "With that backing track we just got writing straight away and before you knew it the words were done." Bunton finished writing the song with Stannard and songwriter/producer Julian Gallagher, and she commented about the process: "I'm very hands on with lyrics and production, I have to know what's going on. I'm really pleased with it."
The song was captured on a hard disk using Pro Tools with a Logic front end. Recording engineer Ash Howes employed an Avalon microphone amplifier and equalizer for the main vocal chain, then a UREI 1176 for dynamic range compression. For the mixing Howes used a GML Stereo equalizer, and a SSL desk for the stereo bus compressor. To create an acoustic feel, Stannard placed the sound of a Ludwig drumkit on top of a drum machine. Audio engineer Mark "Spike" Stent did the final mixing of the song at The Mix Suite, Olympic Studios in London.
Musically, "What Took You So Long?" is a pop rock song. It is written in the key of C major, with a time signature set in common time, and moves at a fast tempo of 120 beats per minute. The song uses the sequence Fmaj7–Am–G as the chord progression and is constructed in a verse-chorus form, with a bridge before the third chorus. It starts with an instrumental introduction that incorporates acoustic guitars, keyboards, a drumkit, and a drum machine. The arrangement include the use of handclaps to energise the sound. Some critics have noted the similarities of the song's production to the work of AOR artists such as Sheryl Crow and Texas. The melody has a Motown feel, and has been described by Bunton as "pop entwined with guitars". She cited Texas and Gabrielle as the main influences sonically. Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger considered Bunton's vocals during the chorus to be her "strength card" that adds "enjoyable touches" to the song; an opinion shared by other writers.
Lyrically, according to Bunton, "What Took You So Long?" is about men taking longer than women to realise they are in love. In an interview with Smash Hits, she was asked if the subject of the song was her partner Jade Jones, the lead singer of the British boy band Damage. She commented, "I've only had a few boyfriends and I think they were all in my mind when I wrote it". In the book 1000 UK Number One Hits, the authors Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh concluded that the lyrics are "about a girl who is crowing over regaining her lover", pointing out the line "What took you forever to see I'm right?"
Hub AI
What Took You So Long? AI simulator
(@What Took You So Long?_simulator)
What Took You So Long?
"What Took You So Long?" is the debut solo single of English singer Emma Bunton from her debut solo studio album, A Girl Like Me (2001). The song was written by Bunton, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, Martin Harrington, John Themis and Dave Morgan, and produced by Stannard and Gallagher in Biffco Studios in Dublin, Ireland. It was released as the album's lead single in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2001. A pop rock song, its sound is influenced by the work of AOR artists such as Sheryl Crow, Gabrielle, and the band Texas. For the lyrics, Bunton explained that the song is about men taking longer than women to realise they are in love, a concept inspired by her past romantic relationships. The song received mixed reviews, with many critics praising the melody and Bunton's vocal delivery, while others were critical of its production.
The song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, becoming Bunton's first and only number-one, making her the fourth member of the Spice Girls to top the chart with a solo record. "What Took You So Long?" attracted moderate success in Europe and Oceania, topping the chart in New Zealand and peaking inside the top 10 in the charts of Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Romania. An accompanying music video, directed by Greg Masuak, was shot in mid-February 2001 at the Mojave Desert near Lancaster, California. The song's promotional campaign included a series of appearances on television programmes and festivals worldwide, and it has since been regularly included on the setlists in most of her concerts and presentations.
After finishing the Spiceworld Tour in September 1998 and releasing their single "Goodbye" in December, the Spice Girls went into a hiatus period, during which the members of the group launched their solo careers and focused on their personal lives. The group resumed work on their third studio album in August 1999. Unlike her bandmates, Bunton displayed little desire to launch a music career outside of the Spice Girls, but by the end of 1999, she decided to accept an offer to collaborate with English electronic dance music duo Tin Tin Out on a cover version of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians's song "What I Am" (1988), which was released in the UK on 1 November 1999. In December, the Spice Girls performed on their UK-only tour, Christmas in Spiceworld, in London and Manchester, also showcasing songs from Forever.
The recording process for Bunton's first solo studio album A Girl Like Me took place between late 1999 and October 2000 at recording studios in London, Dublin, Stockholm, Miami, Los Angeles and New York. She worked with a mix of familiar writers and producers from the Spice Girls' recording sessions, including Richard Stannard ("Wannabe") and Rodney Jerkins ("Holler"), as well as new songwriters and record producers, such as Andrew Frampton, the duo Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, and Rhett Lawrence. In a web chat on the group's official website, she described the sound of A Girl Like Me as a "bit of R&B; quite a lot of guitar and quite folky. It's even got some country on there." Bunton said that the album would likely include 11 or 12 tracks and the release date was planned for early 2001.
"What Took You So Long?" started as a backing track on an "in progress" DAT tape in Richard Stannard's Biffco Studio in Dublin, Ireland. The chords were put together by songwriter Martin Harrington, and the track was then used as the basis for a writing session. Stannard explained that the two of them worked in an "organic manner", placing a microphone in the middle of a room, then playing the chords and laying down tracks on top of them, finally singing the first ideas that came up. The melody was composed by singing over the chords, before Stannard wrote some of the lyrics on his hand from watching a film the night before. Because of his professional and personal relationship with Bunton from their previous work during the Spice Girls' sessions, the creative process was fairly simple, he commented: "With that backing track we just got writing straight away and before you knew it the words were done." Bunton finished writing the song with Stannard and songwriter/producer Julian Gallagher, and she commented about the process: "I'm very hands on with lyrics and production, I have to know what's going on. I'm really pleased with it."
The song was captured on a hard disk using Pro Tools with a Logic front end. Recording engineer Ash Howes employed an Avalon microphone amplifier and equalizer for the main vocal chain, then a UREI 1176 for dynamic range compression. For the mixing Howes used a GML Stereo equalizer, and a SSL desk for the stereo bus compressor. To create an acoustic feel, Stannard placed the sound of a Ludwig drumkit on top of a drum machine. Audio engineer Mark "Spike" Stent did the final mixing of the song at The Mix Suite, Olympic Studios in London.
Musically, "What Took You So Long?" is a pop rock song. It is written in the key of C major, with a time signature set in common time, and moves at a fast tempo of 120 beats per minute. The song uses the sequence Fmaj7–Am–G as the chord progression and is constructed in a verse-chorus form, with a bridge before the third chorus. It starts with an instrumental introduction that incorporates acoustic guitars, keyboards, a drumkit, and a drum machine. The arrangement include the use of handclaps to energise the sound. Some critics have noted the similarities of the song's production to the work of AOR artists such as Sheryl Crow and Texas. The melody has a Motown feel, and has been described by Bunton as "pop entwined with guitars". She cited Texas and Gabrielle as the main influences sonically. Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger considered Bunton's vocals during the chorus to be her "strength card" that adds "enjoyable touches" to the song; an opinion shared by other writers.
Lyrically, according to Bunton, "What Took You So Long?" is about men taking longer than women to realise they are in love. In an interview with Smash Hits, she was asked if the subject of the song was her partner Jade Jones, the lead singer of the British boy band Damage. She commented, "I've only had a few boyfriends and I think they were all in my mind when I wrote it". In the book 1000 UK Number One Hits, the authors Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh concluded that the lyrics are "about a girl who is crowing over regaining her lover", pointing out the line "What took you forever to see I'm right?"