In the summer of 2007, Sara Bareilles took over the airwaves with her poppy tune “Love Song.” Radio stations were carrying it on, web downloads were burning up the superhighway information, it became the iTunes song of the day, it was the featured song of the day for Starbucks. It was placed in a Rhapsody commercial. Sara B played it on the Late Late Show in addition to many others. It seemed like everyone and her brother were yelling, “I’m not going to write you a love song because you asked for it because you need it.”
So where did this poppy hit come from? A bad relationship, a terrible heartbreak?
No, the explanation is actually much more interesting than that.
Believe it or not, the song actually points to his label! She wrote the lyrics to express her frustration with them for constantly asking her to focus on more radio-friendly pop songs. It’s the classic riddle, actually. A record label signs an artist because he possesses that “something special” that sets him apart from everyone else… and then starts pushing him to conform, to change to be like everyone else.
However, I doubt they resent Sara now. The creative conflict he documented on “Love Song” has generated them a ton of CD sales and through that, a ton of cash. If most songwriters could make that many sales criticizing them, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t bother about it.
In fact, they might even instigate arguments just to make it happen!
For now, though, Sara B remains the only artist on the radio to have a tune that deals with conflict, not with a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, but with a large corporation.
And I think that’s a distinction that’s likely to stick.