Songoftheday 1/24/23 - There's a thousand words that I could say to make you come home, seems so long ago you walked away left me alone...

 

 

"Gone" - *NSYNC

from the album Celebrity (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (four weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 18

 

Today's song comes from the "boyband" *NSYNC, whose fourth studio album Celebrity sold almost two million copies in its first week, but at the expense of the label not releasing a commerical single for "Pop", which ended up stalling just within the top-20 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 pop chart in the early summer of 2001.  Jive Records did the same with the follow-up, "Gone". Written and produced by the group's Justin Timberlake along with Wade Robson, he meant for it to be for Michael Jackson to record. However, after not hearing anything back Justin submitted it for Celebrity, and it was recorded (according to him Jackson called later saying he wanted to do a duet, but it was too late). I can see why Timberlake would like Jackson to record it, it's a gentle ballad with forlorn lyrics about lost love that is in Michael's wheelhouse. The lyrics dance around the faintly Latin style groove, as Justin sings about the circular depression that hits at the end of a romance that you don't want to end. It sounds like a solo record, but the strength of the single is the harmonies that the other four members provide; there's little instrumentation, and the vocals are pushed up higher in the mix (and possibly tuned higher). To their credit, it does work (save for Justin's Jackson-like wailing at the end), and the result is a more nuanced single that what they've been doing. The music video has a fun old-timey beginning before the sadness starts...

Well, if "Pop" frustrated their label, "Gone" was even worse, spending four weeks a notch outside the top ten in November of 2001. It did become their first hit on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, peaking at #14. On the radio, the song rose to #7 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #27 on the Adult Contemporary list, #12 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay round-up, and #17 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Belgium (#17 Flanders), the United Kingdom (#24), Canada (#28), and Ireland (#40). At the Grammy Awards in 2003, "Gone" was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, losing out to No Doubt for their "Hey Baby". Both *NSYNC and the Celebrity album will return to the series for one more time. 

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There was also a Spanish version of the song released with a reshot video...

 

 and lastly, live in concert...

Up tomorrow: Neo-soul singer is in for the long haul.