"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" is a song by American
singer Justin Timberlake. The track was created after
Timberlake and collaborators Timbaland and Nate "Danja" Hills
were fooling around Timbaland's studio in Virginia Beach. They
produced the song for Timberlake's second solo studio album,
FutureSex/LoveSounds. The song has similarities to "Cry
Me a River"; although Timberlake disclosed to whom he wrote the
song, the public had generated their lyrical
interpretation.
The track was released as the third single from the album
early in 2007. It became Timberlake's third consecutive
number-one single on the Hot 100. The international chart
performance of the single failed to match its domestic success,
never reaching the top spot. The single's music video features
"real" artists and is considered a short film. "What Goes
Around.../...Comes Around" was certified multi-platinum.
The song received mostly positive responses from critics. It
was nominated for Record of the Year and won Best Male Pop
Vocal Performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
After the release of his debut solo album,
Justified, in 2002, Timberlake thought he "lost his
voice" in the sense of "not liking what he was doing". He felt
"burnt out" after
Justified's release; this partly changed his career's
direction, opting to work in films and took a break from the
recording industry.
When he felt inspired to compose music again, he did not
choose to reunite with his former band 'N Sync, which he
considered doing after his first record. Instead, he went to
former
Justifiedcollaborator Timbaland's studio in Virginia
Beach, Virginia in November 2005. However, no one of them had
an idea of what the album would be; no plan for it and even a
title. Timberlake revealed: "I thought if I could put something
together that lived up to the first record, I would have." He
told Timbaland if he could remake his previous single, "Cry Me
a River", five or six times. Nate "Danja" Hills, a protégé of
Timbaland, stated: "We had no direction at all other than 'Cry
Me a River,' and not in the sense of mimicking the track, but
in how big the song was. There was no direction for how he
wanted the song to sound, because there was no direction for
how he wanted [his album
FutureSex/LoveSounds] to sound."
While in the studio, Timberlake, Danja and Timbaland were
just "fooling around" and "freestyling". When Danja begun
playing a guitar riff, it caught Timberlake's attention. He
started humming the melody of "What goes around comes around",
and then the lyrics came. Timbaland was at his keyboards,
besides Danja, adding drums to the melody. Danja commented that
"everything was coming together at the same time." After coming
up with the music, Timberlake never wrote down the lyrics and,
in an hour, he was ready to record it. By the time Timberlake
was in the vocal booth, the basic track was done, then
Timbaland produced a prelude of the song. Timberlake sang the
song in a couple of takes and went back line by line to fill up
the gaps. During the recording sessions, Timbaland and Danja
added everything else, including the basses and strings. Danja
considered the process scoring to a film and referred to the
song a horror flick.
After finishing the song, Timbaland teased Timberlake.
Timberlake responded: "Let's do something we would never do.
Let's go far left and just see what happens." His answer
motivated them, and they ended up producing ten songs for the
album.
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" is a pop-R&B song
performed in a slow manner. It is composed in the key of A
dorian, in common time. With a gentle and midtempo beat, the
tempo is pacing to seventy-two beats per minute. The song
features a two-minute interlude titled "Comes Around",
featuring the album's producer Timbaland, spanning to a seven
minutes and twenty-eight-second track. Timberlake's voice
ranges from B
3to C
6. Musically, the song is similar to the type of
music produced on Timberlake's
Justifiedalbum; however, it is the only link from
FutureSex/LoveSoundsto
Justified.
In the beginning of the song, there is a five-second harmony
line of two bağlamas (one each panned far left and far right on
respect octaves), a Greek folk instrument. The beat is then
changed to a more upbeat version of the same melody with more
percussion. Timbaland used the oud to mellow out the guitar
riff. The chord series follows the Am-C-G-D keys. Following the
instrumental, Timberlake begins the verse at thirteenth bar.
The original track had a bridge, including the pre-verses, the
verses and the choruses. After hearing the vocals of
Timberlake, they decided to remove the bridge and follow a
simple flow, because they felt its "too much" to have it and a
break at the end of the song. Timbaland provides backing vocals
on the song.
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" is about betrayal and
forgiveness. Timberlake revealed that the song was written for
the experience his friend went through. However, the public
came up with different lyrical interpretations and speculated
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" a sequel to "Cry Me A
River" in content. Bill Lamb wrote that the song has a
"cautionary tale in the lyrics". According to him, after
hearing the lyrics, many fans and critics insisted that the
song is similar to "Cry Me a River", which is allegedly about
his relationship with former girlfriend pop singer Britney
Spears. Spence D. of IGN commented that the song presents "some
intriguing ambiance".
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" was released as the
third single from
FutureSex/LoveSounds, following "Sexyback" and "My
Love", in various dates and formats. The single was released in
the United Kingdom on February 26, 2007. On March 5, 2007, the
single was released in the United States. In Australia, a maxi
single was released on March 17, featuring the radio edit and
two remixes of the track and the explicit main version of
"Boutique In Heaven", another song from the album. The single
was followed with the released of "LoveStoned", the fourth
single from the album.
The song received generally positive reviews from critics.
Rolling Stonecalled the single "a soaring ballad
featuring Timberlake's falsetto, with verses and choruses that
pile on top of one another with dizzying effect." About.com
reviewer Bill Lamb stated that the song "is one of the most
gorgeous pop melodies of the year." He complimented the
string-based arrangement of the song. Chris Willman of
Entertainment Weeklycalled it "superior", along with
"LoveStoned". Zach Baron of Pitchfork Media referred to it
"some real can't-let-go shit that'll save you the repeat stabs
on the bad night." Spence D. of IGN called it "annoying" but he
complimented the use of echo vocals and swirling synths.
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" placed at number
twenty-four on
Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The
song was nominated twice at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards,
winning Best Male Pop Vocal Performance but lost to Amy
Winehouse's "Rehab" for Record of the Year.
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" was commercially
successful in the United States. The single debuted at number
64 on December 23, 2006 on the
BillboardHot 100, prior to its physical release. From
number eight on February 24, 2007, it propelled to number one
the following week. "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around"
became Timberlake's third consecutive number one hit on the
BillboardHot 100 from his
Futuresex/Lovesoundsalbum, becoming the first male
artist since Usher in 2004 to have three or more consecutive
number-one hits from one album. The single charted on Hot 100
for 25 weeks. "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" was
certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of
America on June 7, 2007.
Internationally, the single failed to match its domestic
chart performance. In the United Kingdom, "What Goes
Around.../...Comes Around" debuted at number 59 on the UK
Singles Chart on January 29, 2007. The digital download sales
helped propel the single to number eleven on February 26, 2007.
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" peaked at number four on
March 12, to become his sixth top five hit in the United
Kingdom. It stayed on the chart for 22 weeks. The single
entered the top five in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland.
In Australia, the single debuted and peaked at number three on
the Australian ARIA singles chart on March 26, 2007, gaining
the Highest Debut certification. It spent a total of 22 weeks
on the chart. "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" was
certified two-times platinum by the Australian Recording
Industry Association for selling over 30,000 units. The single
peaked at number three in the New Zealand on April 9, 2007, and
spent 16 weeks on the chart. "What Goes Around.../...Comes
Around" was certified gold by the Recording Industry
Association of New Zealand.
The music video for the "What Goes Around.../...Comes
Around" was produced as a short movie. The video was directed
by Samuel Bayer, who had first directorial works with Nirvana's
1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The video features
dialogues written by
Alpha Dogwriter and director Nick Cassavetes, who had
previously worked with Timberlake in the film. Timberlake and
Bayer enlisted American actress Scarlett Johansson after
deciding on using "real" actors. The shooting went for three
days between Christmas and New Year's Eve in Los Angeles. The
dawn scene was shot on January 8, after the original sessions
were done.
The video starts off with Timberlake flirting with Scarlett
Johansson on the rooftop of a 1950's
Moulin Rougecircus-style club. She rejects with a tease
at first but eventually leaves with him to go back to his
place. In between cuts, they are shown in bed caressing each
other. Johansson jumps into a pool outside the house, and
floats below the surface as if she is drowning. Timberlake runs
out and pulls her up; she laughs at Timberlake and kisses him.
Timberlake introduces her to a drunk Shawn Hatosy at the club
calling her "The One". Hatosy seems to be interested in
Johansson, despite Timberlake asking him to "look out for her".
Timberlake returns and finds them kissing in the stairway.
After punching Hatosy he chases after Johansson, who speeds off
in her 1967 Chevrolet Corvette C2 Sting Ray; Timberlake follows
in his Porsche Carrera GT. Johansson runs into a fiery car
crash pile up and is thrown from the car landing several feet
away. Timberlake notices a body (presumably a dead one) lying
supine on the ground. He gets out and kneels over her while the
camera view moves toward the sky and ends the video.
The music video of "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" was
exclusively premiered on February 9, 2007 on the iTunes store.
The music video debuted on MTV's
Total Request Liveat number nine on February 13, 2007.
"What Goes Around..." retired on May 7 at number seven. In
Canada, the music video debuted on Muchmusic's Top 30 countdown
at number 22 on January 26, 2007. It peaked at number one on
April 27 and stayed on the chart for seven non-consecutive
weeks. The video was commercially successful, becoming the
fastest selling pop promo on iTunes. It has sold 50,000 in
downloads for four days. Timberlake was the first major artist
to release a video on the download platform.
In September 2007, "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" won
an MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. It was also
nominated for Video of the Year but lost to pop singer
Rihanna's 2007 video "Umbrella".
In 2007, C-pop singer Nicholas Teo (張棟樑;
Zhang Dong Liang) covered the song, retitled to You Xi
(遊戲;
Game) and lyrics completely rewritten in Mandarin
Chinese, for his album Wang Zi (王子;
Prince).
On May 23, 2007, Marilyn Manson and Tim Skold appeared on UK
radio station BBC Radio 1's program
Live Loungeto promote Marilyn Manson's 2007 album
Eat Me, Drink Me. They performed an acoustic version of
"Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)",
followed with an acoustic cover of "What Goes
Around.../...Comes Around". The Manson cover does not include
the interlude.
French singer Myriam Abel, the winner of Nouvelle Star 3,
also recorded a non-commercial cover of "What Goes
Around.../...Comes Around" with a Raï influence, accessible
through her official MySpace page [1]
An a cappella rendition was recorded by Overboard for their
2007 album, "Stranded".
American post hardcore band Alesana recorded a cover for the
most recent of the Punk Goes... compilation series, Punk Goes
Pop 2, released March 10, 2009.
American country singer Taylor Swift covered the song on her
Fearless tour 2009 in between the song "You're Not Sorry" from
her second album,
Fearless.