"Burn" is a song by American R&B singer Usher, which he
wrote with American songwriters Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael
Cox. The song was produced by Dupri and Cox for Usher's fourth
studio album,
Confessions(2004). "Burn" is about breakup in a
relationship, and the public referred to it as an allusion to
Usher's personal struggles.
Originally planned as the album's lead single, "Burn" was
pushed back after favorable responses for the song "Yeah!". The
song was released as the second single from the album in July
2004. The single topped various charts around the world,
including the Hot 100 for eight non-consecutive weeks. The song
succeeded "Yeah!" at the #1 position. Both singles gave Usher
nineteen consecutive weeks with a song in the top spot, longer
than any solo artist of the Hot 100 era. "Burn" was certified
platinum in Australia and gold in New Zealand and United
States. The song was well-received by critics and has garnered
award nominations. In 2009 it was named the 21st most
successful song of the 2000s, on the
BillboardHot 100 Songs of the Decade.
When Usher planned to make a new record after his third
album,
8701, he decided to not branch out that much with
musical collaborators and continue building music with his
previous producers. Usher again enlisted record-producer
Jermaine Dupri, who had collaborated on his two previous
albums, along with The Neptunes, R. Kelly, among others to work
on his fourth studio album
Confessions. Dupri contacted his frequent collaborator
Bryan-Michael Cox, who had also made hits like the 2001 single
"U Got It Bad" for Usher. During the early session for the
album, Dupri and Cox talked about a situation which later
became "Burn". At that time, Usher's two-year relationship with
TLC's Chilli was flaming out. They said, "Yo, you gotta let
that burn ... That's a song right there", and started
writing.
"Burn" is a slow jam, combining R&B and ballad genres.
The song is performed with a moderate groove. It is composed in
the key of B minor. The melody line of the song has influences
from "Ignition (Remix)" by R.Kelly and "How to Deal" by Frankie
J. "Burn" has a combination of robotic noises, synthesized
strings and guitar lines.
The lyrics are constructed in the traditional verse-chorus
form. The song starts a spoken intro, giving way to the first
verse. It continues to the chorus, following the second verse
and chorus. The bridge follows, leading to a break and
finalizing in the chorus.
"Burn" was considered a "window to Usher's inner thoughts",
along with the controversial track "Confessions" and
"Confessions Part II". The song is about breakups and ending
relationships. According to Matt Cibula of Popmatters, "Burn"
is constructed from "two-step concept". In the lyrics "You know
that it's over / You know that it was through / Let it burn /
Got to let it burn", Usher breaks up with his woman but found
her sad about feeling bad about what happened to their
relationship. However, Usher says that she must deal with it
before she can accept the truth. For the lines "It's been
fifty-eleven days / Umpteen hours / I'm gonna be burnin' / Till
you return", the direction changes after Usher realized that
breaking up with her was a huge mistake and that he wanted her
back to him.
Usher submitted the album to his label Arista Records after
he felt it was already completed. After he and the company's
then-president Antonio "LA" Reid listened to the songs, they
felt the album needed a first single and that they needed one
or two more songs to create, which caused the postponement of
the album's release. Usher went back to the studio and
collaborated with Lil Jon who said, "He needed a single. They
had 'Burn,' 'Burn' was hot, but they needed that first powerful
monster. That's when I came in." They worked for few more
tracks, including "Red Light", which was not included in the
first release of the album, and "Yeah!", which features
Ludacris and Lil Jon.
However, everybody in the label was scared to decide what to
consider as the lead single. Reid was choosing whether "Yeah!"
would be released then, considering that they had "Burn". Usher
was also doubtful if the former was the right choice, after he
wanted for R&B record. Until "Yeah!" was leaked, "Burn" was
chosen as the official first single from
Confessions. "Yeah!", which was also intended as a
promotional song and a teaser for Usher's fans, was released to
street DJs and mixtapes. However, the song's favorable
responses led to another direction; "Yeah!" was pursued to be
the lead single and "Burn" was set as its follow-up. "Burn" was
released in the United States on July 6, 2004 as a CD single
and 7" single.
"Burn" was featured in the episode "Tom, Sarah and Usher" of
the Cartoon Network series
The Boondocks. In the episode, Tom does his own redition
of a typical Usher music video.
Usher decided about the new material "to let it all hang out
by singing about some of his own little secrets, as well as a
few bones from his homies' skeleton-filled closets." The public
speculated that the material in the new album he was referring
to was his recent personal struggles in which he promised a
"real talk" on it. In early 2004, Usher broke up with Chilli
due to "irreconcilable differences and because they found it
almost impossible to make compromises." Usher said in an
interview: "It's unfortunate when you have to let a situation
go because it's not working", which added reference to the
break up. Dupri, however, confessed that his personal life is
the real story of the album. Usher said he took inspirations
collectively by looking at his friends' personal situations
that they gone through.
"Burn" was lauded by contemporary music critics. Jem Aswad
of
Entertainment Weeklycomplimented Dupri and Cox for
producing what he called the "best song" from the album, along
with "Confessions Part II" which they also produced. Aswad
found the songs feature "mellifluous melodies". Laura Sinagra
of
Rolling Stonefound Usher's singing a "sweet falsetto on
the weepy breakup song ", adding, it "convincingly marries
resolve and regret, but when it comes to rough stuff, there's
still no 'u' in p-i-m-p." Cibula called the song brilliant and
considers its step one and step two technique a hit. Jon
Caramanica of
Blendercomplimented the song for living up as the only
"serviceable" among all ballad-influenced songs in the album
which "often drown in their own inanity." Ande Kellman of
Allmusic considered "Burn" as one of the Usher's best moments
in the album, together with "Caught Up", the final single from
Confessions. Steve Jones of
USA Todaystated that Usher is singing about a
relationship that cannot be saved because of the "flame has
simply died".
"Burn" was nominated at the 47th Grammy Awards for Best Male
R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The song
earned British record company EMI the "Publisher of the Year"
at the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
2005 Pop Music Awards.
"Burn" was another commercial success for Usher, but not on
such a wide scale as "Yeah!". In the United States, the single
debuted on the Hot 100 at number sixty-five, months prior to
its physical release. It reached the top spot on May 29, 2004,
replacing "Yeah!"'s twelve-week run at number one. The single
was beaten by Fantasia's 2004 single "I Believe", which
propelled on the chart on its debut. It returned to number one
for one last week, before it was finally knocked off by the
album's third single "Confessions Part II". The single failed
to remain on the top spot as "Yeah!" achieved, staying only for
eight non-consecutive weeks. "Burn" was the fifth most-played
song in 2004 for earning 355,228 total plays, alongside "Yeah!"
which topped the tally for 496,805 spins. The single was
certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of
America for selling 1,000,000 units. It became the second
best-selling single in the United States, behind Usher's single
"Yeah!". Like "Yeah!", "Burn" helped
Confessionsremain on the top spot position.
Internationally, several music markets responded equally
well. In the United Kingdom, the single debuted at number one
and stayed for two weeks. Across European countries, the single
performed well, reaching the top ten in Denmark, Ireland,
Norway, The Netherlands and Switzerland. It entered the top
twenty in Austria, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. In Australia,
the single debuted at number three and peaked at number two.
The single was certified platinum by the Australian Recording
Industry Association for selling 70,000 units. At the 2004 Year
Ender charts, "Burn" became the thirty-first best-selling
single in Australia. In the New Zealand, it peaked at number
one for three weeks, and remained on the chart for twenty-three
weeks. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry
Association of New Zealand.
The music video for "Burn" was directed by Jake Nava, who
had produced a wide array of videos for Atomic Kitten, Beyoncé
Knowles, among others. It was shot at the former Hollywood
house of American popular singer Frank Sinatra. The video
features model Jessica Clarke.
The video starts with Usher sitting on a sofa with a
backdrop of his girlfriend. When the verse starts, Usher went
to a wide glass window pane, looking at his girlfriend swimming
in the pool. The surface aflame after she immersed in the
water. The next scene continues to Usher with his mistress
having sex. While sitting on the edge of the bed, Usher
reminisces the moments he and his girlfriend having intimate
moment in the same bed. The bedsheets burns, following to Usher
riding a silver car. The video cuts with the backdrop also
burning. Continuing to the car scene, Usher stops as he sees
his imaginary girl again. He went out and dances, executing
various hand routines. Video intercuts follow and the video
ends with Usher standing with his back.
The music video debuted on MTV's
Total Request Liveat number six on May 4, 2004, the same
debut with "Confessions Part II". The video reached the top
spot and remained on the countdown for thirty-three days.
"Burn" topped MuchMusic's
Countdownon July 24, 2004, and remained on the chart for
fifteen weeks.
In the July 2008 issue of
Vibemagazine, Usher told writer Mitzi Miller, "Women
have started to become lovers of each other as a result of not
having enough men." On June 26, 2008, AfterEllen.com writer
Sarah Warn revealed that Jessica Clark, the lead in Usher's
"Burn" music video, was in fact an openly gay model. In the
article, Warn writes, "Maybe it's not a lack of men that's
turning women gay, Usher--maybe it's you!"
Besides from Usher, Cox has benefited for co-creating
Confessions, as well as from the success of "Burn". He
has been doing records for Alicia Keys, B2K, Mariah Carey and
Destiny's Child, but he felt 2004 introduced him to another
landscape in the music industry. His contribution to the song
has elevated him to fame, as well as people looking back to his
past records. "Burn" earned him two Grammy nominations. Cox
stated, "Everybody who does this for a [
sic] living dreams about being nominated. It's the
ultimate accomplishment. I've always been the silent guy — I
come in, do my job and head out. I like to leave all the glory
and shine to others, but this is the validation that means the
most to me. It also makes me want to work harder to get that
same recognition again."