We Remain

"We Remain"
Single by Christina Aguilera
from the album The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released October 1, 2013 (2013-10-01)
Format Digital download
Recorded 2013
Genre Arena pop
Length 4:00
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ryan Tedder
  • Brent Kutzle
Christina Aguilera singles chronology
"Hoy Tengo Ganas de Ti"
(2013)		 "We Remain"
(2013)		 "Say Something"
(2013)
The Hunger Games soundtracks singles chronology
"Elastic Heart"
(2013)		 "We Remain"
(2013)		 "Yellow Flicker Beat"
(2014)

"We Remain" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera, taken from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, the soundtrack to the 2013 American science-fiction adventure film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was released as the third single from the soundtrack on October 1, 2013, following Coldplay's "Atlas" and Sia's "Elastic Heart". Composed by Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle and Mikky Ekko, "We Remain" is an arena pop power ballad talking about "perseverance". Contemporary music critics lauded the song for its sound and picked it as one of the highlights from the soundtrack. The single appeared on a few national record charts including Belgium and South Korea.

Background and composition

Following the release of her seventh studio album, Lotus (2012), which spawned two singles "Your Body" and "Just a Fool",[1] Aguilera was reported to be featured on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with a song called "We Remain" in September 2013.[2] On September 25, 2013, Aguilera unveiled a 90-second preview of the track.[3]

The song was released as the third single from the soundtrack, following "Atlas" by Coldplay and "Elastic Heart" by Sia Furler.[3][4][5][6] It was released as a digital download single at Amazon.com on October 1, 2013.[7] It was also released on the iTunes Stores on the same day.[8][9] On October 8, "We Remain" impacted US contemporary hit radio.[10] Aguilera performed "We Remain" live with her contestant Jacquie Lee during the season finale of the fifth season of The Voice on December 17, 2013.[11] A studio version of the duet was released on the US iTunes Store on December 16, 2013.[12]
"We Remain"
A 25-second sample of "We Remain"
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"We Remain" was written by Ryan Tedder and Brent Kutzle of OneRepublic, and Mikky Ekko. The song is a midtempo[6] arena pop[13] power ballad.[14][15] It lasts for a duration of 4:00 (four minutes).[7] Aguilera sings with "enormous" and "soaring" vocals on a "propulsive Ryan Tedder-ish beat" background.[16] "We Remain" incorporates a smooth piano and drum machine in its instrumentation.[14] According to Billboard magazine, the ballad "finds [Aguilera] tamping down [...] for a natural and forceful message of perseverance".[6] At the chorus, Aguilera sings "So burn me with fire/ Drown me with rain/ I'm gonna wake up screaming your name/ Yes I'm a sinner, yes I'm a saint/ whatever happens here, whatever happens here, we remain".[15] Several critics compared "We Remain" to Aguilera's previous hit "Beautiful" (2002) and Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" (2012) for musical similarities.[17][18]

Critical reception

"We Remain" received critical acclaim from music critics. Ryan Reed from Rolling Stone magazine praised the "triumphant sounding" track "sure to be a hit at District 12 radio".[13] An editor from The Huffington Post picked "We Remain" as one of the standout tracks from the soundtrack that "encapsulates the spirit and power of Games' heroine, Katniss".[14] Sam Lansky for Idolator praised the single's musical departure from Aguilera's ballads for her 2012 album Lotus.[16] Brett Malec of E! simply called it "a beautiful track",[15] while a staff writer from Billboard named it a "triumphant" song.[6] While reviewing the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Alex Young from Consequence of Sound selected "We Remain" as one of the highlights from the album, which made Aguilera "the biggest star on display".[19] Entertainment Weekly writer Nick Catucci picked it as one of the best tracks, calling it "an awesome reminder of Christina's power" and "one of the most righteous doses of uplift this year, on any platform".[17]

Personnel

Credits adapted from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack digital inlay cover[20]

Track listing

Digital download[7]
  1. "We Remain" – 4:00

Charts

"We Remain" peaked at number 58 on the South Korean Gaon International Download Chart with 2,689 copies sold on October 6, 2013.[21] The single also peaked at number 31 on the Belgian Flanders Singles Chart[22] and number 14 on the Belgian Wallonian Singles Chart.[23]

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[22] 31
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[23] 14
South Korea (GAON Download Chart)[21] 58
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 144
US Digital Songs (Billboard)[25] 64

Release history

Country Date Format Label(s) Ref.
Belgium October 1, 2013 Digital download Universal Music Group [26]
Finland [27]
France [28]
Germany
[29]
New Zealand Universal Music Group [30]
Switzerland [31]
United States
  • RCA
  • Republic
 [7]
Australia October 2, 2013 Universal Music Australia [32]
United States October 8, 2013 Contemporary hit radio
[10]
December 16, 2013 Digital download[lower-alpha 1] Republic [12]
Notes
  1. ↑ Live from The Voice version

References

  1. ↑ "Discography Christina Aguilera". ARIA Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (September 26, 2013). "'Catching Fire' Soundtrack: Christina Aguilera, The Weeknd, Lorde Join The Hunger Games". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Earp, Catherine (September 26, 2013). "Christina Aguilera previews 'Hunger Games' song 'We Remain' - listen". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  4. ↑ Ng, Philiana (September 26, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Records Song for New 'Hunger Games' Soundtrack". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Sia's 'Elastic Heart' Single For 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Drops With The Weeknd And Diplo". The Huffington Post. September 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Christina Aguilera Delivers 'We Remain' for 'Catching Fire' Soundtrack: Listen". Billboard. October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "We Remain (From "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Soundtrack): Christina Aguilera". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Nicodemo, Tara (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Teases 'Hunger Games' Ballad: 'We Remain'". RyanSeacrest.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  9. ↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera's Fiery 'Hunger Games' Single Art Revealed: Take A Look!". MTV News. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Top 40/M Future Releases". All Access. All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  11. ↑ "The Voice Season 5 (2013): And the Winner Is...". International Business Times. December 18, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  12. 1 2 "We Remain (The Voice Performance) – Single by Jacquie Lee & Christina Aguilera". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Reed, Ryan (September 26, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Catches Fire on 'We Remain'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 Lopez, Michael (September 27, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Adds 'We Remain' To 'Catching Fire' Soundtrack (LISTEN)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 Malec, Brett (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera's Catching Fire Song "We Remain" Released—Listen to the Power Ballad Now!". E!. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  16. 1 2 Lansky, Sam (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera's "We Remain": Hear The Monster 'Hunger Games' Power Ballad". Idolator. Spin Media. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  17. 1 2 Catucci, Nick (January 23, 2014). "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  18. ↑ Phares, Heather. "The Hunger Games:Catching Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  19. ↑ Young, Alex (November 19, 2013). "Album Review: Various Artists – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  20. ↑ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (digital inlay cover). Various artist. Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group. 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Gaon Download Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  22. 1 2 "Ultratop.be – Christina Aguilera – We Remain" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  23. 1 2 "Ultratop.be – Christina Aguilera – We Remain" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Cluk Update: 12.10.2013". Zobbel Archive. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Christina Aguilera – Chart history" Billboard Digital Songs for Christina Aguilera. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  26. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital Belgium. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  27. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital Finland. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  28. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital France. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  29. ↑ "We Remain (From "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire") - Single". Germany: iTunes Store. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  30. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital New Zealand. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  31. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital Switzerland. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  32. ↑ "We Remain (From 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Soundtrack)". bandit.fm. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
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