"Song 2 You" (also written as "Song 2 U", "Song to You", "Song Two You", and "Song2You") is a song performed by American singers Leon Thomas III and Victoria Justice, written by Josh Schwartz, Brian Kierulf, and Thomas, and produced by Kierulf and Schwartz with Michael Corcoran, for the Nickelodeon television series Victorious. It was originally released on the series' website TheSlap on January 18, 2011, and later included as the ninth track on the soundtrack album, Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show.[1]
Background and release[]
Leon Thomas III wrote "Song 2 You" when he was 14 with his friends in New Jersey, as he revealed in a video for NickRewind. This would mean the song was written sometime between 2007 and 2008, long before Victorious was created. The song thus remained unused for many years until it somehow found its way into the series. This would also make "Song 2 You" the oldest original song written for Victorious and the album (that wouldn't count "I Want You Back", which is a cover of the 1969 song), based on what is known about other songs for the series.
On January 11, 2011, TV Guide shared an exclusive clip of Thomas and Victoria Justice performing "Song 2 You" in the episode "The Diddly-Bops" of Victorious, which premiered six days later.[2] After it appeared in the series, the song was released on its official website TheSlap, along with "Favorite Food".[1] Thomas later tweeted it might be released on iTunes, but ultimately that didn't happen until the album came out.[3] On January 21, a recording session for the song was posted on the series' official social media accounts.[4] Columbia Records and Nickelodeon later confirmed it would be the ninth track on the soundtrack album, released under the title Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show on August 2.[5]
According to the closing credits of the episode in which "Song 2 You" was used, the song was written by Thomas along with Josh Schwartz and Brian Kierulf (whose last name was misspelled as "Keirulf"), and produced by Michael Corcoran (also known as "Backhouse Mike"). This causes the song and "Favorite Food" to share identical credits, which would make sense considering how they're related in the series. However, when "Song 2 You" was officially released as part of an album, it was revealed Kierulf and Schwartz were the actual producers of the track, with Corcoran only having a role as an additional producer.
Appearances in Victorious[]
"The Diddly-Bops"[]
"Song 2 You" was performed by André Harris (portrayed by Leon Thomas III) and Tori Vega (portrayed by Victoria Justice) in the episode "The Diddly-Bops" (the same episode "Favorite Food" and "You're the Reason" were performed), that premiered on January 17, 2011. André reveals that a record producer and his boss want to sign him to their music label. He, Tori, and their friends perform "Favorite Food" dressed as food at the four-year-old kids' party. Unbeknownst to them, one of the children records their performance, which is later posted online. The gang isn't thrilled they ended up on the Internet. A music producer comes to their school, whose boss found a performance of André dressed as spaghetti and singing about food, and that's not the image he wants for the label, so they won't sign him. This causes André to become depressed, and he later skips class, drinks a chocolate beverage, and tries to create a new song. After talking to Tori and giving up chocolate, he manages to write a new song, which is "Song 2 You". She suggests he should perform this song live at school, for this music producer and his boss, whom she would call. André agreed if she would performed the song with him. André and Tori begin their performance, which is attended moments later by the producer and head of the label. They, as well as the audience, like his performance.
On TheSlap[]
The song was performed in the second episode of the Rex Sings segment on TheSlap by Rex Powers (voiced by Jake Farrow), to which Sinjin Van Cleef (portrayed by Michael Eric Reid) dances.
Journalistic commentary[]
"Song 2 You" received positive reviews upon release. Joe DeAndrea, in a review of Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show for the now-defunct website AbsolutePunk, wrote positively of "Song 2 You"; he felt songs performed by Victoria Justice with other cast members like this, along with "I Want You Back" and "Tell Me That You Love Me", "show the intricacy of how fun the show really is".[6] Bob Hoose and Steven Isaac of Plugged In, one of the programs for the fundamentalist Protestant organization Focus on the Family, included "Song 2 You" in the "Pro-Social Content" section of their review of the album, indicating a positive opinion of the song. They compared it to the work of Maroon 5 and wrote the song "lifts up the promise of true love by offering a personalized love song".[7]
The track was only mentioned in a review of the album by William Ruhlmann of AllMusic, only in the form of explaining what the song is about, to give an example of the album's lyrical theme alluding to "light romance, happy and sad, and assertions of self-worth"; "that it's possible to be content, even without designer clothes", as he referred to its opening lyrics.[8] Retrospectively, the song was included in a list of "10 Songs You Forgot Were Awesome" from Victorious created by Israel Olorunnisola for MovieWeb in 2023, which particularly praised Leon Thomas III's performance.[9]
Chart performance[]
Although it was never released as a single, "Song 2 You" debuted at number eight following the release of Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show on the now-discontinued Kid Digital Song Sales chart, where it spent nine weeks in total.
| Chart | Week of | Week number | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kid Digital Song Sales[10] | August 20, 2011 | 1 | 8 |
| August 27, 2011 | 2 | Unknown | |
| September 3, 2011 | 3 | ||
| September 10, 2011 | 4 | ||
| September 17, 2011 | 5 | ||
| October 15, 2011 | 6 | ||
| October 22, 2011 | 7 | ||
| November 12, 2011 | 8 | ||
| June 2, 2012 | 9 |
Live performances and usage[]
Leon Thomas III and Victoria Justice performed "Song 2 You" during the Victorious: Walmart Soundcheck concert on May 26, 2011. Thomas performed this song without Justice on 106 & Park on August 5.[11] The song was performed at the Los Angeles County Fair concert on September 17. Throughout 2012, Thomas performed "Song 2 You" when he was the opening act on Big Time Rush's Big Time Summer Tour.[12] Thomas also appeared at the Premiere Event, where he performed "Song 2 You". On June 3, 2022, he posted an acoustic version of the song on social media.[13]
Credits[]
- Personnel
- Backhouse Mike – Additional producer, recording engineer
- Brian Gardner – Mastering engineer
- Victoria Justice – Background vocals
- Brian Kierulf – All instruments, engineer, instruments programmer, producer, recording engineer, writer
- Josh Schwartz – Producer, writer
- Leon Thomas III – Additional guitar, lead vocals, writer
- Greg Wells – Mixing engineer
- Recording and management
- Produced for KNS Productions, Inc.
- Thomas' vocals and music recorded at the DoJo (West New York, New Jersey); Justice's vocals recorded at the Backhouse (Los Angeles, California)
- Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)
- Published by LT3 Sound (ASCAP); Sony/ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP); Kierulf Songs (BMI); Mugsy Boy Publishing (BMI); Music by Nickelodeon, Inc. (BMI)[14][15]
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
I don't wear designer clothes
I don't go to the finest schools
But I know
I ain't no fool, baby
I may not be a star
I'm not drivin' the sickest car
But I know
I can make you happy, baby
[Pre-chorus]
I don't know what you been used to
Never been with a girl like you
But I can give you a love that's true to
Your heart, not material things
[Chorus]
I'll give you my song (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words to you
Sing you what I feel (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul is true
I don't have the world (ooh)
Can't give it to you, girl
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
Is give this song to you (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
Oh-oh-oh, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, oh (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
[Verse 2]
Yeah, I know you are blessed
But there's somethin' you're missin', yeah
Your own melody (ooh-ooh-woah)
Oh, baby
As I strum my guitar
You should know what you
Are to me
My everything, yeah
[Pre-chorus]
I don't know what you been used to
Never been with a girl like you
But I can give you a love that's true to
Your heart, not material things
[Chorus]
I'll give you my song (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words to you (oh-oh-oh-oh)
Sing you what I feel (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul is true (my soul is true)
I don't have the world (ooh)
Can't give it to you, girl (can't give it to you, girl)
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
Give this song to you
[Bridge]
I'll give you my heart, my soul, my voice, baby (give this song to you)
What I can't say, I'll sing it (give this song to you)
Every word, every verse, I'll be there, baby
Oh-oh-oh
Give this song to you
[Chorus]
I'll give my song
These words to you
Baby, baby
Sing you what I feel
My soul is true
I'll give you my song (my song, na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words to you (yeah-yeah)
Sing you what I feel (sing, na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul is true
I don't have the world (ooh, I-I don't have the world)
Can't give it to you, girl (can't give it to you, girl)
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
I'll give you my song (my song, na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words (these words) to you (yeah-yeah)
Sing you what I feel (feel, na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul (soul) is true
(Oh) I don't have the world (ooh)
Can't give it to you, girl (oh-oh)
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
Is give this song to you, yeah-yeah
[Verse 1]
I don't wear designer clothes
I don't go to the finest schools
But I know
I ain't no fool, baby
I may not be a star
I'm not drivin' the sickest car
But I know
I can make you happy, baby
[Pre-chorus]
I don't know what you been used to
Never been with a girl like you
But I can give you a love that's true to
Your heart, not material things
[Chorus]
I'll give you my song (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words to you
Sing you what I feel (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul is true
I don't have the world (ooh)
Can't give it to you, girl
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
Is give this song to you (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
[Verse 2]
Yeah, I know you are blessed
But there's somethin' you're missin', yeah
Your own melody (ooh-ooh-woah)
Oh, baby
[Pre-chorus]
I don't know what you been used to
Never been with a girl like you
But I can give you a love that's true to
Your heart, not material things
[Chorus]
I'll give you my song (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words to you (oh-oh-oh-oh)
Sing you what I feel (na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul is true (my soul is true)
I don't have the world (ooh)
Can't give it to you, girl (can't give it to you, girl)
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
Give this song to you
[Bridge]
I'll give you my heart, my soul, my voice, baby (give this song to you)
What I can't say, I'll sing it (give this song to you)
Oh-oh-oh
Give this song to you
[Chorus]
I'll give my song
These words to you
Baby, baby
Sing you what I feel
My soul is true
I'll give you my song (my song, na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
These words (these words) to you (yeah-yeah)
Sing you what I feel (feel, na-na, na-na, na-na-na)
My soul (soul) is true
(Oh) I don't have the world (ooh)
Can't give it to you, girl (oh-oh)
But all that I can do (all that I can do)
Is give this song to you, yeah-yeah
Trivia[]
- "Song 2 You" is one of Victoria Justice's two songs the title of which uses "2" as the equivalent of "to" in SMS language. The other one is "Here's 2 Us".
- It's one of Justice's three duets with Leon Thomas III, along with "Tell Me That You Love Me" (the other track on Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show) and "Countdown". Though Thomas provided background vocals in many other songs by Justice, he isn't credited as the artist on any but these three.
- In a video for NickRewind, Thomas mentioned "Song 2 You" is one of his favorite songs from the series.
- This song was used in TheSlap game Hollywood Beats 2, along with "Make It Shine", "You're the Reason", "Finally Falling", and "Tell Me That You Love Me".
- It appears in two playlists on Spotify:
- Nickelodeon Superstars, along with "Gold", "Take a Hint", "Freak the Freak Out, "Leave It All to Shine", "Make It in America", and "Make It Shine".[16]
- The Best of Victorious, created by TeenNick, along with other 12 songs by Justice.[17]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20110118094009/https://www.theslap.com/tunes
- ↑ https://www.tvguide.com/news/victorious-song-debut-1027550/
- ↑ https://x.com/leonthomas/status/27180200026439681
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10100174923663379
- ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/columbia-recordsnickelodeon-reveals-tracklisting-for-victorious-soundtrack-album-125552183.html
- ↑ https://archive.ph/u35n
- ↑ https://www.pluggedin.com/album-reviews/varioussoundtrack-victoriousmusicfromthehittvshow/
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/victorious-music-from-the-hit-tv-show-mw0002113944
- ↑ https://movieweb.com/victorious-songs/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220310161438/https://www.billboard.com/charts/search/results/?chart-page=19&chart-artistname=VICTORIA+JUSTICE&chart-chartcode=KDT
- ↑ https://x.com/leonthomas/status/98790716028891137
- ↑ https://x.com/leonthomas/status/248411814885470208
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CeUdmj-lSHg/
- ↑ https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/882337917
- ↑ https://repertoire.bmi.com/Search/Search?SearchForm.Main_Search=BMI+Work+ID&SearchForm.Main_Search_Text=13068819
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2Zbv3JDcc4J
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09xYO3Tci5rmxOsdmlV9w2