Can't Get You Out of My Head

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This article is about 2001 song. For the 2021 Adam Curtis documentary
series, see Can't Get You Out of My Head (TV series).

"Can't Get You Out of My Head"

Cover of CD 02 and digital releases

Single by Kylie Minogue

from the album Fever

"Boy"
B-side

"Rendezvous at Sunset"

Released 8 September 2001

Studio Surrey, England

Genre Dance-pop

techno-pop

neo-disco

Length 3:50

Label Parlophone Records

Songwriter(s) Cathy Dennis

Rob Davis

Producer(s) Cathy Dennis

Rob Davis
 Kylie Minogue singles chronology

"Your Disco "Can't Get You "In Your Eyes"

Needs You" Out of My (2002)
(2001) Head"
(2001)

Music video

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" on YouTube

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a song that was recorded by Australian
singer Kylie Minogue for her eighth studio album Fever (2001). Parlophone
Records released the song as the album's lead single on 8 September 2001.
"Can't Get You Out of My Head", which was written and produced by Cathy
Dennis and Rob Davis, is a dance-pop, techno-pop and neo-disco song that is
known for its "la la la" hook. Its lyrics are about Minogue's obsession with her
love interest. Music critics praised the song's production and Minogue's vocals
and labelled it a highlight of Fever.
The song reached number one on charts in 40 countries worldwide. It peaked
at number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks and was certified two-
times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It also topped
the Australian Singles Chart and received a three-times Platinum certification
from the Australian Recording Industry Association. In the United States, the
song peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became
Minogue's first US top-ten single in 13 years. As of 2018, the track has sold
over five million copies worldwide.
Dawn Shadforth directed the music video for "Can't Get You Out of My Head",
which features Minogue dancing against futuristic backdrops; the white
jumpsuit she wore in the video became a fashion statement. Since the song's
release, Minogue has included it on the set lists of various concert tours.
"Can't Get You Out of My Head" appeared on several decade-end lists
compiled by media such as Rolling Stone, The Guardian and NME. In 2012,
Minogue re-recorded the song for her orchestral compilation album The
Abbey Road Sessions.

Contents

 1Writing and release

 2Composition and lyrical interpretation
 3Critical reception
 4Commercial performance
 5Music video
o 5.1Development and synopsis
o 5.2Impact
 6Live performances
 7Legacy
 8Track listings
 9Charts
o 9.1Weekly charts
o 9.2Year-end charts
o 9.3Decade-end charts
 10Certifications and sales
 11See also
 12References
 13Further reading
 14External links

Writing and release[edit]

In 2000, British singer-songwriter Cathy Dennis and English songwriter Rob
Davis had been brought together by Universal Publishing to work on new
music. The session for "Can't Get You Out of My Head" began with Davis
generating a 125 bpm drum loop using the computer program Cubase.
Dennis improvised with the line "I just can't get you out of my head", which
later became the song's lyric.[1] After three and a half hours, Davis and Dennis
had recorded the demo for "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and the vocals
were recorded the same day; the pair said the recording process was "very
natural and fluid", and did not rely on heavy instrumentation. [1]
Prior to pitching the song to Kylie Minogue, Davis and Dennis unsuccessfully
offered it to S Club 7 and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.[1][2] Davis then met with
Minogue's A&R executive Jamie Nelson, who was impressed by the song's
upbeat production and thought it would appeal to clubgoers. Nelson booked
the song for Minogue to record.[1][3] Although Davis thought the recording
session would later be cancelled,[1] Minogue wanted to record the song after
hearing 20 seconds of the demo.[4] The song was recorded at Davis's home
studio in Surrey, England. The music, except the guitar part, was programmed
using a Korg Triton workstation via a MIDI interface.[3] Tim Orford was the mix
engineer for the song.[5] In a 2011 interview Dennis stated, "even though Kylie
wasn't the first artist to be offered the song, I don't believe anyone else would
have done the incredible job she did with it". [1]
In 2001, Minogue embarked on the On a Night Like This tour to promote her
seventh studio album Light Years (2000).[6] She premiered "Can't Get You Out
of My Head" on stage during the tour.[7] It was later chosen as the lead
single from Minogue's eighth studio album Fever and Parlophone
Records released it on 8 September 2001 in Australia[7] and on 17 September
in the United Kingdom and other European countries. [8]

Composition and lyrical interpretation[edit]

"Can't Get You Out of My
Head"

MENU

0:00
 A 21-second sample of
"Can't Get You Out of My
Head", a dance-pop, techno-
pop and neo-disco song that
contains a "pulsing" bassline.
The song is known for its "la
la la" hook.

Problems playing this file? See media

help.

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" is three minutes and fifty seconds long. [9] In
their book The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Nathan Brackett and
Christian David Hoard labelled it a neo-disco track. [10] Justin Myers of
the Official Charts Company characterized it as a dance-pop song,
[11]
 while Stereogum's Tom Breinan described it as a techno-pop anthem.
[12]
 "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is written in the key of D minor.[13]
The song, which does not follow the common verse–chorus structure, is
composed of numerous fragmented sections.[1] According to Davis, it "breaks a
few rules as it starts with a chorus and in comes the 'la's'". [1] Minogue chants a
"la la la" hook that is often noted as the song's most appealing part by music
critics.[14][15] According to BBC Radio 2, the song's composition is "deceptively
simple, but its veins run with the whole history of electronic music".[16] The
writer described the song's bassline as "pulsing" and influenced by the music
of English rock band New Order and German electronic music
band Kraftwerk.[16]
"Can't Get You Out of My Head" is about an obsession with an unknown
person, who according to The Guardian's Dorian Lansky could be "a partner,
an evasive one-night stand or someone who doesn't know [the song's
narrator] exists".[14] Writing for the same newspaper, Everett True identified a
"darker element" in the simple lyrics and said this sentiment is echoed in
Minogue's restrained vocals.[17] True also said while Minogue's earlier work
presented an optimistic romantic future, "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
focuses on an unhealthy and potentially destructive obsession. [17] He noted in
her earlier songs, Minogue played "the wide-eyed ingénue with alacrity" but
that in this track, she is aware of the harmful nature of her infatuation, which
True called a "desire that is wholly dependent on her own self-control". [17]
In 2012, Minogue re-recorded "Can't Get You Out of My Head" for
her orchestral compilation album The Abbey Road Sessions.[18] The 2012
version of the song has an altered musical arrangement and uses
a pizzicato playing technique in which the strings of a string instrument are
continuously plucked.[19][20]

Critical reception[edit]
Chris True of AllMusic picked "Can't Get You Out of My Head" as a highlight
of Fever, saying it "pulses and grooves like no other she's recorded".
[21]
 Entertainment Weekly's Jim Farber said the song "fully lives up to its title"
and compared it to the music of American singer Andrea True.
  PopMatters' Jason Thompson described Minogue's vocals as a "sexual
[22]

come on" and called the song "trim and funky".[23] Dominique Leone
of Pitchfork wrote that the song "exudes a catchiness that belies its inherent
simplicity, so reassuring during an era when chart acts sound increasingly
baroque and producers race to see who can ape electronic music trends first".
[24]

In 2012, The Guardian critic Everett True defined "Can't Get You Out of My

Head" as "one of those rare moments in pop: sleek and chic and stylish and
damnably danceable, but with a darker element hidden in plain sight". [17] In a
2014 retrospective review, Billboard's Jason Lipshutz praised Minogue's
vocals and said they complement the production, and that; "her voice
operates alongside it, finding renewed power in its drive". [25] Olive Pometsey
of GQ deemed it "the sound of the noughties", highlighting the synthesisers
that create "a moment of pure pop perfection".[26] Writing for the Herald Sun,
Cameron Adams placed "Can't Get You Out of My Head" at the top of his list
of Minogue's best songs and called it "a happy accident". Adams wrote, "if
you could program a computer to formulate the perfect pop song, it would
sound like this".[27]
Reviewing The Abbey Road Sessions' version of the song, Tim Sendra of
AllMusic said the "most interesting reboot" on the album took place on "Can't
Get You Out of My Head", saying the "insistent strings push the song along
with tightly coiled electricity that is impossible to resist". [18] Sal Cinquemani
of Slant Magazine chose the song as one of the album's highlights, saying its
arrangement makes up for the absence of dance beats and vocal production.
[19]
 The Independent's Simon Price wrote while the original version of "Can't
Get You Out of My Head" would be "impossible to improve on", the reworked
version "turns it into a pizzicato thriller score".[20] According to Jude
Rogers of The Quietus, the song's orchestral treatment does not work well for
its memorable electronic production.[28]
In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "Can't Get You Out of My Head" at number 694
on their list of the 1001 Best Songs Ever.[29] In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine
placed it at number 45 on their 100 Best Songs of the 2000s list, noting
Minogue "seduced the US with this mirror-ball classic". [30] NME ranked the
song at number 74 on their 100 Best Track of the Noughties list, saying it
"encapsulated everything enviable in a well-crafted song" and that it is
Minogue's best single.[31] In 2012, Priya Elan of NME placed the song at
number four on her The Greatest Pop Songs in History list. [32] In 2012, The
Guardian included the song on their list of The Best Number One Records in
the United Kingdom, labelling it "sleek, Arctic-blue minimalism, like an
emotionally thwarted retelling of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' ". [14] "Can't Get
You Out of My Head" won the award for Best Single at the 2001 Top of the
Pops Awards ceremony.[33] At the 2002 ARIA Music Awards ceremony, it won
the awards for Single of the Year and Highest Selling Single, and Minogue
won the Outstanding Achievement Award.[34] In 2002, it won a Dutch Edison
Award for Single of the Year.[35] At the inaugural Premios Oye! in 2002, the
song received a nomination in the Song of the Year category. [36]

Commercial performance[edit]
"Can't Get You Out of My Head" reached number one in 40 countries
worldwide.[32] In Australia, the song entered the singles chart at number one
and remained there for four consecutive weeks. [37] The Australian Recording
Industry Association certified it three-times Platinum, for shipments of over
210,000 copies.[38] In the United Kingdom, it faced competition from Victoria
Beckham's single "Not Such an Innocent Girl" (2001).[39][40][41] On the
29 September 2001 UK Singles Chart, "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
debuted at number one with first-week sales of 306,000 copies. [42] It spent four
weeks at number one and remained for 25 weeks in the UK's top 40. [43] It was
certified two-times Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.[44] By 2016, it
had sold over 1.3 million copies,[40] and by 2013 it was the country's 75th best-
selling single of all time.[45] In the United States, "Can't Get You Out of My
Head" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[46] and became
Minogue's best-selling US single since "The Loco-Motion" (1987).
[47]
 The Recording Industry Association of America certified "Can't Get You Out
of My Head" Gold for shipments of over 500,000 copies. [48]
The song was also certified Gold in Belgium, and New Zealand, Platinum in
Austria, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa,
Sweden, and Switzerland; and two-times Platinum in Italy. [49] As of February
2018, it is Minogue's highest-selling single with worldwide sales of over five
million copies.[50]

Music video[edit]
Development and synopsis[edit]

The white hooded jumpsuit sported by Minogue was seen as a highlight of the video.

British director Dawn Shadforth directed the music video for "Can't Get You
Out of My Head",[51] which includes dance routines that were choreographed
by American choreographer Michael Rooney.[52] Minogue's looks—her
youthfulness, slim figure and proportionally large mouth–had attracted
comments on her exotic image; the British tabloid newspaper News of the
World suggested she might be an alien.[51] Shadforth and music critic Paul
Morley took the comments on Minogue's looks into consideration,
commenting on her as a "creative, experimental artist" by placing her face
close to the camera lens in the music video, distorting her face but retaining
her glamour.[51]
The video begins with Minogue driving a De Tomaso Mangusta sports car
while singing the song.[53] The next scene depicts a number of couples dressed
in black and white costumes performing a dance routine; they are soon joined
by Minogue, who has wavy light-brown hair and is wearing a white tracksuit.
The setting changes to a room where Minogue, now with straight hair and
crimson lipstick, and wearing a white jumpsuit with a neckline plunging down
to her navel, is striking poses.[54] The outfit was designed by London-based
fashion designer Fee Doran under the label Mrs Jones. [54] According to
Minogue, the outfit was inspired by fashion designs worn by Jamaican singer
and model, Grace Jones.[55] Minogue then performs a synchronised dance
routine with several backup dancers, who are wearing red-and-black suits.
[16]
 As the video ends, Minogue—again with curly hair and wearing a lavender
halter-neck dress with ribbon tile trim, performs a similar routine on top of a
building at night.[56]
Impact[edit]
At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, the music video was
nominated for Best Dance Video; Rooney won the award for Best
Choreography.[57] The hooded white jumpsuit Minogue wore in the music video
is often considered to be one of her most iconic looks, particularly because of
its deep, plunging neckline.[54][58][59] Minogue's stylist William Baker described the
choice of the outfit, saying, "it was pure but kind of slutty at the same time".
[54]
 The outfit was put on display at Kylie: The Exhibition, which featured
memorabilia and costumes from Minogue's career, which was held at
the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and at the similar Kylie: an
exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.[56][60] The jumpsuit was also
included in Minogue's official fashion photography book Kylie / Fashion, which
was released to celebrate her 25 years in music.[59]
The music video served as an inspiration for Morley while writing his
book Words and Music: The History of Pop in the Shape of a City. In it, Morley
said he "turned the lonely drive [Minogue] made in the song's video towards a
city ... into a fictional history of music".[61] University lecturers Diane Railton and
Paul Weston, in their 2005 essay "Naughty Girls and Red Blooded Women
(Representations of Female Heterosexuality in Music Video)", contrasted the
music video of "Can't Get You Out of My Head" with that of Beyoncé's 2003
single "Baby Boy"; while both videos focus on two singers performing
seductive dance routines, Minogue is presented in a calculated manner and
"is always provisional, restricted, and contingent", whereas Beyoncé displays
a particular "primitive, feral, uncontrolled and uncontrollable" sexuality that is
embodied in the black female body. Railton and Weston said the videos are
representative of the depictions of white and black women in colonial times
and pop culture, respectively.[62]