| "Someone to Call My Lover" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byJanet Jackson | ||||
| from the albumAll for You | ||||
| Released | June 12, 2001 (2001-06-12) | |||
| Studio | Flyte Tyme (Edina, Minnesota) | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producers |
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| Janet Jackson singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Someone to Call My Lover" onYouTube | ||||
"Someone to Call My Lover" is a song by American singer-songwriterJanet Jackson from her seventh studio album,All for You (2001). Written and produced by Jackson andJimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the song was released as the album's second single on June 12, 2001, byVirgin Records. Using a guitar riff fromAmerica's "Ventura Highway" and the melody fromErik Satie's "Gymnopédie No. 1", "Someone to Call My Lover" talks about being determined to find a perfect match.
"Someone to Call My Lover" received positive reviews from critics, with most praising its innocence and sweet aura, picking the song as a standout track on the album. The song was a success on the charts, reaching number three on the USBillboard Hot 100 while peaking at number nine in Canada and the top twenty in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. A music video was directed byFrancis Lawrence and centers on ajukebox. Another video for theSo So Def remix was also released. Jackson has performed the song on three of her tours, most recently on her 2024Together Again Tour. In 2025, the song saw a spike in online popularity following a viral trend onTikTok.[1]
"Someone to Call My Lover" was written and produced byJanet Jackson,James Harris III and Terry Lewis.[2] The song'sloopedguitarriff issampled fromAmerica's 1972 hit "Ventura Highway", withDewey Bunnell receiving writing credits. The loop played throughout the chorus is an interpolation of "Gymnopédie No. 1" by Frenchclassical composerErik Satie, played in4
4 time instead of the original3
4. Jackson had searched for years for the Satie track after hearing it on television as a child.
When I was a little girl and I used to come home from school, there was something called "The 3:30 Movie", and they used to play theMGM Musicals. There was a commercial. I remember watchingSingin' in the Rain and there was a commercial with the lady all in white, and I don't know if it was forDove or something like that, but they would play this, 'Da, da, da.' It was the Erik Satie. I never knew who the composer was, and this song never left me.[3]
Jackson said she came across the tune again about seven years later: "I was atRalph Lauren and I said, 'Oh, my God! Is this the radio or is this a CD?' I said, 'Please tell me it's a CD.' They said, 'It's a CD—well, actually it's a Ralph Lauren CD and we don't have it anymore. I was like, 'Oh God...no,' and they gave me the CD."[3] Jackson said, "I took it straight to Jimmy [Jam] and said, 'Jimmy, I've just got to share this with you,' and he saw my passion and my love for it. He didn't take the actual song, but he kind of put his own flavor to it in 'Someone to Call My Lover,' which takes me back to my childhood."[3] In an interview, Jimmy said, "And for 'Someone to Call My Lover,' she hadn't heard the 'Ventura Highway' sample before. She hadn't heard those songs. So it's kind of fun to come up with stuff like that and play it for her. And she hasn't heard of it, but she still really likes it. So you have something that's going to appeal to people that haven't heard it before, it's going to catch them, but it's also going to catch the people who are nostalgic about it."[4]
At the time of recording, Jackson was in a divorce battle with her husband,René Elizondo, Jr., after nearly ten years of marriage. "Someone to Call My Lover", and several of the other songs onAll for You, use Jackson's divorce and re-emergence into single life as central themes. "Someone to Call My Lover" talks about being determined to find a perfect match.[5] Dave Barry replaysAmerica's "Ventura Highway" main guitar hook, as an interpolation and serves as the opening to the single, accompanied by finger snaps and bass. In the beginning, Jackson has begun touring again and there isn't anyone to talk to and she wishes she had companionship, "Back on the road again/Feeling kinda lonely/And looking for the right guy/To be mine," she sings.[5]
In the pre-chorus, she fantasizes where her dream guy might be, "Maybe we'll meet at a bar / He'll drive a funky car / Maybe we'll meet at a club / And fall so deeply in love," she sings. In the chorus, she's eager to find a guy to love, "Alright, maybe gonna find him today / I gotta get someone to call my lover / Yeah, baby, come on," she chants.[5]
"Someone to Call My Lover" is written in the key of D major with a moderately fasttempo of 128 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of Dmaj7–G6–Dmaj7–G6, and Jackson's vocals span from the low note A3 to the high note B4.[6]
"Someone to Call My Lover" received generally favorable reviews frommusic critics.Stephen Thomas Erlewine fromAllMusic picked the song as "one of the record's best cuts".[2] Timothy Park ofNME enjoyed the lyrics, writing that "while most of us dream of being Janet, it's reassuring to know she dreams of being us. And providing she does it with the ever-enduring Jam & Lewis produced fluffypop of 'Someone To Call My Lover' then who are we to complain?."[7] In anotherNME review, Piers Martin wrote that the song "recallsAaliyah's 'Try Again' in its squelchy simplicity."[8] Gene Stout ofSeattle Post-Intelligencer praised the track, calling it "sweetly innocent", praising the "Ventura Highway guitar," and writing that it "adds a wistful, nostalgic feel to the song's deep yearnings for love and togetherness."[9]
According to Chuck Arnold fromEntertainment Weekly, "Although she has yet to find someone to call her lover, the mood is irrepressibly upbeat and optimistic about pre-Tinder match-meeting".[10]
The song was released as the second single fromAll for You, following the huge success ofits title track. It is the last of Jackson's singles to have reached the top 10 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart to date. On theBillboard Hot 100 chart, "Someone to Call My Lover" reached the top 40 in June. It eventually peaked at number three the issue dated September 1, 2001, becoming Jackson's 27th and last top-10 hit.[11] The song reached number nine on Nielsen Soundscan's Canadian chart.[12] "Someone to Call My Lover" reached the top 20 in many places. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number 11 on theUK Singles Chart[13] In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number 15 on theARIA Singles Chart week of August 5, 2001, spending nine weeks on the chart,[14] while on theNew Zealand Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 30 and peaked at number 18 in its fourth week, spending a total of 15 weeks on the chart.[15]
For the single, aSo So Def Remix was produced and became Jackson's first collaboration withJermaine Dupri.[16] The song earned Jackson aGrammy Award nomination forBest Female Pop Vocal Performance at the44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002, losing out toNelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird".[17]
The music video was directed byFrancis Lawrence onSpahn Ranch inLos Angeles, California in May 2001. It premiered onMTV'sTotal Request Live on June 20, 2001.[18] It centres on ajukebox. Jackson is depicted driving and walking into a bar, where she sings, dances and eventually hitches a ride from a red car. A video for the So So Def Remix was also released, and contains similar footage to the original but contains shots of Dupri in alternate scenes as well as his vocals.[19] The original video made the limited bonus-DVD edition ofAll for You while the So So Def Remix video appears on the 2004 video compilationFrom Janet to Damita Jo: The Videos.[20]
Jackson has performed "Someone to Call My Lover" on two of her tours. The song was added to the setlist of herAll for You Tour, as one of the last songs on the show. During the performance, the singer wore a whiteT-shirt andjeans, along with alei in Hawaii. The February 16, 2002, final date of the tour at theAloha Stadium in Hawaii, was broadcast byHBO. This rendition was also added to the setlist at its DVD release,Janet: Live in Hawaii, in 2002.[21] "Someone to Call My Lover" was also the video dedication song to Singapore for the 2011Number Ones, Up Close and Personal tour.[22] It was also performed on her 2017State of the World Tour in place of "Island Life" at several shows, including inCleveland on December 3,[23] andMemphis on December 6.[24] Jackson performed the song on the second leg of her 2023-2024Janet Jackson: Together Again tour.
US CD single(V25D-38799)[25]
US 12-inch single(7243-8-38799-1-5)[26]
UK CD single(VSCD 1813)[27]
UK 12-inch single(VST 1813)[28]
| UK cassette single(VSC 1813)[29]
European CD single(VSCDE1813)[30]
Australasian and Japanese CD single(8977732; VJCP-12141)[31][32]
|
Credits are lifted from theAll for You album booklet.[33]
Studios
Personnel
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | June 12, 2001 | Virgin | ||
| Germany | June 25, 2001 | CD | EMI | |
| Japan | July 7, 2001 | Maxi CD | ||
| France | July 17, 2001 | CD | ||
| Australia | July 23, 2001 | Maxi CD | ||
| United States | Hot adult contemporary radio | Virgin | ||
| United Kingdom | July 30, 2001 |
|
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