Busy for Me
Encyclopedia
"Busy for Me" is a soul
song performed by Portuguese blue-eyed soul
singer Aurea, released as the first single
from her debut album, Aurea (2010). Co-written by Rui Ribeiro and Aurea and produced by Ricardo Reis and Carlos Silva, it was released in 2010 in Portugal to favourable reviews and moderate success. As Aurea's first national release, the song is credited with firmly establishing the singer's career and is now considered her signature song. "Busy for Me" received comparisons to Aurea's previous single, "Okay Alright". Critical reviewers of "Busy for Me" noted similarities between the song to releases by Aretha Franklin
, Dusty Springfield
and The Supremes
, as well as contemporaries such as British singer Amy Winehouse
or Duffy
.
Aurea performed the song on her special TV broadcast transmitted by RTP2 on December 2010. The song was also performed on TV shows, such as the "Diário da Manhã" or "Boa Tarde".
A music video for the single, which was directed by Rui Afonso, was released on August 6, 2010. It was inspired by Aurea's ex-boyfriend, as well by her past relationships. The music video portrays Aurea with a group of musicians in a club, playingto the song. It is interspersed with scenes of Aurea at her home crying.
and Amy Winehouse.
"Busy for Me" is set in common time
, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute and is written in the key of G Major
. Aurea's vocal range
spans from C4 to C6. Lyrically, "Busy for Me" talks about a woman who's depressed because of her boyfriend, who rejected her, as she says in the line "I Try Everyday / I Cry Every Night / For a Second Of Your Time / But You´re So Busy for Me / You Don´t Care For My Plea / So I Cry, Cry, Cry, Cry...".
The video begins with Aurea looking depressed and locked in her own home, drinking coffee and thinking about her boyfriend. Than, we can see Aurea singing in a night club, while her voice is softly driven by a piano. While this is happening, the video shows images of Aurea at her home at the same time. Than, when she sings the line "I tried to pick you up", Aurea is seen in front of her boyfriend's apartment, trying to talk to him. After this, she goes to a disco, where she finds her boyfriend and starts arguing with him, he suddenly leaves the disco and Aurea follows him to door, where she tries to convince him he's wrong and he needs to come back to her. In the end of the second chorus, we can see Aurea trying to kill herself, by drowning herself in a tub. After this, Aurea is seen in the middle of the street crying all alone. The video finishes with images of Aurea in the club.
The song was also used on TVI's show "Deluxe" a lot of times during the summer. The song also appears on the Radio Comercial TV ad.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
song performed by Portuguese blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
singer Aurea, released as the first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from her debut album, Aurea (2010). Co-written by Rui Ribeiro and Aurea and produced by Ricardo Reis and Carlos Silva, it was released in 2010 in Portugal to favourable reviews and moderate success. As Aurea's first national release, the song is credited with firmly establishing the singer's career and is now considered her signature song. "Busy for Me" received comparisons to Aurea's previous single, "Okay Alright". Critical reviewers of "Busy for Me" noted similarities between the song to releases by Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
and The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, as well as contemporaries such as British singer Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
or Duffy
Duffy (singer)
Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
.
Aurea performed the song on her special TV broadcast transmitted by RTP2 on December 2010. The song was also performed on TV shows, such as the "Diário da Manhã" or "Boa Tarde".
A music video for the single, which was directed by Rui Afonso, was released on August 6, 2010. It was inspired by Aurea's ex-boyfriend, as well by her past relationships. The music video portrays Aurea with a group of musicians in a club, playingto the song. It is interspersed with scenes of Aurea at her home crying.
Background and composition
The song was released in 2010 as the lead single of her debut album "Aurea". Aurea started singing while studying in the University of Évora, where she met Rui Ribeiro who heard her singing a song and playing piano. Rui Ribeiro composed a song for Aurea and asked if she would like to sing it. They recorded a demo for it and Ribeiro sent it to Blim Records, her future record label. They enjoyed her voice and decided to "go far with it!", by recording an album. She said to "Expressões Lusitanas" during and interview: "I think singing in English is better than singing in Portuguese (...) because Soul music was "born" in England" she also said she feels influenced by Soul artits such as Aretha FranklinAretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
and Amy Winehouse.
"Busy for Me" is set in common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute and is written in the key of G Major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
. Aurea's vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
spans from C4 to C6. Lyrically, "Busy for Me" talks about a woman who's depressed because of her boyfriend, who rejected her, as she says in the line "I Try Everyday / I Cry Every Night / For a Second Of Your Time / But You´re So Busy for Me / You Don´t Care For My Plea / So I Cry, Cry, Cry, Cry...".
Critcal reaction
"Busy for Me" garnered almost unanimously positive reviews from critics, often being praised for its catchy baseline and "summery", jazzy themes. Nuno Costa from "O Melhor e o Pior" gave the song a favourable review and said: "What a great voice! Our country [Portugal] might be small but id full of talent! Congratulations, great voice!" "Vida com Chocolate" also gave a favourable review and said: "This girl is from Santiago de Cacém! Great national voice we have here!". "Blim Records" said: "good to listen whenever we want... so good and intense". "Seven Foot Sounds" said : "Her debut single Okay Alright didn’t do much, but Busy (For Me) sounds a lot better and is able to get the buzz around her starting. She at least has the potential!"Background and synopsis
The music video for the song was produced by Ricardo Reis and Carlos Silva, directed by Rui Afonso and was shot in July 2010. The video premiered on August 6, 2010 in Blim Record's official YouTube account. The video has been seen more than 400, 000 times on Blim Record's official YouTube account. The concept for the music video is really simple and Aurea said she wanted to go simple with it.The video begins with Aurea looking depressed and locked in her own home, drinking coffee and thinking about her boyfriend. Than, we can see Aurea singing in a night club, while her voice is softly driven by a piano. While this is happening, the video shows images of Aurea at her home at the same time. Than, when she sings the line "I tried to pick you up", Aurea is seen in front of her boyfriend's apartment, trying to talk to him. After this, she goes to a disco, where she finds her boyfriend and starts arguing with him, he suddenly leaves the disco and Aurea follows him to door, where she tries to convince him he's wrong and he needs to come back to her. In the end of the second chorus, we can see Aurea trying to kill herself, by drowning herself in a tub. After this, Aurea is seen in the middle of the street crying all alone. The video finishes with images of Aurea in the club.
Live performances
Aurea performed the song live a lot of times. She performed the song in September 2010, while giving an interview to Portuguese journalist Counceição Lino. The song was also performed in the following week on the TVI's program "Diário da Manhã". She performed an acoustic version of the song at the Radio FM station in October 2010. This version of the song was played a lot of times in Portugal on most Portuguese radio stations. Aurea made an especial broadcast, which was transmitted trough RTP2 on December 2010. During the show, Aurea performed a lot of songs from her album, including "Busy for Me", accompanied by a comment made by Aurea. The has performed the song at the RTP2 TV show "5 Para a Meia-Noite" on February 3, 2011.The song was also used on TVI's show "Deluxe" a lot of times during the summer. The song also appears on the Radio Comercial TV ad.
Credits and personnel
- Aurea: Vocals, writing.
- Rui Ribeiro: Producer, mixer, recorder, programmer, guitar, bass, keyboard, writing.
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 6 August 2010 | Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
Charts
| Chart (2010) 1 | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Portugal Singles Chart | 1 |
External links
- Official music video at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.