"Powerless" is a pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 song written by Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado

Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...

, Gerald Eaton

Gerald Eaton

Gerald Eaton is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and music producer, originally from Jamaica.He is the lead singer for the R&B-pop group The Philosopher Kings, which reached its peak popularity in the 1990s...

 and Brian West

Brian West (musician)

Brian West was the lead guitarist for the Canadian band The Philosopher Kings. His partner, Gerald Eaton began the record label Track and Field Records after they were nominated for several awards as a production duo under the name of Track and Field...

 for Furtado's second studio album Folklore (2003). It contains a sample of Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals

Buffalo Gals (Malcolm McLaren song)

Buffalo Gals is a hip-hop single released by Malcolm McLaren & the World's Famous Supreme Team as a single in 1982 and on their 1983 album Duck Rock. The song is composed of extensive scratching with calls from square dancing...

" which was written by Anne Dudley

Anne Dudley

Anne Dudley is an English composer and pop musician, and was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in both the classical and pop genres. She is perhaps best known, however, as one of the core members of the synthpop band Art of Noise and also as a film...

, Trevor Horn

Trevor Horn

Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....

 and Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...

. It was produced by Furtado and Track & Field and was chosen to be the lead 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 the album, released in December 2003. Banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

 player Béla Fleck

Béla Fleck

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...

 appears on the track.

Background

It addresses how Furtado herself was discriminated against in that her record company wanted to hide her ancestry: "Paint my face in your magazines/Make it look whiter than it seems/Paint me over with your dreams/Shove away my ethnicity". Furtado said about "Powerless": "I get to see a lot of DJ-oriented performance stuff, and I'm into the heaviness of breakbeats, how raw and powerful they are. Everything lately has become so synthesized, but just the standard sound of breakbeats is inspiring. 'Powerless' uses breakbeats like that; it's a real groove, a real vibe. It just carries you away. There’s a banjo mixed with a breakbeat from elements of Malcolm McLaren's 'Buffalo Gals

Buffalo Gals

"Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White." The song was widely popular throughout the United States...

.' So right away you're bobbing your head. The lyrics are initially in-your-face, like, 'Okay, I know I'm going to be stereotyped in my life because that is the world we live in; that's society.' But the song tries to find some sense of order in this complicated world." The song won Single of the year at the 2004 Juno Awards.

Music video

The music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was directed by Bryan Barber

Bryan Barber

Bryan Barber is a music video and motion picture director. He has directed many music videos for popular artists.-Personal:Barber graduated from Sacramento, CA Hiram Johnson High School in 1988...

 and was shot in the period of three days. The video revolves around a classic psychological metaphor: Nelly trapped inside a box from which she seeks to escape. Inside, the box is plastered with posters that act as doors or windows for the artist’s imagination. Her situation is a metaphor for being both defined and confined by the illusory commercial reality of her celebrity and beauty. The video was shot on various sets and dressed locations, and in a large customized box crate, which were all created by production designer Aaron Goffman. Using Photoshop and Illustrator, Moneyshots designed the posters and graphics that surround Nelly in the box and added the transitions that transport Nelly back and forth between the imprisoning box and the poster environments that signify the escape self-expression can bring.
There is an alternate version of the video featuring Nelly in a field, and shown in several screens in different parts of a city, showing the movements of the modern life.

Tracklisting

UK CD Single

1. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Album Version) - 3:53
2. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Josh Desi Remix) - 3:12
3. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Alternative Acoustic Mix) - 3:47

German 2-Track Single

1. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Album Version) - 3:53
2. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Alternative Acoustic Mix) - 3:47

German 4-Track Single

1. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Album Version) - 3:53
2. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Alternative Acoustic Mix) - 3:47
3. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Josh Desi Remix) - 3:47
4. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Instrumental Version) - 3:53

Remixes

• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Lema & Moor Remix) (9:09)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Lema & Moor Dub Mix) (8:16)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Junior's Sound Factory Remix) (8:13)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Junior Vasquez
  Junior Vasquez
  Junior Vasquez, , is an American club DJ and remixer/producer.-Career:...
  
  World Mix) (7:39)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Chab Extended Edit Mix) (8:33)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Chab Remix) (8:15)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Josh Desi Remix) (3:16)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Josh Desi Extended Remix)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Wideife's Outside Lookin In Mix) (9:49)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Midnight Society's Tribal Bushwack Mix) (12:24)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (OrangeFuzzz Powerful Club Mix) (7:41)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (OrangeFuzzz Powerful Radio Mix) (3:55)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (OrangeFuzzz Powerful A Capella Mix) (6:10)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (M'Silver Boots Tribal Dub 2005 Mix) (7:16)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Dario Lauria Remix) (4:52)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Leanh's vs. Peter C Edit Mix) (3:16)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (DJ Sonda Remix) (3:15)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (DJ Marakana Remix) (4:02)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (DJ Gemini Edit)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Maroon Mix) (3:52)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Max 2 vs. DJ Zenom Remix)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Mint Tea Dancehall Mix) (3:42)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Alternative Acoustic Mix) (3:47)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Sox Mix; featuring Shankini) (4:09)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Radio Edit) (3:52)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Album Version) (3:53)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Radio Version)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Instrumental Version) (3:53)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (LP Version) (3:53)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (A Capella) (3:25)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Non Bonjo Version) (3:33)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Acoustic Version) (3:45)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Call Out Hook) (0:13)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Swerve Cover)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Latin Radio Edit)
• "Abre Tu Corazon" (Spanish Remix)

Release history

Country	Release Date
Australia
United States

Charts

> > > > > > > > > > > >

Chart (2003/2004)	Peak position

External links

• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" Music Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NneJjhHWP6A