"Invisible" is a song by Irish boy band D-Side, released as the third single (second in the United Kingdom) from their first studio album, ''Stronger Together'' (2003). The song was written and produced by Desmond Child, Andreas Carlsson, and Chris Braide. Released on 14 July 2003, the song became a top-10 hit in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The same year, ''

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'' second two runner-up Clay Aiken covered the song and reached number 37 on the US ''

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with his rendition. The song has been frequently targeted by

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for its unsettling lyrical content, with several calling the track a "stalkers' anthem".

Release and reception

D-Side's version of "Invisible" was released on 14 July 2003 in the United Kingdom across three formats: two

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

s and a

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...

. Can't Stop the Pop called it a "meticulously crafted" track, praising its composition, the band's vocals, and its airplay appeal, but criticised the lyrical content for being too "creepy", noting that the chorus has aged poorly. Commercially, "Invisible" became the group's third consecutive top-10 hit in their home country, debuting and peaking at number five on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

on 17 July. At the end of 2003, the song was placed at number 73 on Ireland's year-end chart. On 20 July, the single appeared at number seven on the UK Singles Chart, becoming D-Side's highest-charting single in the UK and staying in the top 100 for six weeks. In Japan, the song was issued as a CD single on 28 July 2004.

Track listings

UK and European CD1 # "Invisible" (radio edit) # "Fallen for You" # "Bring You Out" # "Invisible" (radio edit video) UK CD2 # "Invisible" (radio edit) # "Invisible" (Lifestylerz radio edit) # "Invisible" (Lifestylerz dub) # "Invisible" (Lifestylerz radio edit video) UK cassette single and European CD2 # "Invisible" (radio edit) # "Fallen for You" Japanese CD single # "Invisible" (radio edit) # "Fallen for You" # "Bring You Out" # "Invisible" (Lifestylerz radio edit)

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from the UK CD1 liner notes. * Desmond Child – writing, production * Andreas Carlsson – writing, production * Chris Braide – writing, production * D-Side – vocals * Carlos Alvarez – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Clay Aiken version

After finishing as runner-up to the second season of ''

'', Clay Aiken covered the song for his debut studio album, '' Measure of a Man'', and released it as the album's lead single. This version was produced by Child only and contains an extended

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

. Released two months after D-Side's version, Aiken's cover charted within the top 40 of the US ''

, peaking at number 37 in January 2004. It also charted in New Zealand, reaching number 47 in December 2003.

Background and release

Aiken recorded his vocals before D-Side had released their version in the UK. He first went to Child's studio in Miami, when ''American Idol'' season two winner

Ruben Studdard Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as the winner of the second season of ''American Idol'' and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recordi ...

chided Aiken for wanting to record in a dark studio and not explore the city. After recording the rest of the demo in Minneapolis, Aiken and his coworkers discovered that D-Side had released their version, so they discussed whether to issue the song in the UK. The team decided that the song was too good to defer, and they eventually released the song in the United States on 29 September 2003. In an interview with ''Billboard'', Aiken stated that he wanted to amend the track's lyrics, but he believed that the content could have been much worse and decided to tone down the disturbing message with the video, calling the lyrical content "nasty" and encouraging people not to partake in stalking.

Critical reception

In 2004, '' Blender'' magazine ranked Aiken's version of "Invisible" at number 11 on their list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever", calling it a "disturbing voyeur fantasy" and noting that its worst lyric is "I wish you could touch me with the colors of your life". Matt Keohan of online lifestyle publication BroBible called the song the "creepiest song ever made", referring to it as "The Stalkers' Anthem". ''

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'' also called the track a "stalker anthem". In 2020, Return of Rock ranked the song as Aiken's best, calling his voice "beautiful".

Chart performance

In the United States, "Invisible" debuted at number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in late November 2003. The song remained on the Hot 100 for 20 issues, reaching its peak of number 37 during its ninth week on the chart. The song entered the top 10 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

ranking, peaking at number eight, and charted with the top 30 of the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

and

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

listings. "Invisible" was also released in New Zealand, where "

Bridge over Troubled Water ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'' is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970, by Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for ''The Graduate'', Art Garfunkel took an acting ...

" / " This Is the Night" had topped the chart. It appeared on the country's RIANZ Singles Chart for two nonconsecutive weeks in December 2003, peaking at number 47 on both occasions.

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the ''Measure of a Man'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at The Gentlemen's Club, The Gallery (Miami, Florida), Storm Studios (Stockholm, Sweden), Red Door Recording Studios ( St. Davids, Pennsylvania), and Master Mix Studios (Minneapolis, Minnesota) * Mixed at Mix This! (

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) * Mastered at

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(New York City) Personnel * Desmond Child – writing, production * Andreas Carlsson – writing, background vocals, guitar * Chris Braide – writing, background vocals * Clay Aiken – vocals, backing vocals *

Chris Willis Christopher Kevin Willis (born February 26, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Although initially a gospel music, gospel singer, he later received international attention for his collaborations with French house music ...

– background vocals * Dan Warner – guitar * Eric Bazilian – guitar, recording * Marcus Englöf – acoustic guitar, keyboards, programming, recording * Esbjörn Öhrwall – acoustic guitar * Thomas Blindberg – bass * Doug Emery – piano * Samuel Waermö – keyboards, programming, percussion, recording * Lee Levin – drums * Brian Coleman – production management * Jules Gondar – recording * Carlos Alvarez – recording * Craig Lozowick – recording * Bob Clearmountain – mixing * Kevin Harp – assistant mix engineer * Joe Yannece – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2003 songs 2003 singles Avex Trax singles Clay Aiken songs Edel AG singles Irish pop songs RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Chris Braide Song recordings produced by Desmond Child Songs written by Andreas Carlsson Songs written by Chris Braide Songs written by Desmond Child Warner Music Group singles