"Break You" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

song recorded by

Marion Raven Marion Elise Ravn (born 25 May 1984), better known as Marion Raven, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. Raven formed the pop duo M2M with Marit Larsen, though they ceased performing together in 2002. Raven was later signed as a solo artist b ...

and written and produced by

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

and

Lukasz Gottwald Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live B ...

, a.k.a. "Dr. Luke", for Raven's international debut studio album '' Here I Am'' (2005). The track was released as the lead single in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and was the second single from the album that was released in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

in 2005. The single was highly successful and was well received by critics. The single was released after Raven left

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, due to "artistic differences" and joined

Eleven Seven Music Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

. Raven performed an acoustic folk-rock version of ''Break You'' during her 2013 '' Songs from a Blackbird'' Norwegian tour.

Content

The song's angsty post-grunge vibe and lyrics about bad relationships represents Raven's scorn and anger towards her ex-boyfriend.

Music video

The music video for the song, shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

between a Dogsprison and a strip club, was recorded in March 2005 by director

Brett Simon Brett Simon (born November 28, 1973, in Palo Alto, California) is an American commercial, music video and film director. Career Simon graduated from Princeton University ''summa cum laude'' in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative ...

. It shows scenes of Raven trashing her ex-boyfriend's apartment, slicing furniture into half and burning the other half at an alley, signifying that she is getting rid of the half that belongs to her ex-boyfriend. There are also instances where Raven lashes out at hands (most likely to be those of her ex-boyfriend) that try to stop her while she continues ruining the house.

Singles and track listings

;Norway and Japan single #"Break You" (Album version) #"Surfing The Sun" (Japanese ''Here I Am'' release version) ;Swedish single #"Break You" (Album version) #"There I Said It" (Unreleased B-side single) ;Mexican single #"Break You" (Album version) * Japan promo single #"Break You" (Album version) #Exclusive picture sleeve" (CD-Rom Bonus content) #Different front cover

Reception

* "Break You" is Raven's most successful solo single to date. It anchored Raven as a pop-rock staple in

, where it managed to claim the top spot on the Oricon International Charts. * "Break You" was ranked at No. 69 on

MTV Asia MTV was a pan-Asian music pay television channel that was launched on 5 May 1995 as a standalone pay television service. The channel was owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History Pre-launch The first incarnation of MTV Asia was launched on ...

's2005 end of year top 100 countdown. * "Break You" peaked at No. 5 on

Capital Disney Capital Disney was a British digital radio station aimed at 7 to 13 year olds which used to broadcast across the UK on DAB Digital Radio in selected areas. Capital Disney launched on 16 September 2002 as a joint venture between GCap Media PLC a ...

's "The Top 10" music charts.

Chart performance

2007 re-release

"Break You" was released to U.K. radio stations on March 28, 2007 and is her U.K. debut single from ''Set Me Free''. The track was also part of a rumored EP that served as a teaser, alongside "Falling Away" and "Here I Am", tracks also found on ''Set Me Free''. ;Break You EP #"Break You" (Album version) #"Falling Away" (Album version) #"Here I Am" (Album version)

References

{{Authority control 2005 songs Marion Raven songs Post-grunge songs Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Dr. Luke Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke 2004 songs Song recordings produced by Max Martin Atlantic Records singles