"Forgive Me" is a song by British singer

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

featured on the North American version and on the international deluxe edition of her debut album '' Spirit'' (2008). Musically, "Forgive Me" is a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

track with dance influences, written in A minor. The lyrics tell the story of a girl who has found a new love and asks her old one for forgiveness. The song was written by Aliaune "Akon" Thiam,

Claude Kelly Claude Kelly (born December 27, 1980)Shirley Halperin and Bob Love"THR Names Music's 35 Top Hitmakers,"''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 6, 2013. is an American singer, songwriter and music producer. He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee, a ...

and

Giorgio Tuinfort Giorgio Hesdey Tuinfort is a Dutch record producer and songwriter. Biography Born in Suriname, Tuinfort moved to the Netherlands at 9 months old. His musical career started at age 4, after he attended a special music class for toddlers. After b ...

, and produced by the former. "Forgive Me" was released as the fourth single of the album in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2008. The single includes the "Myself", written by and featuring vocals of American musician

Novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

. In "Forgive Me",

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

compared Lewis's vocals with that of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...

. The music video was directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the Universit ...

, and it was inspired by multiple

Broadway musicals Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

, including ''

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'' and ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid- ...

''. "Forgive Me" reached number five on the

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and Irish charts, thus becoming Lewis's fourth single to peak within the top ten in the UK. Additionally, it peaked atop the Slovakian Singles Chart and reached the top ten in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and Sweden. Lewis promoted "Forgive Me" on some television shows, such as ''

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

'' and ''

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'', in the United Kingdom, as well as on the Italian television show ''Carràmba! Che sorpresa'' and on the Swedish talent show '' Idol''. Also, the song was added to the setlists of her tours The Labyrinth (2010) and

Glassheart ''Glassheart'' is the third studio album by English singer Leona Lewis, released on 12 October 2012 by Syco Music and RCA Records. The album is Lewis' first under RCA Records after parent company Sony Music Entertainment closed J Records and re ...

(2013).

Background and composition

"Forgive Me" was written by

and Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, and produced by the latter. The single was published with one

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, "Myself", written by Justin E. Boykin, Graham N. Marsh, Lewis and Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson. "Forgive Me" is described as a "funky pop song", written in A minor.Sheet music for "Forgive Me". Sony BMG Music Entertainment Publishing (2008). According to the sheet music published by

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

, it moves at 120

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

and is set in common time. On it, Lewis performs her highest pitch ( G₅) in falsetto during the final chorus, and her lowest pitch ( A₃) during each verse. "Forgive Me" describes a female protagonist in a relationship who leaves her boyfriend and eventually finds someone to reciprocate her love. Though she has found love from someone else, she defends herself and asks her for forgiveness. In an interview with

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

, Lewis explained why she decided to change her musical genre from her previous singles to a more upbeat one. She said: "I wanted to do something a bit different and the chance to work with Akon came about. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out and it's great that it's different, rather than what I always do." There are two versions of the song, the "album version" (3:40) and the "single mix" (3:24).

Release and promotion

On 26 July 2008, the single mix was released to the Mexican

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

as a digital single. For the UK release, the single cover was revealed on 17 September 2008, whilst the song was released in the UK on 3 November 2008 as the fourth single. Originally, the song was featured only in the North American version of the album '' Spirit'', launched in April 2008. Later, "Forgive Me" was added in the

deluxe edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

of the album, which was released internationally in November 2008. Lewis performed the song on the television programmes ''

'' on 29 October 2008, and ''

'' on 31 October 2008. Outside of the UK, she also performed the song on the Italian television show ''Carràmba! Che sorpresa'' and on the Swedish talent show '' Idol''. In May 2010, the song was added to the setlist of her tour The Labyrinth, performed as the eighth song of the show. A live performance from

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the ...

was included on the live album's DVD '' The Labyrinth Tour Live from The O2''. In 2013, Lewis added "Forgive Me" to the setlist of her Glassheart Tour.

Critical reception

"Forgive Me" received generally positive reviews from music critics.

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

's ''

Newsround ''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'', and originally called ''John Craven's Newsround'' before his departure in 1989) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. It was one of the world's first tele ...

'' described "Forgive Me" as a danceable song. Gavin Martin of '' The Mirror'' gave the song three-out-of-five points and said, " he songshowcases her voice of fire and honey. No apologies necessary". Nick Levine,

music critic, gave the song a similar score, and compared it with

's song "

I'm Your Baby Tonight ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' is the third studio album by American singer Whitney Houston released on November 6, 1990, by Arista Records. The album has been certified quadruple platinum in the US by the RIAA. Background By 1989, Whitney Hou ...

". Levine added that after her previous three ballad singles, "it's a nice change". However, he also said the lyrics were implausible as "the adultery-theme s apoor match for the sweet, unassuming Hackney girl". Chad Grischow noted that with the song Lewis "will not go down as a glorified

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

described "Forgive Me" and another song from the album ("Misses Glass") as "just slightly glitzier than the rest of ''Spirit''." Sal Cinquemani of

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

called the song "bouncy and youthful". Nate Chinen from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ironised with a "so what if she sound like a Mariah".

Chart performance

"Forgive Me" debuted and peaked at number five in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2008, becoming Lewis's third single in debut within the top ten, after "

A Moment Like This "A Moment Like This" is the debut single by American singer Kelly Clarkson. The song was written by Jörgen Elofsson and John Reid from British house music project Nightcrawlers) and produced by Stephen Ferrera and Steve Mac. It was released ...

" and "

Bleeding Love "Bleeding Love" is a song recorded by English singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album '' Spirit'' (2007). It was written and originally recorded by Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder. The song was released as ...

". In Ireland, before its official release as a single, it was the second highest debut of the week of 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 b ...

, at number five. In the Slovak Airplay Chart, it debuted at number and in its tenth week the song peaked at number one. In the Euro Digital Tracks the song reached the number 4. In

, "Forgive Me" debuted at number nine, but fell off the chart next week. Elsewhere in Europe, the song reached number seven in Sweden, twelve in Switzerland, and fifteen in both Austria and Germany. The song entered the

Australian charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

at number fifty on 19 October 2008, and next week peaked at . Later, "Forgive Me" dropped out of the chart, but on 10 November 2009, it re-entered at number fifty. In the 2008 UK year-end chart, compiling the best-selling singles of the year, "Forgive Me" was .

Music video

The music video for "Forgive Me" was directed by

, and edited by Nabil Mechi and Valentina Ganeva. It starts out with Lewis receiving a text message from her boyfriend saying he is just a minute away from meeting up with her. The video then turns into a dream-like sequence with Lewis dancing in four inspired by the Hollywood musicals ''

'', ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

'', ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd C ...

'' and ''

''. The video ends with Lewis coming back to reality after a drop of rain lands on her hand as her boyfriend sends a message saying "Hurry! Looks like there could be rain". Mark Savage from

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

commented that Lewis does not dance in the video. Lewis replied, "I love dancing ..but I am a singer and that is what I do".

Tracklisting and formats

;German CD single / Switzerland CD maxi # "Forgive Me" (single mix) – 3:24 # "Myself" feat. Novel – 3:50 # "Forgive Me" (video) ;UK CD single # "Forgive Me" (single mix) – 3:24 # "Myself" feat. Novel – 3:50

Credits and personnel

;"Forgive Me" *Serban Ghenea: mixer *Mark Goodchild: recorder *John Hanes:

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture ( sound design, audio post-prod ...

engineer *Larry Jackson: vocal producers *

: vocal producers, writer *

: vocals, background vocals *Trent Privat: recorder assistant *Tim Roberts: Pro Tools engineer assistant * Aliaune "Akon" Thiam: background vocals, producer, writer *

: , writer ;"Myself" *Justin E. Boykin:

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, writer *James Burch: cello *Matt Colette: drums, percussion *Everett James Harrell: piano, bells *Leona Lewis: vocals, background vocals, writer *Carlton Lynn: mixer, recorder *

Graham Marsh Graham Vivian Marsh MBE (born 14 January 1944) is a retired professional golfer who was one of the leading Australian players of his generation. During his career he won more than 70 tournaments around the world, including 10 on the European ...

: recorder, writer *Kimberly L. Smith: project coordinator * Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson: additional vocals, producer, writer

Charts

Weekly charts

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Year-end charts

Release history

References

Bibliography

* {{Use British English, date=April 2011 2008 singles 2008 songs Leona Lewis songs Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Song recordings produced by Akon Songs written by Akon Songs written by Claude Kelly Songs written by Giorgio Tuinfort Syco Music singles