"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a song by American musician BT, which contains vocals from American singer

JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He started his career as a singer, actor, and dancer on '' The All-New Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to prominence as a ...

. It was released through

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

in August 2003, as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from BT's fourth studio album, ''

Emotional Technology ''Emotional Technology'' is the fourth studio album by electronica artist BT. Transitioning towards a more pop music oriented sound, the album features some of BT's more commercially successful releases, including " Somnambulist (Simply Being L ...

'' (2003). The

techno-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

song was written and produced by BT. It consists of a

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

and

Roland JP-8000 The Roland JP-8000 is an analog modeling synthesizer released by the Roland Corporation in 1996. Overview The Roland JP-8000 was released in early 1997 as part of the first wave of virtual analog modeling synthesizers (VA synths). Others fro ...

, and contains 6,178

stutter edit The stutter edit, or stutter effect, is the rhythmic repetition of small fragments of audio, occurring as the common 16th note repetition, but also as 64th notes and beyond, with layers of digital signal processing operations in a rhythmic fashion ...

s. The lyrics were influenced by American writer

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

and use a recurring

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" received generally positive reviews from

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 ...

; some praised the production and Chasez's vocals, while other reviewers criticized the song's mainstream sound. It peaked at number 98 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and charted at number four on the

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by Paul Minor. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" was included on the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' in 2003 for the largest number of vocal edits in a song, as well as on the North American version of the

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

, ''

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme is a music video game by Konami and is the eighth release in the main ''Dance Dance Revolution'' (''DDR'') series. It was released on December 25, 2002, for Japanese arcades, on October 9, 2003, for the Japanese PlayStation 2, and on Septembe ...

'' (2004).

Background and release

BT asked

to appear on "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)", after the former musician produced

NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...

's 2001 song "

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

". "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is the

from BT's fourth studio album, ''

'' (2003), and was released in August 2003. The song was written, produced, and engineered by BT at the Buddha Room. An accompanying

was directed by Paul Minor, which Khalil Hegarty of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' described as "slick

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

-style". "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" peaked at number 98 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated September 13, 2003, where it remained for three weeks. The song also peaked at number five on the

chart dated July 19, 2003, and charted for 15 weeks. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" was included on the North American version of the

, ''

'' (2004).

Composition

Musically, "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a

song. It includes BT's signature

s with the audio manually altered by being "split, cut, joined, and ..mangled", which was created using BT's setup titled Laptop Symphony. The stutter edits contributed to the song's inclusion on the ''

'' in 2003 for the largest number of vocal edits in a song, with 6,178 edits. A " frequency-specific swing" is incorporated in "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)", which BT described on the January 2004 issue of ''

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

'' as "higher frequencies ..swinging harder, and lower frequencies ..swinging less". The beats on the song's

kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

and

snare SNARE proteins – "Soluble NSF attachment protein, SNAP REceptors" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts and more than 60 members in mammalian and plant cells. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to m ...

contain 1,025 samples, while the

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

on the

's acid line contain 202 samples. The lyrics are inspired by American writer

, and include the

: "Simply being love, love, loved is more than enough."

Critical reception

Writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Richard Harrington described "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" as "lightly propulsive". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' writer Keith Caulfield wrote that it is "hypnotic" and singled out the song as a highlight from ''Emotional Technology''. Michael Hamersly of ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

'' compared the "quirky" sound in "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" to ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' character

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

and commented that the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

is "spiritual". However, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' writer Tommy Nguyen opined that it is "hopelessly moderate" in BT's attempts for a " aguecrossover sound". Matt Frilingos of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' stated that "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" " itthe mark" and acknowledged that BT could identify "emotive vocals", while ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'' writer Nick Lewis praised Chasez's vocals on the "catchy" song. Writing for ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'', Andy Hermann criticized the repetitive lyrics and described BT's foray into the

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

genre as "drivel".

Track listing

US Remixes

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 ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the back cover of "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)". * Written, produced and engineered by BT * Vocals by BT * Recorded at the Buddha Room * Vocal sound design and additional production in

Kyma KYMA-DT (channels 11 and 13) is a television station licensed to Yuma, Arizona, United States, serving the Yuma, Arizona–El Centro, California market as an affiliate of CBS and NBC. It is owned by Imagicomm Communications, which maintains ...

Charts

Notes

References

{{JC Chasez 2003 singles 2003 songs Nettwerk Records singles BT (musician) songs