"That Should Be Me" is a song by Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

, included as the tenth and final track on his first studio album, '' My World 2.0'', released on March 19, 2010. The song was written by Bieber alongside

Luke Boyd Luke Boyd (born 22 April 1987 in Sydney) is an Indigenous Australian professional boxer who competes as a featherweight. As an amateur, Boyd represented Australia at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the round of 32 of the bantamweight bracket. Ama ...

and

Nasri Atweh Nasri Tony Atweh (, born 10 January 1981), known mononymously as Nasri, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He serves as lead vocalist and songwriter for the reggae fusion band Magic!, which he formed in 2012 with fellow Tor ...

and

Adam Messinger Adam "Messy" Messinger is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian-born record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. He is a producer for Canadian reggae band Magic!, but was initially a producer/songwriter as a ...

of The Messengers, the production team who produced the track. "That Should Be Me" is an orchestral ballad in which Bieber sings about losing his love, and according to Monica Herrera of ''

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'', plays the "scorned ex." Most music critics positively received the song, and it debuted at number ninety-two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 following the release of '' My World 2.0''. In December 2010, it was announced that Bieber would be working with American country band

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

on new music, presumably for his second studio album. However it was revealed that "That Should Be Me" was remixed to include vocals from the country group for the release of Bieber's second remix album, '' Never Say Never: The Remixes'', released to accompany the release of his 3D concert-documentary film '' Justin Bieber: Never Say Never''. A music video was released to accompany the remixed version of the song, which premiered during Rascal Flatts'

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

special, ''Rascal Flatts: Nothing Like This Presented by JC Penney''.

Background and composition

"That Should Be Me" was co-written by Bieber alongside Luke Boyd, as well as

and

of The Messengers, with the latter also producing the track. The song was recorded by The Messengers at NH Studios in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

. Instrumentation and all vocal arrangements were done by Atweh and Messinger. Additional engineering was performed by Pat Thrall, while the track was mixed by Manny Marroquin at Larrabee Studios, also in North Hollywood. The mix was assisted by Christian Plata and Erik Madrid, whereas Atweh and Luke Boyd perform background vocals on the song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...

, "That Should Be Me" is set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

with a moderate tempo of 69

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. It is composed in the key of

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

and raises up half a step after the bridge with Bieber's vocal range spanning from the low-note of G₃ to the high-note of C₅. The song follows in the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of Cm–A₂–E–G/B. Described as a "sobbing" ballad by Monica Hererra of ''

'', Bieber "pleads the girl he left behind to take him back." Herrera called the ballad "orchestral" and said that Bieber plays the "scorned ex" in the song.

Reception

Fraser McAlpine of

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

called the song the "grand finale" of ''My World 2.0'', and said it "is going to cause nothing but emotional pandemonium in households and bedrooms all over the land." While criticizing the number of features on the album, Chris Richards of ''

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 ...

'' said, "Let him go it alone, and he can be quite the tear-jerker, as evidenced on 'That Should Be Me,' the album's closing track." Rudy Klapper of Sputnikmusic criticized Bieber's constant role as "teenage

lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

" on the album, pointing out "That Should Be Me" as an example. After the release of ''My World 2.0'', "That Should Be Me" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number ninety-two, and spent one week on the chart. "That Should Be Me" also appeared on the UK Singles Chart at number 179. Following the release of ''Never Say Never: The Remixes'' in 2011, "That Should Be Me" charted on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

at number ninety-nine.

Remix

On December 20, 2010,

Gary LeVox Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary country music band Rascal Flatts, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console l ...

, frontman of American country band

, revealed to radio station

WSIX WSIX can refer to: *WSIX-FM, a radio station (97.9 FM) licensed to serve Nashville, Tennessee. *WKRN-TV WKRN-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC a ...

that the band was collaborating with Bieber, stating, " ustinasked us to do a duet with him on his next record. It's actually a really good song! The kid is really talented. He plays five or six different instruments really well." Bieber confirmed LeVox's statements, stating; "I love @RascalFlatts and Im honored that they are making music with me. And for those that don't know ... they have great records like this one. #GREATMUSIC." He then linked a fan video of his with Rascal Flatts' "

My Wish "My Wish" is a song written by Jeffrey Steele and Steve Robson, and recorded by American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released in August 2006 as the third single from their album ''Me and My Gang''. It reached number one on the U.S. ...

" playing in the background. It was later revealed that the collaboration was for Bieber's '' Never Say Never: The Remixes'', a remix album that included remixes from '' My World'' and '' My World 2.0'', and a musical companion to his film, '' Justin Bieber: Never Say Never''. On the remix, Melinda Newman of HitFix said "Bieber's and LeVox's voices create some nice harmony on an otherwise mundane song." Derek Evers of

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said Bieber "looks really comfortable belting out a country tune."

Music video

It was first revealed that Bieber and Rascal Flatts would be shooting a video for the remix version of the song when

TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...

revealed photos on Bieber on set of the video shoot. The photos pictured Bieber after a dramatic haircut, changing his trademark style over the previous two years. The video premiered during the

special, ''Rascal Flatts: Nothing Like This Presented by JC Penney'', which aired March 12, 2011. The video begins with Rascal Flatts arriving in a

Cadillac Escalade The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV manufactured by General Motors and marketed by their luxury division Cadillac. It was the luxury brand's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year ...

to a studio. Inside, they are directed to Bieber, who is playing the keyboard. Bieber then sings his lines, playing guitar, and is joined by

Joe Don Rooney Joe Don Rooney (born September 13, 1975) is an American guitarist. He is the lead guitarist and high octave harmony singer in the country music band Rascal Flatts. In addition to the electric guitar, Rooney plays the acoustic and bass guitars, ...

also on guitar, and

Jay DeMarcus Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus Jr.; on April 26, 1971) is an American musician, vocalist, record producer and songwriter. He is a member of the country music band Rascal Flatts. Early life DeMarcus was born in Columbus, Ohio. He grad ...

now on keyboard. The woman who directed the band into the studio now directs them and Bieber into another room with lights, to film the video.

then sings his lines, joined by Bieber for the chorus while Rooney is on guitar and DeMarcus playing a grand piano. All are wearing black, with Bieber in particular wearing a leather jacket, his signature dog tag, and grey Supras sneakers. During the sequence of the video, more behind-the-scenes action is shown, before it ends with only Bieber's silhouette shown, as his jacket is on the ground. The music video won the award for Collaborative Video of the Year at the 2011

CMT Music Awards The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The ceremony launched in 1967 as Music City News Awards; it is the oldest award show currently airing under Paramount Global. The ceremony ...

on June 8, 2011.

Credits and personnel

Songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

–

, Luke Boyd *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

– The Messengers, Nasri Atweh, Adam Messinger * Vocal recording – The Messengers *Vocal arrangement and instrumentation – The Messengers *

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

– Pat Thrall * Mixing – Manny Marroquin, assisted by Christian Plata and Erik Madrid *Background vocals – Atweh, Boyd Source Justin Bieber ''My World 2.0'' (Digital booklet)

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, RBMG. (2010).

Charts

Certifications

References

{{good article 2010 songs Justin Bieber songs Rascal Flatts songs Pop ballads Vocal collaborations Island Records singles Songs written by Adam Messinger Songs written by Nasri (musician) Songs written by Justin Bieber 2010s ballads