Can't Fight the Moonlight
Encyclopedia
"Can't Fight the Moonlight" is a song written by Diane Warren
, recorded by LeAnn Rimes
and featured on the soundtrack of the film Coyote Ugly
, and in the film itself. Released as a single
on August 22, 2000, the song had huge success, reaching number one in eight countries, including the United Kingdom
and Australia
, where it was the best-selling single of 2001.
The song was featured on Rimes' I Need You (2002) compilation album
and The Best of LeAnn Rimes
(2004) with the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song (known as the "Latino Mix" internationally) featured as a bonus track on the I Need You album as well as on the sequel soundtrack to the film, More Music from Coyote Ugly (2003). The remix was also featured on her Greatest Hits
(2003) album as well as on the remix edition of her Best of album.
A music video for the song was released in 2000 featuring clips taken from the Coyote Ugly film with Rimes performing at the "Coyote Ugly" bar.
, to just sing "Can't Fight the Moonlight" at the ending with Piper Perabo
but once Rimes watched some cuts of the film she decided to provide the singing voice for all the songs sung by Perabo (this would include "But I Do Love You" as well as two other tracks on the soundtrack
.) When heard in the film the song contains slightly altered lyrics then that featured on the soundtrack. The song is also credited as the theme for the film. When it was decided that Rimes would provide the singing voice for Perabo (who was able to sing for her character) it was albeit with a deliberate deviation from Rimes' natural vocal range. This means that during her cameo in the movie, she is effectively duetting with herself.
on August 22, 2000 along with the song, "But I Do Love You" (also included on the soundtrack) as the B-side
track. The song was later released on a maxi-single and included several remixes of the song. The song was also included on Rimes' 2002 compilation album
, I Need You, with the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song included as a bonus track. In 2003, the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song would be included on the More Music from Coyote Ugly soundtrack on January 28 2003. and Rimes' Greatest Hits
album. In 2004, the song was included on The Best of LeAnn Rimes
, while the Graham Stack Radio Edit (known as the "Latino Mix" internationally) was released on the remixed edition.
song of three minutes and thirty-five seconds. The song is written by American Grammy Award
-winning songwriter
, Diane Warren
and performed by American country pop
singer, LeAnn Rimes. The song is written in the key of E-flat major with Rimes' vocals spanning two octave
s, from F-sharp3 to D-flat5. The song is produced by Trevor Horn
with executive production by Jerry Bruckheimer
, Kathy Nelson and Mike Curb
. Orchestral arrangements were done by David Campbell with engineering and mixing done by Steve MacMillan. Additional engineering was done by Tim Weidner, Greg Hunt, Gary Leach and Austin Deptula. According to Warren it is the first song she'd written with so many key changes.
praised the song calling it "ultra-catchy". Heather Phares of Allmusic considered the song to be a "positively Britney Spears
ian power ballad".
in November 2000. It also reached #1 in Australia and went on to become the highest selling single in Australia of 2001. It went triple platinum in Australia selling over 210,000 copies. In Ireland, it reached number one and is currently the 18th best selling single in the history of the Irish Charts. In the U.S., it enjoyed two chart runs on the Billboard Hot 100. On its original chart run in 1999/2000, "Can't Fight the Moonlight" stalled at number 71. It regained renewed interest in late 2001 and 2002, and rose up the charts to number eleven. In the U.S., the single is certified gold by the RIAA (which signifies sales of 500,000+ copies). It is one of the most recent songs to achieve such high U.S. sales of a physical single.
, it is Rimes' last song to chart in the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100
at number eleven. Due to Rimes' previous success in country music
, even though this song was not officially released to country radio, it still made it at number sixty-one on the Billboard Country Song
chart in its first release due to unsolicited airplay as an album cut.
The single has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. It sold over 530,000 copies in the United Kingdom as stated by Britain's Official Charts Company. The song was the 12th best seller of 2000 in the UK and the 55th of the 2000 decade.
for the song was released in 2000. The video features Rimes singing at the "Coyote Ugly" bar, and dancing with Izabella Miko
and the other girls who worked at the bar. The video also features various scenes taken from the film. The music video was included as a bonus feature on both the theatrical and uncut DVD
releases of the film.
included with her Greatest Hits
album. Rimes also performed the song on Sessions@AOL
.
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
, recorded by LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
and featured on the soundtrack of the film Coyote Ugly
Coyote Ugly (film)
Coyote Ugly is a 2000 romantic comedy/drama based on the actual Coyote Ugly Saloon, set in New York City. The film stars Piper Perabo and Adam Garcia...
, and in the film itself. Released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on August 22, 2000, the song had huge success, reaching number one in eight countries, including the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where it was the best-selling single of 2001.
The song was featured on Rimes' I Need You (2002) compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
and The Best of LeAnn Rimes
The Best of LeAnn Rimes
The Best of LeAnn Rimes is a greatest hits album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in 2004, it tweaks the 2003 U.S. release Greatest Hits, leaving behind some of the purer country hits that didn’t translate outside of the U.S...
(2004) with the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song (known as the "Latino Mix" internationally) featured as a bonus track on the I Need You album as well as on the sequel soundtrack to the film, More Music from Coyote Ugly (2003). The remix was also featured on her Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (LeAnn Rimes album)
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in the United States on November 8, 2003 by Curb Records....
(2003) album as well as on the remix edition of her Best of album.
A music video for the song was released in 2000 featuring clips taken from the Coyote Ugly film with Rimes performing at the "Coyote Ugly" bar.
Background
Rimes originally auditioned for the 2000 film, Coyote UglyCoyote Ugly (film)
Coyote Ugly is a 2000 romantic comedy/drama based on the actual Coyote Ugly Saloon, set in New York City. The film stars Piper Perabo and Adam Garcia...
, to just sing "Can't Fight the Moonlight" at the ending with Piper Perabo
Piper Perabo
Piper Lisa Perabo is a Golden Globe Award nominated American stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Perabo was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary Charlotte , a physical therapist, and George William Perabo, a professor of poetry at Ocean...
but once Rimes watched some cuts of the film she decided to provide the singing voice for all the songs sung by Perabo (this would include "But I Do Love You" as well as two other tracks on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
.) When heard in the film the song contains slightly altered lyrics then that featured on the soundtrack. The song is also credited as the theme for the film. When it was decided that Rimes would provide the singing voice for Perabo (who was able to sing for her character) it was albeit with a deliberate deviation from Rimes' natural vocal range. This means that during her cameo in the movie, she is effectively duetting with herself.
Release
"Can't Fight the Moonlight" was first released on the soundtrack for Coyote Ugly on August 1, 2000. It was released in the US on a CD singleCD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
on August 22, 2000 along with the song, "But I Do Love You" (also included on the soundtrack) as the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
track. The song was later released on a maxi-single and included several remixes of the song. The song was also included on Rimes' 2002 compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, I Need You, with the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song included as a bonus track. In 2003, the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song would be included on the More Music from Coyote Ugly soundtrack on January 28 2003. and Rimes' Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (LeAnn Rimes album)
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in the United States on November 8, 2003 by Curb Records....
album. In 2004, the song was included on The Best of LeAnn Rimes
The Best of LeAnn Rimes
The Best of LeAnn Rimes is a greatest hits album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in 2004, it tweaks the 2003 U.S. release Greatest Hits, leaving behind some of the purer country hits that didn’t translate outside of the U.S...
, while the Graham Stack Radio Edit (known as the "Latino Mix" internationally) was released on the remixed edition.
Composition
"Can't Fight the Moonlight" is a popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song of three minutes and thirty-five seconds. The song is written by American Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
and performed by American country pop
Country pop
Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...
singer, LeAnn Rimes. The song is written in the key of E-flat major with Rimes' vocals spanning two octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s, from F-sharp3 to D-flat5. The song is produced by Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
with executive production by Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
, Kathy Nelson and Mike Curb
Mike Curb
Michael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, NASCAR and IRL race car owner. A Republican, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr...
. Orchestral arrangements were done by David Campbell with engineering and mixing done by Steve MacMillan. Additional engineering was done by Tim Weidner, Greg Hunt, Gary Leach and Austin Deptula. According to Warren it is the first song she'd written with so many key changes.
Critical reception
Wendy Mitchell of Barnes & Noble.comBarnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
praised the song calling it "ultra-catchy". Heather Phares of Allmusic considered the song to be a "positively Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
ian power ballad".
Chart performance
It reached #1 in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in November 2000. It also reached #1 in Australia and went on to become the highest selling single in Australia of 2001. It went triple platinum in Australia selling over 210,000 copies. In Ireland, it reached number one and is currently the 18th best selling single in the history of the Irish Charts. In the U.S., it enjoyed two chart runs on the Billboard Hot 100. On its original chart run in 1999/2000, "Can't Fight the Moonlight" stalled at number 71. It regained renewed interest in late 2001 and 2002, and rose up the charts to number eleven. In the U.S., the single is certified gold by the RIAA (which signifies sales of 500,000+ copies). It is one of the most recent songs to achieve such high U.S. sales of a physical single.
, it is Rimes' last song to chart in the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at number eleven. Due to Rimes' previous success in country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, even though this song was not officially released to country radio, it still made it at number sixty-one on the Billboard Country Song
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart in its first release due to unsolicited airplay as an album cut.
The single has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. It sold over 530,000 copies in the United Kingdom as stated by Britain's Official Charts Company. The song was the 12th best seller of 2000 in the UK and the 55th of the 2000 decade.
Music Video
A music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was released in 2000. The video features Rimes singing at the "Coyote Ugly" bar, and dancing with Izabella Miko
Izabella Miko
Izabella Anna Mikołajczak , better known as Izabella Miko, is a Polish-born actress, dancer, and environmentalist.-Life and career:...
and the other girls who worked at the bar. The video also features various scenes taken from the film. The music video was included as a bonus feature on both the theatrical and uncut DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
releases of the film.
Live performances
In 2001 Rimes performed the song on Music for High Places. The performance was later featured on the limited edition bonus DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
included with her Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (LeAnn Rimes album)
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in the United States on November 8, 2003 by Curb Records....
album. Rimes also performed the song on Sessions@AOL
Sessions@AOL
Sessions@AOL is a special avenue of programming conducted by AOL Music. Originally an AOL exclusive, Sessions@AOL can now also be seen as an avenue for non-AOL users as well. Sessions@AOL consists of exclusive and intimate performances of songs by popular musicians, with likes of bands such as...
.
Track listings
- Australian CD single
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" — 3:35
- "But I Do Love You" — 3:20
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Graham Stack Radio Edit) — 3:35
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Thunderpuss Club Mix) — 8:46
- "Can't Fight The Moonlight" (Sharp Club Vocal Mix) — 7:35
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Almighty Mix) — 7:52
- European CD maxi single
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Latino Mix) — 3:32
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Thunderpuss Club Mix) — 8:45
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Almighty Radio Edit) — 3:58
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Sharp Radio Edit) — 3:38
- European 12" maxi - Promo
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Latino Mix) — 3:32
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Almighty Mix) — 7:52
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Sharp Radio Edit) — 3:38
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Original Version) — 3:36
- Japanese 12" maxi - Promo
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight (Graham Stack Radio Edit) — 3:35
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight"" (Original Version) — 3:35
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Thunderpuss Radio Edit) — 3:36
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Almighty Mix) — 7:52
- US CD single
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" — 3:35
- "But I Do Love You" — 3:20
- US CD Maxi single/digital download
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Graham Stack Radio Edit) — 3:35
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Thunderpuss Radio Edit) — 3:36
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Plasmic Honey Radio Edit) — 3:22
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Almighty Mix) — 7:49
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Sharp Club Vocal Edit) — 5:40
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Thunderpuss Club Mix) — 8:46
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Plasmic Honey Club Mix Edit) — 6:37
- "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (Sharp Pistol Dub) — 5:46
Peak positions
| Chart (2000/02) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 8 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart | 1 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 3 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles | 3 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 1 |
| French Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart | 8 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 2 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
11 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary | 15 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 17 |
| U.S. Billboard Country Song Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
61 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop Song | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Pop Song | 25 |
End of decade charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 46 |
| UK Singles Chart | 55 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 12 |
| End of year chart (2001) | Position |
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 40 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart | 12 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 16 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 44 |
| French Singles Chart | 24 |
| German Singles Chart | 52 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 25 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 7 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 27 |
| UK Singles Chart | 142 |
| End of year chart (2002) | Position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 56 |
Certifications
See also
- Dutch Top 40 number-one hits of 2000Dutch Top 40 number-one hits of 2000These hits topped the Dutch Top 40 in 2000 ....
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
- List of number-one singles of 2000 (Ireland)
- List of songs by Diane Warren
- List of Swedish number-one hits
- List of number-one singles in Australia in 2001
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (New Zealand)
- Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 2001Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 2001These hits topped the Ultratop 50 in 2001....