Nobody Like U

Album: Turning Red (2022)
Charted: 56 49
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • 4*Town is a fictional boy band that features in the Disney/Pixar movie Turning Red. Set in Toronto, Ontario, in 2002, the film follows Meilin "Mei" Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian student who is a fan of 4*Town (a tongue-in-cheek riff on *NSYNC). This pastiche of early '00s pop is one of three songs sung by the quintet in the movie.
  • Finneas and Billie Eilish wrote "Nobody Like U" along with the other two songs 4*Town sing. Finneas also voices Jesse, one of the band members. The others, Robaire, Aaron Z., Aaron T., and Tae Young, are voiced by Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva, respectively. Billie Eilish sings the backing vocals.
  • The intentionally cheesy pop song finds 4*Town telling a girl they've "never met nobody like you." Though they've had friends and buddies, none of them "turn my tummy the way you do."
  • Producer Lindsey Collins (Wall-E, Finding Dory) first approached Eilish and Finneas at the start of the production back in 2016. Though Eilish was little known at the time, Collins' three teenage children were fans and played her song "Ocean Eyes" nonstop. "So when we started to think about songwriters who could kind of capture the early-2000 sound and bring something fresh to it, Billie's name came up," Collins explained during a virtual press day.

    When Collins and her team pitched the film to the sibling duo, it turned out they're animation fans and instantly got the concept.
  • Finneas and Eilish wrote "Nobody Like U" as the hit single everyone knows from 4*Town. "It's the song you can't get out of your head, and you belt out at full volume in the car - and literally they delivered massively on that one," Collins said. "I think we're all still singing the songs."
  • "Nobody Like You" features in the official trailer for Turning Red.
  • When "Nobody Like U" debuted at #50 on the Hot 100, it became the first original song from a Pixar movie to reach the chart. The Rascal Flatts cover of "Life Is A Highway," from the movie Cars, made #7 in 2006.
  • Finneas gave the song its live debut during his solo set on April 17, 2022 at the Coachella festival.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.