Elastic Love

Album: Bionic (2010)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The three-and-a-half minute track was co-written with British-Tamil singer-songwriter Mathangi Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A. In the song, Aguilera compares her love to office supplies: "If I was a ruler I would set you straight/but your love is like a sharpener/ it really grates." M.I.A. also takes the microphone for more stationery analogies.
  • This is one of several collaborations on Bionic after Aguilera's then-husband, music executive Jordan Bratman, suggested she contact some of her favorite musicians and ask them to appear on the record. Aguilera assembled the album by contacting her partners directly. "I said, 'I'm a really big fan of yours, and I'm interested in stepping into your world and what you do,'" Aguilera told Billboard magazine. "'I want to combine that with my sound, and let's see what happens.' I feel like I can do so much with my voice. I would be so bored sitting on a stool singing ballad after ballad just because I can."
  • M.I.A. told MTV News that she was looking forward to hearing the pop star belt out her trademark high notes for the song and was surprised when Aguilera decided against it. The British-Sri Lankan singer said: "Other people were involved who I respect like Peaches and it was like a sea of women coming together to write this new thing. Christina had also had a baby, you know, so it was kind of an interesting situation.
    I really thought I was going to be able to go in there and get her vocals on to the next level and she didn't want to do it. She was like, 'You might think that's great because it's not what you do, but to me I'm really bored of it.' It's interesting getting to work with people who can do things vocally that you can't."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.