Higher

Album: Headlines! (2010)
Charted: 10
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the second single from the EP Headlines! by British/Irish girl-band The Saturdays. The disc serves as the bridge between the group's second and third studio albums.
  • Arnthor Birgisson and Ina Wroldsen wrote the track. Birgisson is a member of the Swedish music production company Maratone along with Max Martin and has written for Westlife and Britney Spears. Norwegian songwriter Ina Wroldsen has penned several of The Saturdays previous hit singles. The pair also penned together Shontelle's hit tune "Impossible."
  • Rochelle of The Saturdays told Entertainment Focus UK: "Higher is a classic Saturdays pop tune, along the lines of 'Ego' and 'Up.' We can't help but dance around when it comes on!"
  • The single version of the song features an additional guest rap from American rapper, Flo Rida. Would you like to hear the story of how The Saturdays girls got the hitmaker from across the Atlantic on board? The quintet's previous single "Missing You" was beaten to #1 by Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me," making it the second time they had lost out to Flo Rida. Rochelle Wiseman of The Saturdays jokingly said that the group would never get a chart-topper until they collaborated with the American rapper. Flo Rida responded by telling The Daily Star, "If we could make a collaboration happen I would be up for that. I don't know much about The Saturdays but we put smiles on people's faces when we make music, which counts more than getting number ones". Several days later it was confirmed that a collaboration had gone ahead with Flo Rida recording vocals for this song.
  • According to reports in the press, British rapper Example was originally asked by the group to do the guest rap, but he turned them down commenting that on seeing the ladies previously they had walked right past him. Mollie King of The Saturdays responded to the NME: "I heard that in the press! I actually didn't know about that. If he did actually say that then boo him but I don't know."
  • Ina Wroldsen has penned numerous hit tunes in a long and successful career for the likes of Shontelle ("Impossible"), Jess Glynne ("Hold My Hand"), Clean Bandit ("Rockabye") and Anne-Marie "Alarm"). She considers this song to be among her least favorite efforts. Wroldsen told Official Charts in a 2019 interview:

    "The opening lyric – 'I'm doing nothing, 'cause then at least I'm doing nothing wrong' - makes no sense and the song is just like, what? It's fun to listen to the old stuff and see the progression. I miss some of the naivety I used to have."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And Scandals

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And ScandalsSong Writing

Surprise exits, a catfight and some very memorable performances make our list of the most memorable Idol moments.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."