"Genie In A Bottle" - Christina Aguilera, 1999

I would imagine it's a vindicating feeling to have your lead single from your debut record rise to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in a little more than a month.  Christina Aguilera, the former Mickey Mouseketeer, was feeling that vindication in 1999 when "Genie In A Bottle" climbs the charts to no.1.  To date, this probably goes down as Christina Aguilera's most recognizable tune.  Musically, does the genie in the bottle have the power to hold up to other no.1 hits?

July 31st - August 28th, 1999 - "Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera stays at no.1 for 5 weeks straight!

This song was written by David Frank, Steve Kipner and Pamela Sheyne, whom collaborated together before even meeting Christina.  I read an fascinating article that described, in great detail, Frank's process and gear used during the initial demo recording. [1]  There's a lot of great stuff about sounds, recording techniques and mixing strategies that are well beyond the scope of this analysis.

The form in this one could go several ways.  I landed on a contentious label, if you have been keeping track of the past two analyses "on the 9's."  The chorus is definitely "If you want to be with me..."  If that is true, the "oh's" and spoken dialogue preceding that would naturally be the prechorus.  What then to make of "I'm a genie in the bottle baby" part?  It could be a post-chorus or part of the standard chorus, but it does not always follow the chorus and repeats towards the end of the song, in-lieu of a bridge.  So what's left?  It does repeat the title line of the song and ties one section of the song in with the next...how bout a refrain?

I had an in-depth conversation about this with the illustrious Chris Knott, the man behind Phish Riffs (@phishriffs on Instagram) and co-host of the podcasts "We'z Talin' Weez 2 Thee" and "Blue Album Battle" (@weztalkinweez on Twitter).  We concluded that the terms "chorus" and "refrain" are more or less interchangeable.  Refrain could additionally be reserved for a repeated line in a song, such as in Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changing."  It could also be used for a larger section that repeats several times.  Positioning could make a difference, but other than that, any argument is really fair game.

The only eye-catcher here is the intro, clocking in at 5 bars.  The odd bar is the first, a piano solo, which is a brilliant foreshadow to the rest of the song, offering clues to both melodic and harmonic content to come....

Chord Progressions 

Speaking of the intro, this fragment truncates chords and melody for the whole song in only one bar!

Opening Piano Measure

Harmonically, we get a taste of the full progression: Fmin - Eb - Db - C7, or i - bVII - bVI - V7 in the key of F minor.  Melodically, we get a preview of the rhythmic pacing we will see in many sections....more on that later.

After this opening measure, we get the full groove and harmonic sequence that repeats for the entire tune.

Base Chord Progression 

   The chords move a little slower than the opening bar and we get some FUNKY syncopation.  The bass line is doubled by the (electronic) bass drum.  The 32nd note patterns, in isolation, seem like they would bog down the tune with a blast of noise every two bars.  They are mixed in expertly though and the give the tune a great sense of forward momentum.  Once the vocals enter, I generally forget it's even there.

The line on top is sort of a synthy guitar inspired layer.  David Frank expounds upon this in the previously cited article.  This line arpeggiates the chord progression with some syncopation, another clue to the vocal melodies to come.

Harmonically, the tune does not wander too much from this template, simply adding and subtracting instrumental layers.  Check out these layers from the prechorus.  We see an extended version of the piano arpeggio moving through the chords.  Cmin7 is implied in this part, but the with bass playing E natural, it still functions as the V7 chord, moving back to Fmin. 

PreChorus Variations

We also see another synth "stab" that pushes the Fmin agenda and lays heavy on the G, implying an Fmin9 flavor that we will see periodically throughout as well.

In the chorus, we get the "stabby" synth from the pre-chorus, only expanded.  This part forces F minor for the first half and then sticks to the 3rd-4th and 5th of the Eb chord. 

Chorus Variations

We also hear some new synth sounds, including a warm pad and high strings.  They mostly stick to chord tones.  There is also a sustained F and Ab, giving a Eb9/Eb11 feel, tonalities which are also implied, at times, in the vocal melody.

Melody

Christina Aguilera is a great singer.  She comes into the recording session and wows the composers, landing her the song, which was considered for other artists.  The first time we hear her is in the intro, where she teases melodic content to come.

Opening vocal melody

She enters on the + of beat 4, a rhythmic preview of the verse, and effortlessly melismas her way down the scale to Ab, the 5th of Db and the minor 3rd of the home key, another hallmark of the melody by in large.  Then we're off to the races in the verse.

Verse 1

The verse, structured into 2 bar phrases, includes lots of syncopation.  We hear a sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth figure which nestles in with all of the other 16th note figures in the bass and synth parts.
The first phrase starts on the minor 3rd (Ab) and goes all the way down to Bb, functioning as the minor 7th of C7.  The second phrase picks up from that note and works up to the C and then down to low F or Ab, all chord tones of Fmin.

This melody works really well in keeping the tonal center relevant among the moving chords and active syncopation.  Even looking at this part, it seems like it might not sound so smooth, but it floats over the groove and has an approachable contour.

Up next is the pre-chorus, which features the least rhythmic singing and the widest intervals in the vocal melody.

Pre-Chorus

 The "ohs" outline the Fmin, Eb and Db chords at a similar pace to the intro.  They are a nice contrast to the spoken parts to following, which are paced closer to the verse.  The "ohs" are harmonized with several voices, including a 3rd higher and a lower sustained Bb on the end of the line.

This prechorus part is a perfect illustration of tying the verse to the chorus with combined musical elements of both.  Notice the switch to eighth notes, instead of sixteenths, as we move to the chorus.

Chorus

This part stands out with phrases entering on beat 2, instead of just before beat 4, as we saw in the verse.  She plays with the first three notes of the Fminor scale and then descends, passing through F, Db and C before returning to F.  We also hear the natural 7th of the C7 chord at the end of the phrase, voice leading "naturally" to the F minor.  The end of the chorus features overlapping vocal work from Christina, another preview of flash to come.

Directly following the chorus is the refrain.  Here, she goes way low in her register and gets down to the root note, F, to finish off the phrases.  There is a nice balance of 16 notes, from the verse and prechorus, as well as slower eighth notes taken from the chorus.  Again, her note choice hammers home F minor, this time with C, Bb and Ab as the primary targets.

Refrain

Like the prechorus, this refrain part successfully ties the sections of the song together, helping them to feel different over the static chord progression.

Female fronted 90's pop/R&B would not be complete without strings of countermelodies.  We get a healthy dose in the second half of the double chorus.  Check this out:

last Chorus countermelody

She hangs out on the G, echoing "I'm a genie in a bottle," giving the line a totally different feel.  She then goes into full falsetto, echoing "if you want to be with me."  This continues through the end of the song in typical diva fashion, introducing Christina as a serious player.

Musical Sticking Points

"Genie In A Bottle" has a lot in common with "Old Town Road" and "I Gotta Feeling."  There is a static chord progression that runs throughout the entire tune, slightly altered with the addition or subtraction of musical elements.  For me, the complexity of those elements makes "Genie" much more interesting than the other songs.

"Genie" is filled with syncopation, featuring numerous variations on sixteenth-eight note combinations.  Surprisingly, the layers of busy syncopation stay out of each others way.  The rhythm section has the bass drum part, pounding out 32nd notes the whole time with choppy 16th notes on top, coupled with choppy 16th note vocals in the middle.  Somehow, it all fits together nicely.  There are a few pauses in the rhythm section, which offer a moment to breathe, as well as the significantly slower vocal rhythm in the chorus, causing the hook to sink in.

Christina's range is very impressive.  While most of the time is spent in her strong middle range, she gets down into the seductive lower talking voice.  The high croons in the double chorus also showcase her ability, which by all accounts, impressed everyone in the studio enough to award her the song.

In terms of arrangement, the songwriters sneakily make it seem like there is more happening than there actually is.  Elements are subtracted and added with a little more grace than in "I Gotta Feeling."  For example, the piano part in the pre-chorus doesn't become audible until 2 beats in.  When you hear the missing two beats on the repeat, it sounds less predictable than if you had heard it in full.  There are also numerous noises that add a layer of ambiance layered in with all of the other notes.  It also stands apart from "I Gotta Feeling" and "Old Town Road" in the complexity and development of the added parts.

Lyrics
This song caused a little bit of controversy when it first hit the airwaves.  The lyrics are very suggestive and it doesn't sit too well knowing Aguilera was only 18 years old, at the time.  Despite the adult nature of the tune, Aguilera would later reveal the true message of self respect, an opposite notion to many naysayers. [2]

I will say this is one of those random songs that gets stuck in my head for no reason at all.  I find myself blurting out the hook way more than I care to admit.  Maybe it has something to do with the act of rubbing, a verb that can be interpreted in a few ways;)  That is a little less obvious than a suspect line in the 2nd verse:

Hormones racing at the speed of light

But that don't mean it's gotta be tonight

Baby, baby, baby (baby, baby, baby)

 How many no.1 pop tunes use the word "hormones?"

Common Threads 
Here, I will try to find common ground between the songs analyzed "on the 9's" so far: "Old Town Road" (2019) and "I Gotta Feeling" (2009).  Here's the list after analyzing "Genie In A Bottle."

• Hook that  uses the title of the song
• Repeated melodic themes
• Singular repeated chord progression
• Texture changes through instrumental addition and subtraction
• Chorus and Refrain sections

Several elements, ripped directly from my last analysis, are shining stars of "Genie In A Bottle."  The only point I had to remove was "male lead vocal."  I also added "chorus and refrain" sections.  All three of the songs this round have had more than 1 catchy section that repeats, warranting not only a chorus, but also a hook.  I am looking forward to seeing if this trend continues as we move to 1989.

A common element between this and "Old Town Road" is a vocal melody that suggests a singular key, despite chord changes.  "Genie's" vocal melody infers F minor and "Old Town Road" infers G#min, despite the chord progressions inferring slightly different tonality. 

Final Takeaways
While this song was a slight break from the unrelenting monotony of "I Gotta Feeling," I feel stuck in the pop music rut.  I'm not sure what I was expecting from this project, but the variation covered "on the 8's" did not prepare me for the "7 layer dip" approach to writing pop songs "on the 9's."

That being said, I do like this song and have gained a deeper appreciation for it, an ulterior goal for this project.  Musically, this is song is far more complex that I would have ever imagined.  At times, I felt like I was transcribing Latin Jazz, then it kept repeating without variation. 

What do you think of "Genie In A Bottle?"  Does it hold up by today's pop music standards?  Leave me a comment!

Up next time:  August 12 - 26, 1989.  "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx lasts 3 weeks at no.1!  Full disclosure, I don't know this song in the least.  I am looking forward to digging in to something, I can only hope is in a different time zone than the 3 songs already seen "on the 9's."  Knowing what I know about the name Richard Marx, I think I will get my wish!  (I went this entire article with no wish puns.....had to get at least 1 in....do I still get 2 more?)


[1] https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-christina-aguileras-genie-bottle
[2] https://storyofsong.com/story/genie-in-a-bottle/