Song Lyric Sunday – I Gotta Feeling

Welcome to another Song Lyric Sunday. This week, our host Jim Adams, has tasked us with choosing a song from one of our favorite bands. Oh, where to start. I struggled on this one as I have more than one favorite band and many songs to choose from. Anyway, I went out today and as soon as I started my car, this song came on the radio. It is a favorite and the band is a favorite, and the song just lifts my spirit every time I hear it and makes me happy. I know I have used in the past, but it must be at least four years ago, so plenty of time has passed. It is “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black-Eyed Peas. It’s contagious song and you can’t help singing along with it.

I hope it brings a smile to your face and you have a great Sunday.

The Song

Black Eyed Pea member Apl.de.ap described this song to Billboard magazine as a, “college anthem for people looking forward to escaping life’s pressures by going out and having a ball.”

This samples the David Guetta song “Love Is Gone,” which was an international hit for the French dance producer in 2007. Guetta also co-produced this track.

This club-inspired number is one of a number of songs on The E.N.D. that reflected Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am’s newly discovered love for dance music. While he was in Australia filming the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Will spent his time off-set in Sydney’s clubs where the electro grooves being spun by visiting DJs such as Italian production duo The Crookers turned the Black Eyed Pea musician on. He told MTV News: “It was hard, and it felt like hip-hop, only faster.” Back home in the States, Will told his Black Eyed Peas bandmates, that dance music, not hip hop – was the stuff inspiring him now.

The E.N.D. takes its name from an acronym for “The Energy Never Dies.” Will.i.am explained to MTV News that The E.N.D. “is our version of embracing change and celebrating the new.”

Taboo of the Black Eyes Peas told Marie Clare: “This is the first time we actually had all four of us on a song simultaneously with the verses, which is something different for us. Usually we break up the verses and everybody has their parts. It was a good opportunity for us to show the world what would come of it.”

This song debuted at #2 on the Hot 100, directly below “Boom Boom Pow.” The Black Eyed Peas thus became the first duo or group to hold the top two positions on the singles chart, since Outkast reigned with “Hey Ya” and “The Way You Move” over an eight week period in 2003-04.

This song replaced “Boom Boom Pow” at #1 on the Hot 100. The Black Eyed Peas thus became the ninth act in the history of the chart to succeed itself at the summit. The previous time this feat was achieved was on the chart dated Oct. 18, 2008 when T.I.’s “Live Your Life” dislodged “Whatever You Like.”

When this song logged on for its eighth straight week on top of the Hot 100, The Black Eyed Peas broke the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 in the rock era. “Boom Boom Pow” led for 12 weeks and was immediately succeeded by this song making 20 weeks in pole position. The group thus passed the 19 consecutive weeks that Usher spent at #1 with “Yeah!” and “Burn” from Feb. 28 through July 3, 2004. When the song achieved its 13th week at #1, The Peas overtook Glenn Miller’s record in the pre-rock era. The band leader was #1 for 24 weeks in 1940 with six consecutive chart-toppers.
The song finally was toppled from the top position after 14 weeks at #1. The Black Eyed Peas, therefore totaled 26 consecutive weeks in charge of the Hot 100 and become just the second act ever to spend at least half a calendar year at the summit. Usher spent 28 non-consecutive weeks at #1 with four titles in 2004.

Another record broken by The Peas’ was the record for most weeks in a row spent at #1 on the Hot 100 for a record label. The quartet’s parent label, Interscope, overtook the previous milestone mark of 21 weeks by Australian music mogul Robert Stigwood’s RSO label, which topped the Hot 100 with six consecutive songs from Dec. 24, 1977 through May 13, 1978.

The song’s 14 weeks at #1 tied with Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” for the longest stay at #1 in the 21st century.

Guetta told the story of the song to Clayton Perry in an interview featured in Blogcritics Magazine: “Will, at the time, was embracing the electronic music from Europe. Other artists have taken sounds from us and incorporated it a little bit. But what I respect a lot about him and the band is that he fully immersed himself in the culture. He called me, and he was like, ‘Okay. I love that sound and I want to experiment with it a bit.’ So I sent him some tracks, and he selected a few. Then, I went to Los Angeles and we worked together. When the song started coming together, I got a crazy feeling and I was screaming: ‘this is huge, this is a monster, this is crazy.’

Will came up with a hook of a hook! It has such a positive vibe. And I think a lot of success with the song is because of that really positive message, especially at the time when things are difficult for everybody. So it was just an amazing experience, and the deal was I was going to help him with the Black Eyed Peas album, [The E.N.D.], and he was going to help me with my album, [One Love] in return. We ended up recording ‘I Gotta Feeling’ and ‘Rock That Body’ for The E.N.D. and we also made two other songs: ‘On the Dancefloor’ and ‘I Wanna Go Crazy.’ Our music is the bridge between electronic culture from Europe and hip-hop culture from America. This is the music of the future. It’s not electro. It’s not hip-hop. It’s electrohop.”

This song appeared in promos as the theme for the CBS summer prime-time lineup months before it was officially released. This helped build awareness of the song, leading to its spectacular run on the charts.

In 2010, Will.i.am told Rolling Stone: “What is the easiest emotion to act? Anger. What is the hardest? Joy. That’s ’cause joy is complex. It’s somber, sad, happy, heartbroken, hopeful – it’s all these emotions in one. What you hear in ‘I Got A Feeling’? To me, that’s joy. You’re in pain, but tonight’s going to be a good night. You can’t feel happy when you’ve been pissed off the whole week. You have to go straight to joy.”

Will went on to explain that he wrote the song within an hour after standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the inauguration of President Obama. Said Will: “Nobody asked me to write ‘I Gotta Feeling.’ It just came.”

The song was the first ever single to be downloaded more than one million times in the UK. Said Fergie: “It’s exhilarating to know we are so connected to our Peabodies. Hopefully the good vibes from that song will continue to brighten people’s lives.”
The song was the Black Eyed Peas’ most successful single of their career, topping over 25 charts internationally including the ones in Australia, Canada, Ireland Italy, New Zealand, UK and US.

There is a bit of Yiddish in this song, as will.i.am sings, “Fill my cup… Mazel Tov.” When he repeats it a second time, Fergie replies, “L’chaim.”

“Mazel Tov” is a Hebrew expression of good cheer often used as a kind of toast to congratulate someone or wish them well. This phrase has entered the secular lexicon, but “L’chaim” is more esoteric: meaning “to life,” it is also a traditional Hebrew toast.

The Peas may have picked up the phrases in their travels to Israel – they played in Tel Aviv in 2006 and in Jerusalem in 2007.

On July 30, 2010 it was announced that this had become the first song to reach the 6 million mark in digital downloads. Will.i.am told Nekesa Moody of the Associated Press that the reason the tune was so successful was because it gave people hope in a downward time. “It’s a positive, feel-good song at the time where there’s question marks and uncertainty. People want to be reminded that it’s going to be all right,” he said.

Courtesy of Songfacts