"We Remain"
Single by Christina Aguilera
from the album The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
ReleasedOctober 1, 2013 (2013-10-01)
Recorded2013
GenreArena pop
Length4:00
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ryan Tedder
  • Brent Kutzle
Christina Aguilera singles chronology
"Say Something"
(2013)		 "We Remain"
(2013)		 "Change"
(2016)
The Hunger Games singles chronology
"Elastic Heart"
(2013)		 "We Remain"
(2013)		 "Yellow Flicker Beat"
(2014)
Licensed audio
"We Remain (From “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Soundtrack)" on YouTube

"We Remain" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera, taken from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, the soundtrack to the 2013 American science-fiction adventure film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was released as the third single from the soundtrack on October 1, 2013, following Coldplay's "Atlas" and Sia's "Elastic Heart". Composed by Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle and Mikky Ekko, "We Remain" is an arena pop power ballad about perseverance. Contemporary music critics lauded the song for its sound and picked it as one of the highlights from the soundtrack. The single appeared on a few national record charts including Belgium, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Background

Following the release of her seventh studio album, Lotus (2012), which spawned two singles "Your Body" and "Just a Fool",[1] Aguilera was reported to be featured on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with a song called "We Remain" in September 2013.[2] On September 25, 2013, Aguilera unveiled a 90-second preview of the track.[3]

Composition

"We Remain" was written by Ryan Tedder and Brent Kutzle of OneRepublic, and Mikky Ekko. The song is a midtempo[4] arena pop[5] power ballad.[6][7] It lasts for a duration of 4:00 (four minutes).[8] Aguilera sings with "enormous" and "soaring" vocals on a "propulsive Ryan Tedder-ish beat" background.[9] "We Remain" incorporates a smooth piano and drum machine in its instrumentation.[6] According to Billboard magazine, the ballad "finds [Aguilera] tamping down [...] for a natural and forceful message of perseverance".[4] At the chorus, Aguilera sings "So burn me with fire/ Drown me with rain/ I'm gonna wake up screaming your name/ Yes I'm a sinner, yes I'm a saint/ whatever happens here, whatever happens here, we remain".[7] Several critics compared "We Remain" to Aguilera's previous hit "Beautiful" (2002) and Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" (2012) for musical similarities.[10][11]

Release history

The song was released as the third single from the soundtrack, following "Atlas" by Coldplay and "Elastic Heart" by Sia.[3][12][13][4] It was released as a digital download single at Amazon.com on October 1, 2013.[8] It was also released on the iTunes Stores on the same day.[14][15] On October 8, "We Remain" impacted US contemporary hit radio.[16] Aguilera performed "We Remain" live with her contestant Jacquie Lee during the season finale of the fifth season of The Voice on December 17, 2013.[17] A studio version of the duet was released on the US iTunes Store on December 16, 2013.[18]

Critical reception

"We Remain" received critical acclaim from music critics. Ryan Reed from Rolling Stone magazine praised the "triumphant sounding" track "sure to be a hit at District 12 radio".[5] An editor from The Huffington Post picked "We Remain" as one of the standout tracks from the soundtrack that "encapsulates the spirit and power of Games' heroine, Katniss".[6] Sam Lansky for Idolator praised the single's musical departure from Aguilera's ballads for her 2012 album Lotus.[9] Brett Malec of E! simply called it "a beautiful track",[7] while a staff writer from Billboard named it a "triumphant" song.[4] While reviewing the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Alex Young from Consequence of Sound selected "We Remain" as one of the highlights from the album, which made Aguilera "the biggest star on display".[19] Entertainment Weekly writer Nick Catucci picked it as one of the best tracks, calling it "an awesome reminder of Christina's power" and "one of the most righteous doses of uplift this year, on any platform".[10] Mike Wass from the Idolator placed "We Remain" at number twenty on his list of Aguilera's forty best songs.[20]

Personnel

Credits adapted from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack digital inlay cover[21]

Track listing

Digital download[8]
  1. "We Remain" – 4:00

Charts

"We Remain" peaked at number 58 on the South Korean Gaon International Download Chart with 2,689 copies sold on October 6, 2013.[22] The single also peaked at number 31 on the Belgian Flanders Singles Chart[23] and number 14 on the Belgian Wallonian Singles Chart.[24]

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[23] 31
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[24] 14
Italy (FIMI)[25] 101
South Korea (GAON Download Chart)[22] 58
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[26] 144
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[27] 64

Release history

Country Date Format Label(s) Ref.
Belgium October 1, 2013 Digital download Universal Music Group [28]
Finland [29]
France [30]
Germany
[31]
New Zealand Universal Music Group [32]
Switzerland [33]
United States
  • RCA
  • Republic
 [8]
Australia October 2, 2013 Universal Music Australia [34]
United States October 8, 2013 Contemporary hit radio
[16]
December 16, 2013 Digital download[lower-alpha 1] Republic [18]
Notes
  1. ↑ Live from The Voice version

References

  1. ↑ "Discography Christina Aguilera". ARIA Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (September 26, 2013). "'Catching Fire' Soundtrack: Christina Aguilera, The Weeknd, Lorde Join The Hunger Games". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Earp, Catherine (September 26, 2013). "Christina Aguilera previews 'Hunger Games' song 'We Remain' - listen". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Christina Aguilera Delivers 'We Remain' for 'Catching Fire' Soundtrack: Listen". Billboard. October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Reed, Ryan (September 26, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Catches Fire on 'We Remain'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Lopez, Michael (September 27, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Adds 'We Remain' To 'Catching Fire' Soundtrack (LISTEN)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Malec, Brett (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera's Catching Fire Song "We Remain" Released—Listen to the Power Ballad Now!". E!. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "We Remain (From "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Soundtrack): Christina Aguilera". Amazon. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Lansky, Sam (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera's "We Remain": Hear The Monster 'Hunger Games' Power Ballad". Idolator. Spin Media. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  10. 1 2 Catucci, Nick (January 23, 2014). "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  11. ↑ Phares, Heather. "The Hunger Games:Catching Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  12. ↑ Ng, Philiana (September 26, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Records Song for New 'Hunger Games' Soundtrack". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Sia's 'Elastic Heart' Single For 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Drops With The Weeknd And Diplo". The Huffington Post. September 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  14. ↑ Nicodemo, Tara (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera Teases 'Hunger Games' Ballad: 'We Remain'". RyanSeacrest.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  15. ↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (September 30, 2013). "Christina Aguilera's Fiery 'Hunger Games' Single Art Revealed: Take A Look!". MTV News. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  16. 1 2 "Top 40/M Future Releases". All Access. All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  17. ↑ "The Voice Season 5 (2013): And the Winner Is..." International Business Times. December 18, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  18. 1 2 "We Remain (The Voice Performance) – Single by Jacquie Lee & Christina Aguilera". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  19. ↑ Young, Alex (November 19, 2013). "Album Review: Various Artists – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  20. ↑ Wass, Mike (December 18, 2020). "Christina Aguilera's 40 Best Songs". Idolator. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  21. ↑ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (digital inlay cover). Various artist. Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. 1 2 "Gaon Download Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  23. 1 2 "Christina Aguilera – We Remain" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Christina Aguilera – We Remain" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Tutti i successi del 2013" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Archived from the original on 2014-08-04. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Cluk Update: 12.10.2013". Zobbel Archive. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Christina Aguilera Chart History (Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  28. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital Belgium. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  29. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital Finland. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  30. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital France. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  31. ↑ "We Remain (From "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire") - Single". Germany: iTunes Store. January 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  32. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital New Zealand. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  33. ↑ "We Remain". 7digital Switzerland. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  34. ↑ "We Remain (From 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Soundtrack)". bandit.fm. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
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