The Indie Rock Hit That Inspired This Kelly Clarkson Smash

In 2004, Kelly Clarkson dropped “Since U Been Gone”, the lead single from her second studio album Breakaway. Back then, most knew Clarkson as the first contestant to win American Idol. “Since U Been Gone” showcases why Clarkson left the other game-show singers in the dust. But it also helped define an era of pop music, guided by super producers Max Martin and Dr. Luke.

For inspiration, Martin and Dr. Luke looked at the indie-rock scene that rose to prominence just a few years before Clarkson’s hit arrived.

Post-Punk for a New Generation

The Strokes emerged from New York City with a culture-shifting debut, Is This It. Led by Julian Casablancas, the band helped transform American rock music with nods to Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and The Doors.

A year earlier, Swedish rock band The Hives released “Hate To Say I Told You So”. Clad in matching black-and-white suits, they were part of the early-2000s garage-rock revival that featured a multitude of bands with “The” preceding their names. (The White Stripes, The Killers, The Bravery, The Black Keys, and The Vines, to name a few.)

A post-punk guitar riff opens “Since U Been Gone”, echoing the angular grooves of The Strokes and The Hives. But another New York band seems to have shaped Clarkson’s hit the most.

Here’s the thing, we started out friends,
It was cool, but it was all pretend.
Yeah, yeah, since you been gone.

“Maps”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs released “Maps” in 2003. And it gave Martin and Dr. Luke a kind of formula for Clarkson’s track. The fingerprints are most noticeable in the post-chorus break of “Since U Been Gone”, featuring a distorted guitar riff that closely resembles Nick Zinner’s iconic part in “Maps”.

The song appears on Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ debut LP, Fever To Tell. It also became one of the most iconic videos of the time, with its stirring performance by singer Karen O.

Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.

These days, rather than interpolate his riffs, everyone from Liam Gallagher to Phoebe Bridgers has included Zinner on their albums.

So Martin and Dr. Luke incorporated the art-rock vibe of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, then crafted a colossal pop chorus atop the punkish guitars. It remains Clarkson’s defining track.

But since you been gone,
I can breathe for the first time.
I’m so moving on, yeah, yeah.
Thanks to you,
Now I get what I want.

Photo by Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images