2U

Album: 7 (2017)
Charted: 5 16
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • David Guetta teams up with Justin Bieber for this shimmering dance track. It is the first official collaboration of the French DJ and the Canadian pop star.

    "Justin has such a unique voice and I have so much respect for his talent but also for his choices," said Guetta. "He took some risks reinventing himself lately in such a cool amazing creative way. I'm very proud to finally share a record with him. I feel like '2U' is an incredible combination of emotion energy with a huge melody combined with edgy sounds."
  • The song finds Justin trying to prove his devotion to his lady, as he explains how far he's willing to go for her:

    No limit in the sky that I won't fly for ya
    No amount of tears in my eyes that I won't cry for ya
    Oooh no
    With every breath, that I take
    I want you to share that air with me
  • David Guetta and Justin Bieber wrote the song with:

    Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, Justin's go-to co-writer since the two met in Las Vegas at a 2013 party for Lil Twist. He co-wrote the majority of the songs on Bieber's Journals and Purpose albums, including the international #1 single "What Do You Mean? ."

    Surinamese-born Dutch music composer and producer Giorgio Tuinfort whose other credits include Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape", Nelly's "Body On Me" and Ariana Grande's "One Last Time."
  • Poo Bear recalled his contribution to the track during an interview with Billboard magazine:

    "I worked with David Guetta on the beat and we were actually working on it for it to be a part of a Justin project but the timing wasn't right in order for it to make it onto Justin's project with all the newer stuff we were doing.

    I started it in Las Vegas and Justin finished it in New York. It went through a lot of changes because Justin is a perfectionist so finally David got it to a place production-wise where Justin loved it. It was great recording it with Justin because it's tough getting his vocals on a record since he's touring all over the world but it's special when it happens."
  • The Groundhog Day-inspired video was shot by directing duo Brewer, whose resumé also includes the clip for Jack Ü's "Where Are U Now?." The visual follows a couple having a potentially relationship-ending conversation, over and over again.

    "When we first heard '2U' we were struck by how the music and lyrics supported each other," said Brewer. "The song perfectly captures the emotional phenomenon of loving someone to the point where there's nothing you wouldn't do for them. And we thought it would be great to embrace this idea, being as it's one of our most beloved cultural clichés, and repeat it over and over again to try to see if through repetition a new perspective, a new deconstruction, could happen."

    "It's like saying a word over and over again, eventually it starts to lose its shape," they continued. "We hope people are compelled to watch it multiple times because there is a lot of fun stuff hiding in the frames."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Intentionally Atrocious

Intentionally AtrociousSong Writing

A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.

Cy Curnin of The Fixx

Cy Curnin of The FixxSongwriter Interviews

The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Songs Discussed in Movies

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?