Can't Tame Her

Album: Venus (2023)
Charted: 25
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Zara Larsson refuses to be tied down by people's expectations of her. They can't tame a girl like this Swedish pop star, who wants to party all night because she runs her own world.
  • Larsson took inspiration from how celebrities are perceived and stereotyped. "People want to put girls in a box of what you should do or not," Larsson told Billboard. "In the public eye, you have a lot of people telling you what's wrong or how you should do something differently. I'm out there, I'm very loud and I try to stay true to myself and surround myself with people who care about me, so we can all help each other and protect each other. Really good friends."
  • Larsson co-wrote "Can't Tame Her" with her "Never Forget You" duet partner MNEK and the Swedish pair of Kian Sang and Karl Ivert (aka MTHR).
  • MTHR co-produced the track with Nate "Danja" Hills, who has also worked with Justin Timbelake, Britney Spears and Nelly Furtado. The '80s synth-pop song differs from Larsson's standard dance-pop tunes - it's a banger that hits the listener in the face.
  • Larsson likes to write several songs in a day or start ideas and revisit them later, but with "Can't Tame Her," she and her fellow songwriters decided to keep going and finish the second verse on the spot. "That's a really good sign just even in the studio," she told BBC Radio 1's Clara Amfo, "but it feels really good that I just played it for some people and they were like, you know, and it's nice to have that feedback and getting it confirmed that it's not only me who love it."
  • Larsson first teased the instrumental in a TikTok on December 8, 2022, then uploaded an extended snippet five days later on her Twitter account. She released "Can't Tame Her" on January 26, 2023 through her record label Sommer House as the lead single from her fourth studio album.
  • Larsson performed "Can't Tame Her" live for the first time on January 27, 2022 at the Swedish award show P3 Guld.
  • Parisian directorial duo Global shot the cinematic, sci-fi inspired video in Prague. We see Larsson encountering and having a dance-off with an alternate wild version of herself. "The challenge in this is basically to do the choreo with myself and we've used this beautiful girl Barbara as the double, and then we are 3D modeling, CGI-ing my face on Barbara," Larsson explained to Billboard.

    Megan Thee Stallion's creative director, Jaquel Knight, choreographed the dance. Knight is also credited with the choreography in Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and "Formation" videos.
  • "Can't Tame Her" is the first release from Zara Larsson's label, Sommer House. The singer was previously signed to TEN Music Group, a Swedish record label. She signed with TEN in 2012 and released her debut album, 1, in 2014.

    Sommer House is a joint venture between Larsson and Epic Records. The label was created to give Larsson more creative control over her music and to allow her to sign and develop other artists. "I'm not completely independent, I still have a deal with Sony, but it's a different deal, she told Official Charts. "At the end of the day, everything is ultimately my decision. It's my responsibility. It wasn't before, I was the face of it, so now I have more responsibility but also a lot more power. It's a new chapter. I'm like a boss lady."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Leslie West of Mountain

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

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.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Lecrae

LecraeSongwriter Interviews

The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.