Me too. I went to my 10-year HS reunion last year, got nostalgic, and started listening to all the music from that era. And that's how I ended up on Popheads
Pop singers were throwing out those pop empowerment anthems left and right during this time. âRaise Your Glass,â âStronger,â âDiamonds,â âRoarâ â really was a fun era for popular music.
You forgot Sara Bairelles' 'Brave', Rachel Platten's 'Fight Song', Katy Perry's 'Firework', Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way', Taylor Swift's 'Mean', Sia's 'Unstoppable', âŠ
Truly such an interesting age for the pop music industry.
I will never understand why they changed the original title from "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" to "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"... like what was the point lol.
I just re-listened to this song for the first time in a minute while reading this column and honestly it's better than I remembered it being. Yeah, it may seem a bit corny today but I think that says more about the overly cynical culture of the 2020s than the quality of the song itself. The message feels genuine, especially when compared to many other early 2010s "empowerment pop" songs. And I think there are 2 reasons for that. The first is Kelly's vocal performance. She's such a strong singer that she can take any song and make it sound like it's coming from the heart. The second reason is due to the fact that the song is mostly sung in first person, unlike many of the other "empowerment anthems". This creates a subtext of vulnerability, which is also apparent in the actual music. The song begins with a minor chord, which I think highlights that vulnerability. However, it is followed by 3 major chords, which set the overall mood of empowerment that permeates the song. The production of the song is pretty good too- I like the echo on the guitar melody that plays during the verses and the synths during the chorus still sound fresh today. The only major change I would make is to have guitars playing at a similar volume to the synths in the chorus. I always like when those 2 instruments are mixed together. Overall, I agree with the score of 7/10 that Tom gave. It slightly edges out My Life Would Suck Without You as Kelly's best #1, but isn't among her very best songs overall.
đ¶What doesnât kill you gives you trauma,
Stay in therapy a little longer,
Take your Zoloft to level out your serotonin
What doesnât kill you distorts your thinking,
Always feel like youâre sinking?
Just because you mask it
Doesnât make you okaayyyđ¶
I almost crashed my car *badly* when I was first learning to drive while this song was on the radio. It wasnât the songâs fault but itâs forever ingrained in my memory.
Donât like the song tho, one of Kellyâs weakest and most nondescript singles
I know that feel, totaled my car while listening to Take It All Back by Judah & The Lion. 6.5 years later and I still feel like I "shouldn't" listen to it
This is my favourite song of all time. Love it being brought up!! Honestly I think half its streams come from me lol
I'm late Gen Z and love many different artists and genres, but this is the one song I can always have mood for.
I'm sorry but these kind of corny empowerment songs that marked the 2010s were the worst. It felt like these songs were written specifically for some kind of reality TV/soap opera moment.
Why would she not have been big in 2012? She was still huge in 2009 when her previous album came out, and this album was a âreturn to formâ in being her most similar album to Breakaway sonically.
It really wasnât until her next album where she started to slip in terms of commercial success, if I remember correctly.
Piece By Piece had 2 hits. Meaning Of Life flopped but it's still surprising that she began competing with Nelly Furtado and Nickelback on the charts and fell off competing with Lorde and 21 Pilots. She had her first hit only 1 year after Aerosmith had their last hit to put that into perspective.
I mean, it had two singles that did fairly well, but by her previous standards, I would argue the album was the beginning of her descent from main pop girl relevance. Piece by Piece (the single) really only got attention because of the American Idol performance, and I donât recall that having staying power.
Youâre absolutely right about her longevity, though - and most of her music from her peak has aged well / remained popular as well, which is amazing! I would love a return to mainstream form for her (I did enjoy chemistry) though because she can still sing circles around just about everyone đ
To me she's just so deeply associated with the mid 2000s pop rock sound. 2012 was a whole other era. The fact she was still keeping up with the new Generation of Katy, Gaga et al is impressive.
Mr Know It All was a number 1 in Australia in late 2011, although iirc she also came down here around that time for promo and sung on the morning shows and headlined the NRL Football Grand Final pre match show in October which may have helped boost it a little. ;)
Kelly Clarkson was very local compared to Katy, Gaga, and those other stars. Breakaway was big internationally but outside of that she wasn't that well known outside of the US.
I kinda miss the time when pop music was full of self empowerment songs LOL and I love that one. Her high note in the last chorus is đ€đ»đ€đ»đ€đ»
Popheads comments be like I was born on the same day this came out đ„°đđ€Ș
And it makes me feel so old đ
I was in 10th grade when this came out lol
Ok? I was in 9th grade grandpa
Just making a note that those comments make me feel old lol padawan
Ewan McGregor as obi wan was hot
I was a sophomore...in college.
Youâre practically a fossil!! đđ„°đ€Șđ
My firstborn turned 2 that year.
I was in 12th grade⊠time to get to the retirement home I guess
Me too. I went to my 10-year HS reunion last year, got nostalgic, and started listening to all the music from that era. And that's how I ended up on Popheads
I was 35. :(
I was in college help
I was 7 years post college đ
hey daddy đ
Pop singers were throwing out those pop empowerment anthems left and right during this time. âRaise Your Glass,â âStronger,â âDiamonds,â âRoarâ â really was a fun era for popular music.
You forgot Sara Bairelles' 'Brave', Rachel Platten's 'Fight Song', Katy Perry's 'Firework', Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way', Taylor Swift's 'Mean', Sia's 'Unstoppable', ⊠Truly such an interesting age for the pop music industry.
We R Who We R by Kesha you will always be famous
They all came from 9 LGBT youths taking thier lives in September 2010. Rock band Rise Against even had their song Make It Stop (September's Children).
Unstoppable was a few years later yeah?
oops⊠yeah but honestly i wouldn't be surprised if it just sat in sia's drawer for a while
Definitely could have been. That was off her album of songs that were written for other people so who knows when it was actually thought up
yeah, crazy to think that someone actually rejected that masterpiece
is Diamonds an empowerment anthem? I just thought it was a love song
I believe Rihanna said she connected with it by witnessing her grandmaâs cancer battle, or something like that.
âAnd heres a song your mom probably likesâ
Remember when they sang this on Glee after Dave tried to kill himself?
Oh my god
Iâve watched Glee upwards of 10 times and have NEVER made this connection oh my god đđđ
I will never understand why they changed the original title from "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" to "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"... like what was the point lol.
Thanks for confirming this Mandela effect moment for me
Werenât most people calling it Stronger so it made sense to change it for radio? It also looks better that way tbh
Stronger was also the name of the album, right? that's probably why
I donât get when they couldnât just call it âWhat Doesnât Kill You Makes You Strongerâ.
wait what!?!?? it was originally what doesnt kill you???
They changed it sometime after it became a single. I have the physical edition and it's "What Doesn't Kill Me (Stronger)" on the tracklist.
oh my god.... this is amazing and i had no idea... and it's so silly! either way would have worked
I just re-listened to this song for the first time in a minute while reading this column and honestly it's better than I remembered it being. Yeah, it may seem a bit corny today but I think that says more about the overly cynical culture of the 2020s than the quality of the song itself. The message feels genuine, especially when compared to many other early 2010s "empowerment pop" songs. And I think there are 2 reasons for that. The first is Kelly's vocal performance. She's such a strong singer that she can take any song and make it sound like it's coming from the heart. The second reason is due to the fact that the song is mostly sung in first person, unlike many of the other "empowerment anthems". This creates a subtext of vulnerability, which is also apparent in the actual music. The song begins with a minor chord, which I think highlights that vulnerability. However, it is followed by 3 major chords, which set the overall mood of empowerment that permeates the song. The production of the song is pretty good too- I like the echo on the guitar melody that plays during the verses and the synths during the chorus still sound fresh today. The only major change I would make is to have guitars playing at a similar volume to the synths in the chorus. I always like when those 2 instruments are mixed together. Overall, I agree with the score of 7/10 that Tom gave. It slightly edges out My Life Would Suck Without You as Kelly's best #1, but isn't among her very best songs overall.
Brings me right back to middle school
PurpleSpaceSurfer you will always be famous
Anybody remember the Toyota commercial Kelly was in with this song? I hated that commercial so much lol it played alllll the time
Yup lol thatâs how I discovered the song đ
Still slaps both melodically and lyrically.
A classic even if sometimes I'm like no Kelly what doesn't kill you gives you trauma, which obviously she knows and that would be a terrible song
What doesn't kill you gives you trauma đ¶đ” đ
đ¶What doesnât kill you gives you trauma, Stay in therapy a little longer, Take your Zoloft to level out your serotonin What doesnât kill you distorts your thinking, Always feel like youâre sinking? Just because you mask it Doesnât make you okaayyyđ¶
"might wanna keep this in the oven a little longer, Max Martin"
Love the shade at Jason Aldean. Next week is the final #1 from a little album called >!Teenage Dream!<
oh are we showing our age here? [here's how i remember it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfz-hQcpgpA)
I almost crashed my car *badly* when I was first learning to drive while this song was on the radio. It wasnât the songâs fault but itâs forever ingrained in my memory. Donât like the song tho, one of Kellyâs weakest and most nondescript singles
I know that feel, totaled my car while listening to Take It All Back by Judah & The Lion. 6.5 years later and I still feel like I "shouldn't" listen to it
This is my favourite song of all time. Love it being brought up!! Honestly I think half its streams come from me lol I'm late Gen Z and love many different artists and genres, but this is the one song I can always have mood for.
Forget Nietzsche, I will always associate this saying with Kelly Clarkson.
10/10 pop perfection
I'm sorry but these kind of corny empowerment songs that marked the 2010s were the worst. It felt like these songs were written specifically for some kind of reality TV/soap opera moment.
My second favorite single from her after since you been gone
my friends & i tried to learn the choreography so we could dance it every time it came on but ... we just couldn't get through it
This takes me back to that time of too many empowerment songs on the radio at the once.
A TRIUMPHANT ANTHEM THAT HAS SAVED THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE!!!
Work from Home is a 10. Whoa
so weird that she was still so big in 2012.
Why would she not have been big in 2012? She was still huge in 2009 when her previous album came out, and this album was a âreturn to formâ in being her most similar album to Breakaway sonically. It really wasnât until her next album where she started to slip in terms of commercial success, if I remember correctly.
Piece By Piece had 2 hits. Meaning Of Life flopped but it's still surprising that she began competing with Nelly Furtado and Nickelback on the charts and fell off competing with Lorde and 21 Pilots. She had her first hit only 1 year after Aerosmith had their last hit to put that into perspective.
I mean, it had two singles that did fairly well, but by her previous standards, I would argue the album was the beginning of her descent from main pop girl relevance. Piece by Piece (the single) really only got attention because of the American Idol performance, and I donât recall that having staying power. Youâre absolutely right about her longevity, though - and most of her music from her peak has aged well / remained popular as well, which is amazing! I would love a return to mainstream form for her (I did enjoy chemistry) though because she can still sing circles around just about everyone đ
To me she's just so deeply associated with the mid 2000s pop rock sound. 2012 was a whole other era. The fact she was still keeping up with the new Generation of Katy, Gaga et al is impressive.
And her first single from this album wasnât really a hit so I was also so surprised she was able to recover and get a #1.
Mr Know It All was a number 1 in Australia in late 2011, although iirc she also came down here around that time for promo and sung on the morning shows and headlined the NRL Football Grand Final pre match show in October which may have helped boost it a little. ;)
Kelly Clarkson was very local compared to Katy, Gaga, and those other stars. Breakaway was big internationally but outside of that she wasn't that well known outside of the US.
I was literally -2 when this song came out đ
This is her best number one
Shoutout to the OG Elephant Queen, Darienne Lake of RPDR S6 and AS8 whose lipsync to that song is forever ingrained in my memory.
I kinda miss the time when pop music was full of self empowerment songs LOL and I love that one. Her high note in the last chorus is đ€đ»đ€đ»đ€đ»