2013Released
4:15

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about The Man. By Songfacts®.

American soul singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc achieved his first commercial success when his single "I Need A Dollar," peaked at #2 on the UK singles chart in 2010. Three years later he collaborated with Swedish DJ Avicii on his international hit "Wake Me Up." Blacc registered his first Hot 100 hit under his own name when this song was used as the background music for the Beats by Dr. Dre "Hear What You Want" commercials featuring Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Garnett and San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick.

This pays tribute to Elton John's 1970 hit "Your Song" by opening its chorus with the same "you can tell everybody" line. Blacc turns the interpolation on its head by twisting the lyric about the effect a loved one has on somebody's life into an anthem for believing in oneself. Said Blacc to Q magazine: "I became a huge fan of Elton's after I purchased his greatest hits in the late '90s. I studied how Bernie Taupin wrote lyrics and Elton wrote melodies and I eventually ran all this through my head and wrote a song that sort of sampled it. I'm interested in divining and filtering what is pop-as in popular-music. I study the people who've made music of real quality and Elton John is at the top of my list."

Blacc recalled to Billboard magazine getting some feedback from Dr. Dre, which helped turn this song's demo into a hit tune. "Interscope Exec VP of A&R] Larry Jackson said, 'Dre wants to meet you. He loves (2010 hit single) 'I Need A Dollar,'" the singer recalled. "When I met him, I asked what he thought about my other songs, and he wasn't impressed by 'The Man.' It gutted me. I felt like I had disappointed him." Blacc had been trying to incorporate "Your Song" into a tune he was writing for his Hip-Hop duo Emanon; after meeting with Dre, he paired it instead with this song's demo with help from Dre producer DJ Khalil.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of The Man.
BKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
86BPM

Album

The album The Man is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released The Man.
Interscope
© 2013 Aloe Blacc Recording, Inc., under exclusive license to XIX Recordings LLC/Interscope Records
℗ 2013 Aloe Blacc Recording, Inc., under exclusive license to XIX Recordings LLC/Interscope Records

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