深陷情网 (2001)

"Fallin'" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. It was released as the lead single from her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor (2001), and as Keys' debut single. Written and produced by Keys, "Fallin'" is generally considered her signature song. It was released on March 28, 2001, by J Records. The official remix features rappers Busta Rhymes and Rampage.

"Fallin'" attained global commercial success, reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 in several countries, topping the charts of Flanders, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In 2009, "Fallin'" was named the 29th most successful song of the 2000s, on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. Critically acclaimed, it won three Grammy Awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002, including Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and was also nominated for Record of the Year.

Music and lyrics

"Fallin'" was written and produced solely by Alicia Keys for her debut album Songs in A Minor. When asked about the lyrical background for the song, Keys told Billboard: "I wanted to write a song for someone who was 10 or 12 years old – like a young Michael Jackson. Even though he was young, he was singing some deep stuff back then. [The song] is about the ins and outs of a relationship. Sometimes, you're completely head-over-heels in love with someone, and sometimes you can't stand that person. You fall in and out, sometimes it goes back and forth, and that's just what relationships are about."

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Fallin'" is set in 128 time with a "free" tempo of 60 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of E minor, with Keys's vocal range spanning from the low-note of B3 to the high-note of E5. The song has a basic chord progression of Em–Bm7–Em–Bm7 as it follows a "moderate blues tempo" throughout the chorus of the song.

The underlying piano motif in "Fallin'" strongly resembles the repeating piano riff in James Brown's 1966 single "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".

Critical reception

NME called "Fallin'" a "assive, massive massive hit" adding "Piano tinkles, drum machine coughs like an athsmatic [sic] whippet and Alicia strokes your spine with ice cubes and spatters your spotty back with hot candle wax". The song was described as "gospel fervor of lovesick righteousness" by Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times described the song as having "the neo-soul vitality of Macy Gray and Jill Scott." Sam Faulkner of NME said that the song had "deeper moments [that] creep up and grab you exemplified." Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters said that the song "combines Keys' natural blues register with a subtle, and brilliantly so, sample of James Brown's 'It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World'." Barry Walters of Rolling Stone said "there's no denying the serious early Aretha vibe permeating the hit."