I Was Gonna Cancel

"I Was Gonna Cancel" is a song by Australian record artist Kylie Minogue, taken from her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once (2014). The song was written and produced by American recording artist, songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams who she met while in Los Angeles, California. In April 2014, Minogue confirmed that "I Was Gonna Cancel" would be the second single from the album. It was released in the United Kingdom on 11 May and a day later in the United States. The song charted reaching the Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia) at number 25, Croatia (ARC 100) at number 24, the UK Singles Chart at number 59 and the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs at number 7. Musically, the song is influenced by disco and funk, which noted similarities from William's previous work and Daft Punk. Lyrically, the song was based on Minogue's conception of having a bad day. "I Was Gonna Cancel" received positive reviews from music critics, many recognizing it as the more "interesting" song on the record and praised William's production. During the recording process of Kiss Me Once, Roc Nation contacted Pharrell Williams to co-produce with Minogue. Eventually, Minogue had met Williams in Los Angeles, California to produce music with her. According to Minogue, she revealed that she had two days to produce only two songs with Williams, these being "I Was Gonna Cancel" and "The Winners" and stated that the first day she met him she started crying due to an overwhelming day. Musically, "I Was Gonna Cancel" is a funk and disco inspired song. Tim Sendra said that the song is "a heartwarming affirmation of how awesome she is that sounds like a continuation of his work with Daft Punk on "Get Lucky". Ryan Lathan said "squelchy Stevie-Wonderesque electric keyboard flourishes, and overly-processed, pseudo-operatic background vocals, there's little here in this R&B-electro brew, worth throwing back or bothering to revisit. It should have been relegated to a single B-side and replaced with last year's superior 'Skirt'." Ben Cardew from NME had also compared the song to Daft Punk's single "Get Lucky", calling it "disco-ish." Andy Gill declared "I Was Gonna Cancel" as a "typically light, frothy pop syllabub in Pharrell's signature style[;] It sprinkles chimes over staccato synth burbles that hark back to The Commodores." The accompanying music video was shot by Dimitri Basil and choreographed by Rafael Bonachela in Melbourne, Australia while Minogue was attending the Logie Awards of 2014. The video was released on 17 May on her YouTube channel. Originally, the plans were to include many people into the video so they can dance and play along to the song, but were not to be paid for this. This courted controversy through media industries, criticizing the choice to not pay the dancers. Some reports said that dome dancers were then offered $100 for their work after the producers received complaints about the lack of pay. Bonachela eventually told publictions that he was pleased that they were going to be paid, stating "I understand things have been resolved now so it's great to know that people can have a voice, people can speak and mistakes can be resolved. That's a very positive thing," According to Minogue, the sypnosis is about pedestrian life and how it was similar to the day she recorded the song; "It’s an abstract look at pedestrian life and how we’re all just trying to get through and rise above everyday challenges. Although the song talks about a real life event that happened the day I recorded the song with Pharrell, the video has a more conceptual approach and I love how surreal it looks."

[Verse 1] I was gonna cancel Then I looked into the sky And knew the bad news won't prevent the sun to shine I was gonna cancel Then took a sec to realize All the disappointment that would trail behind I was gonna cancel Then you reminded me of who I am Everything is clearer than a mirror is to woman Just the same as a dog is to man [Chorus] Just hop out of the bed, (Hey) Go ahead face the day Who cares what you know Don't let that in the way no way Shut out all the doubt, (Hey) Just get up and go What's on the other side? (Yeah) You will never know unless you Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go girl [Verse 2] I was gonna cancel Then I thought about the strength that I got from all of the prayers and what it meant I was gonna cancel Then I realized that time is just like money and love Watch how you spend I was gonna cancel Until you reminded me of what I do Now I see it clearer My best friend is the mirror look behind me And I see all the things I've been through [Chorus] Just hop out of the bed, (Hey) Go ahead face the day Who cares what you know Don't let that in the way no way Shut out all the doubt, (Hey) Just get up and go What's on the other side? (Yeah) You will never know unless you Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go girl [Bridge] What's wrong with saying I love you? It's nothing to kid about Some people going through a struggle Trying to scribble it out They say attention is a shovel It's time to dig 'em out You can't just let them stay in a bubble They'll pop to get it out What's wrong with love, love? What's wrong with love, love? [Chorus] Just hop out of the bed, (hey) Go ahead face the day Who cares what you know Don't let that in the way no way Shut out all the doubt, (hey) Just get up and go What's on the other side? (Yeah) You will never know unless you Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go-o-o Go, go, go, go girl