Hurt (Christina Aguilera song)

"Hurt" is a power ballad written by Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry and Mark Ronson for Aguilera's third studio album, Back to Basics (2006). The song's lyrical content describes how one deals with the loss of a loved one, and it has received praise from pop music critics. Aguilera premiered the song at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards and was released as the album's second single in late 2006 (see 2006 in music).

Background and composition

"Hurt" is a ballad song set in the key of E minor. Its slow melody is paced at 72 beats per minute and set in common time. Its instrumentation comes from bass, cello, contrabass, drums, guitar, piano, viola and violin. String instruments used in the melody were arranged by Eric Gorfain. The song makes an homage to Rachmaninoff's Vocalise towards its conclusion.

Originally Aguilera did not want "Hurt" to be the second single from Back to Basics. Prior to this decision, "Candyman" was planned as the second single and even was confirmed by Aguilera during several different interviews. However, RCA felt that, with the holiday season coming up, it would be safer to release "Hurt", as it would become a big holiday power ballad, comparable to how...
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