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Pop Blasphemy: "E-Mail My Heart" Songwriter Regrets Writing It

Jordan Miller

By Jordan Miller
in Britney Community

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Songwriter Eric Foster White had an email (heh) Q&A with Slate about writing the song. He says he low-key wishes it was never written and says he's not proud of it. 

Joke's on him, cause the song is one of Britney's most campy, memorable deep cuts ever.

Quote

Slate: How did you wind up writing songs?
Eric Foster White: No pure songwriter remembers the answer to that one ;) All the ones who did it for the $ do.
 
What was the original idea behind “E-Mail My Heart”?
As a concept, the song was meant to be an update to a succession of songs (“Please Mr. Postman,” “Dial My Heart”) that tied popular forms of communication with a love interest. Anything “not done before” is almost automatically a hit candidate. Of course, most of them are not hits. And now we are drowning in hundreds of songs about texting and social media.
 
Do you remember how long it took you to write?
About an hour at the piano, once the concept was there. Lyric outline on a bike ride.
 
How did the song wind up on Britney Spears’ album?
I was the “anchor producer” on her debut album. I developed her signature vocal sound. I wrote and produced what became about half of the album while she was still signed to a development deal at Jive.
 
Did anyone then have a sense of what a success Britney would eventually become?
Yes. She had a very strong drive and a lot of charisma. She worked harder in the studio than any other artist I had worked with prior.
 
What was your opinion of Britney and that era of bubblegum pop at the time? What do you think now?
Pop music for young audiences always comes back around. Always, no matter what. Britney/Backstreet was five to six years after the total dominance of grunge. Today’s dominant music is rap, and a lot of it is mind-blowingly great. It will look different next cycle, but pop will swing back around. There will always be another teen idol, but Britney was very special. There will probably not be another Britney.
 
Do you remember anything else about “E-Mail My Heart” from the time?
We did a comic parody of it, privately, to spite one of her handlers. It never saw the light of day, never will ;) Not sure I can even find it.
 
What was the reaction to the song like when it first came out?
As an album track and not a single, it didn’t really “come out.” I hoped no one would notice it, haha.
 
You mentioned that this isn’t one of the songs you’re particularly proud of—
I had a No. 1–selling single on the album, “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart,” which was also a ballad but a far better song and production.
 
If you could change anything about “E-Mail My Heart,” what would it be?
Not write it?
 
Did you ever hear it performed live or encounter it on the radio?
Thankfully, no.
 
Do you still earn any royalties from the song?
The gift that keeps on giving.
 
If you were writing a song about technology today, what would you focus on?
Everyone else has beat me to it.
 
What are your favorites of the songs you’ve written?
Best question. Every songwriter has a file of songs that never found their way to the public. Sometimes their personal favorite is in there. My favorite is somewhere in that file.

I mean... he's wrong. Thoughts?
 

 

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it's so good because it's so bad.. the cheesiness is part of its charm and music doesn't always have to be serious or super deep.. :tbh: though I can understand where the songwriter is coming from.. I mean, as an artist, would you be proud of something that you didn't put much thought into and that was basically created solely based on a current trend? I know I wouldn't thought I wouldn't necessarily say "I wish I'd never written it" if I were him because I'd say every song / page of a book / line of code / dish / whatever is one stop closer to becoming a master of your craft.. :bedtime:

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