Can't Fight the Moonlight

Background

Rimes originally auditioned for the 2000 film Coyote Ugly to sing "Can't Fight the Moonlight" at the ending with Piper Perabo but, once Rimes watched some cuts of the film, she decided to provide the singing voice for all the songs sung by Perabo (this would include "But I Do Love You", as well as two other tracks on the soundtrack).The vocals Rimes provided are altered in their pitch and vocal range in comparison to her natural vocal range; and, the closing scene, wherein she and Perabo's character sing, is effectively her duetting with herself. The song's lyrics were slightly changed for film.

"Can't Fight the Moonlight" is a pop song of three minutes and thirty-five seconds. The song was written by American Grammy Award-winning songwriter, Diane Warren and performed by Rimes. The verses are written in the key of E-flat major with the first and second choruses in D-flat minor and the final chorus in D minor. The song is produced by Trevor Horn with executive production by Jerry Bruckheimer, Kathy Nelson and Mike Curb. Orchestral arrangements were done by David Campbell with engineering and mixing done by Steve MacMillan. Additional engineering was done by Tim Weidner, Greg Hunt, Gary Leach and Austin Deptula. According to Warren it is the first song she had written with so many key changes. A review by Billboard praised producer Trevor Horn by stating "Oh-so creatively produced by Trevor Horn with guitars, lush layers of harmony, and a funky albeit delicate hip-hop track (no, really), this easy-flowing midtempo popper is a sassy number, demonstrating that Rimes has crossed the line to adult-leaning lyrics."

Release

"Can't Fight the Moonlight" was first released on the soundtrack for Coyote Ugly on August 1, 2000. It was released in the US on a CD single on August 22, 2000 along with the song, "But I Do Love You" (also included on the soundtrack) as the B-side track. The song was later released on a maxi-single which included several remixes of the song. The song was also included on Rimes's 2002 compilation album, I Need You, with the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song included as a bonus track. In 2003, the Graham Stack Radio Edit of the song would be included on the More Music from Coyote Ugly soundtrack on January 28, 2003. and Rimes's Greatest Hits album on November 18, 2003. In 2004, the song was included on The Best of LeAnn Rimes, while the Graham Stack Radio Edit (known as the "Latino Mix" internationally) was released on the remixed edition.

Critical reception

Wendy Mitchell of Barnes & Noble.com praised the song calling it "ultra-catchy". Heather Phares of AllMusic considered the song to be a "positively Britney Spearsian power ballad". A review in Billboard about Rimes and the song stated that the song "is by far her most compelling pop offering yet–and one of the more intriguing compositions of late from songwriter superwoman Diane Warren."

Commercial performance

The song reached the top twenty in every country it charted in. It reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week in November 2000. It also reached number one in Australia in January 2001 and went on to become the highest selling single in Australia of 2001. It went triple platinum in Australia selling over 210,000 copies. In Ireland, it reached number one in November 2000 for two weeks and is currently the eighteenth best selling single in the history of the Irish Charts. In the U.S., it enjoyed two chart runs on the Billboard Hot 100. On its original chart run in 2000, "Can't Fight the Moonlight" stalled at number seventy-one. It regained renewed interest in late 2001 and 2002, and rose up the charts to number eleven. In the U.S., the single is certified gold by the RIAA (which signifies sales of 500,000+ copies). The song spent forty-two weeks on the charts and sold 668,000 copies.

As of 2014, it is Rimes's last song to chart in the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eleven. Due to Rimes's previous success in country music, even though this song was not officially released to country radio, it still made it at number sixty-one on the Billboard Country Song chart in its first release due to unsolicited airplay as an album cut. It also has had the distinction of taking the longest time to reach the top 40, 29 weeks, until Of Monsters and Men's Little Talks took one week more in 2012.

The single has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. It sold over 530,000 copies in the United Kingdom as stated by Britain's Official Charts Company. The song was the 12th best seller of 2000 in the UK and the 55th of the 2000 decade.

Music video

A music video for the song was released in 2000 by Touchstone Pictures. The video features Rimes singing at the "Coyote Ugly" bar, and dancing with Izabella Miko and the other girls who worked at the bar in the film. The video also features various scenes taken from the film. The music video was included as a bonus feature on both the theatrical and uncut DVD releases of the film.

Live performances

In 2001, Rimes performed the song on Music for High Places. The performance was later featured on the limited edition bonus DVD included with her Greatest Hits album. Rimes also performed the song on Sessions@AOL.

Personnel

Credits for "Can't Fight the Moonlight" adapted from the liner notes of the Coyote Ugly soundtrack.