The Climb (Miley Cyrus song)

Background

"The Climb" was not intentionally written for the 2009 musical film Hannah Montana: The Movie. Co-writer Jessi Alexander conceived the song's melody while driving to the home of songwriting partner Jon Mabe. Once she arrived, she and Mabe developed a song about overcoming life's obstacles inspired by their personal struggles in the music industry. Alexander referred to the process as a form of "therapy" and recalled,

"I was just driving to work one day. It's just a typical day, nothing really special about that day. And I just had this melody in my head. And I couldn't get to my co-writer Jon Mabe or my guitar fast enough because I just wanted to play what I was hearing. And, you know, we just kinda put it down pretty fast and didn't really think anything about it. The lyrics kinda started to come, I think for both of us, being kinda underdogs in the business. My co-writer was a songplugger, just turned songwriter, and I'd had record deals and ups and downs in the music business. I think for both of us, we just came from a place of, you know, 'it's not a race'."

The song they created was titled "It's the Climb" and was written in third person. Alexander described the original song as "more spiritual" than the version that was released, and said it contained lines about prayer. However, she claimed she knew it was pop and suitable for The Walt Disney Company.

Before reaching Cyrus, the song had been rejected by several country artists. It was eventually picked up by Peter Chelsom, director of Hannah Montana: The Movie, who gave it to Cyrus to record for the film. Chelsom found what would become "The Climb" while visiting Nashville, Tennessee, during a quest to find eleven new songs for Hannah Montana: The Movie. After hearing Alexander's music, Chelsom asked her to submit songs for consideration. Alexander recorded "It's the Climb" on a CD and gave it to him. Several weeks later, Chelsom called to say that "the song was gonna be an integral part of the movie". However, he wanted Mabe and Alexander to rework some of the song's content and to change the song from third person to first person. Alexander felt the changes amounted to a "substantial amount of the song" and commented, "For me, when you change something from third person to first person, it can change the whole meaning of a line." She and Mabe "wrestl[ed] over taking words out" and how much they could change while maintaining the song's integrity. After a number of drafts, Mabe and Alexander finally created a version they felt was "perfect for the movie".

Upon receiving the final draft, filmmakers told the songwriters, "This is perfect for Miley, it’s gonna change her life, gonna change your life." Chelsom commented that the song "turned up" the film's music level by tapping into Cyrus's newfound vocal range. As with the other songs featured in Hannah Montana: The Movie, the song is "tightly woven into the fabric of the story and the characters". In the film, Cyrus plays Miley Stewart, a character with a secret double life as superstar Hannah Montana. Keeping this secret causes trouble between Miley and many of the other characters in the film, and leaves Miley confused and contrite. She expresses her emotions by writing "The Climb". According to film producer Alfred Gough, "The song is her journey, the lessons she's learned in the movie. It's an epic [...] power ballad that encapsulates Miley's journey and the message of the film."

"The Climb" was chosen as the lead single from the soundtrack due to its country elements, which introduced Cyrus to listeners beyond her usual pop audience. The song is Cyrus's first solo effort marketed directly to country radio, though she had previously recorded and released a country duet with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, which was titled "Ready, Set, Don't Go", in 2007. Warren Truitt of About.com referred to the song as "Miley's serious attempt to break into the contemporary country world." "The Climb" was leaked to the Internet on February 4, 2009, two days prior to its official release for airplay. In October 2009, it was re-released to countries outside the United States in the international version of Cyrus' extended play, The Time of Our Lives.

Composition

"The Climb" is a country pop power ballad that incorporates soft rock and pop rock styles and lasts three minutes and 55 seconds. However, at two minutes and forty-five seconds, a "sudden, spiky burst of violins" enters the song, and the song switches to full power. Todd Martens, co-editor of The Los Angeles Times music column, says Cyrus uses "a raspy voice [that] brings a bit of country grit" to the song. "The Climb" is set in common time at a moderate tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song is sung in the key of E major and Cyrus's vocals span one and a half octaves, from E₃ to C#₅. The song uses a standard issue ballad arrangement with the chord progression, E5—Asus2—F♯7sus.

According to music reviewer Fraser McAlpine of the BBC, the song's lyrics assert that life should be viewed as "a journey which is difficult but rewarding". Both Martens and McAlpine took special interest in the line "It's always gonna be an uphill battle/Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose". Martens interpreted the line as an acknowledgment by the singer of her own mistakes in life, while McAlpine wrote, "In this song which is about plugging away at things, the writers have slipped in [...] that the occasional setback isn't the end of the world."

Alternatively, some have speculated that "The Climb" parallels themes found within The Myth of Sisyphus, an essay by French absurdist writer Albert Camus. Camus' work deals with what he termed the "absurdity of the human condition," personified in the repetitive task of the mythical Greek figure Sisyphus. Sisyphus was fated to roll a giant rock to the top of a hill only to have it roll back down and repeat the process once again, for eternity. As in The Myth of Sisyphus, the song asserts the absurdity of life with lines such as: "There's always gonna be another mountain...Ain't about what's on the other side," while at the same time drawing meaning from the cyclical task of labor and toil: "It's the climb." Beyond its philosophical similarities to The Myth of Sisyphus, the song also contains analogous tasks and metaphors, centered on the continuous struggle of ascending a hill.

Critical reception

Critical reception for the song was generally positive. Fraser McAlpine of the BBC felt the song's lyrics were generic, but complimented Cyrus vocals: "Miley acquits herself well vocally — there are moments where her voice sounds a tad strained, but it's good to hear her on a track that's a little more subdued and with less frantic production than the uptempo, sassy pop songs we're used to." Michael Menachem of Billboard magazine called the song "one of the year's strongest ballads". Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe praised "The Climb" for being a "pretty liberation anthem". Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly said, "On tunes like [...] 'The Climb', the 16-year-old Tennessee native turns up her homegrown inflections, but a few elongated r's won't exactly shut out her huge pop audience." Todd Martens of The Los Angeles Times believed that "The Climb" was "buried in cheese" and described it as "pre-Valentine's Day gooeyness". However, Martens said, "'The Climb' is the rare Miley ballad that's on par with some of her more spunky teen pop."

Heather Phares of Allmusic said, "the best songs that Cyrus sings on the soundtrack have her own name on them". She also made musical comparisons to Shania Twain and described the song as "natural, [...] down to earth and grown-up". While reviewing The Time of Our Lives, Michael Hann of The Guardian called "The Climb" a "one rather superior ballad", compared to "When I Look at You" and "Obsessed". Hann said the song was added to the extended play in order to "add some ballast since this collection's US release." Jon Caraminica of The New York Times described "The Climb" as an "appealing new single [that] is just the sort of demure, inspirational country-rock that could easily be mistaken for self-reckoning." While reviewing a concert performance, James Reed of The Boston Globe called the song "bland but inspirational fare".

Awards and nominations

"The Climb" won "Best Song from a Movie" at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards and "Music Choice: Single" at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. At the 52nd Grammy Awards, "The Climb" received a nomination for the Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, a songwriter's award. However, Walt Disney Records withdrew the song from consideration because the song was not "written specifically for a motion picture, television or other visual media", as the Grammy eligibility rules dictated. According to Rolling Stone magazine, "The Climb" was submitted for consideration by mistake. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the presenters of the Grammy Awards, released a statement stating, "Walt Disney Records was proactive and forthcoming to our awards department and verified that the song was not written specifically for the film Hannah Montana: The Movie. Based on this information, the Academy has complied with the label's request." NARAS replaced the nomination with the song with the next highest initial vote count, "All is Love", which was written by Karen O and Nick Zinner for the film Where the Wild Things Are. Dan Milliken of Country Universe gave the song a D+. His review consisted solely of two motivational posters: one reading "Life: Its [sic] not about the destination, but the journey" to describe the song's content, and a mock poster reading "Success: Everything is easy when you're cute" for his actual review. He later expanded his review, calling it "a soulless rephrasing of an extremely famous philosophical message (so famous it borders on cliche) that doesn’t provide an emotionally coherent context or justification". Milliken gave the song a higher grade because "she’s a pretty good singer for someone her age".

Commercial performance

On the week ending March 7, 2009, "The Climb" debuted at number 48 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs. It was, incidentally, the same week that "Back to Tennessee", by Cyrus's father, Billy Ray Cyrus, debuted at number 59, the first time a father and daughter had separate charting songs on the chart since Johnny and Rosanne Cash charted in 1990 with "Silver Stallion" and "One Step over the Line", respectively. "The Climb" eventually peaked at number 25 on the country-genre chart. For the week ending March 21, 2009, the song debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 due to sales of 166,000 digital downloads, thus making "The Climb" Cyrus's highest-charting effort at the time, surpassing her previous best-charting effort "7 Things", which peaked at number nine in July 2008. For the week ending May 2, 2009, the song reached its peak at number four on the Hot 100. "The Climb" also peaked at number seven on the Pop 100 chart, 42 on Hot Christian Songs, and at number one for 15 consecutive weeks on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. Cyrus became the youngest artist to top Adult Contemporary since LeAnn Rimes entered the chart in 1997 with "How Do I Live". According to Billboard, "The Climb" was the eighth best selling digital single of 2009. The single was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the sales of over two million copies. As of January 2014, "The Climb" has sold 3,709,000 copies in the United States. In Canada, "The Climb" entered at number 17 and eventually peaked at number five. The single was certified triple platinum by Music Canada for the sales of 240,000 digital downloads.

"The Climb" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song made its debut on the Australian Singles Chart at number 46 on April 19, 2009. After ten weeks on the chart, "The Climb" reached number five on the chart, where it stayed for two consecutive weeks. "The Climb" was placed at number 84 on the decade-end Australian Singles Chart. The song has been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales above 70,000. "The Climb" debuted in the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 25 on April 13, 2009 and reached its peak at number 12 on June 15, 2009. On September 4, 2009, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales exceeding 7,500 copies.

In the UK Singles Chart, "The Climb" made its entry at number 82 on March 28, 2009 and reached its peak at number 11 on June 16, 2009. With its peak at number 11, it tied for Cyrus's best-charting effort on the chart with "See You Again" from October 2008. The single was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for the shipment of over 200,000 copies. In Ireland, the song also peaked at number 11. In mainland Europe, the song peaked at number 23 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, number eleven on Belgian Tip Singles Chart (Flanders), and number five on Norwegian Singles Chart. The song experienced similar commercial outcomes throughout the rest of Europe; it appeared within the top 30 of charts in Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), and France.

Music video

Matthew Rolston directed the music video for "The Climb", which premiered on Cyrus's Myspace page on February 11, 2009. The video commences with a shot of Cyrus holding a guitar and a suitcase as she begins to walk down a long path extending through a valley. At the end of the valley, the sun breaks out over a distant mountain. The entire scene is enhanced with computer-generated imagery. Cyrus has her hair tied in a bun and wears a traveling jacket, a gray tank top and cowboy boots. In a separate setting, Cyrus, wearing a gray short sleeve shirt and her hair loose, begins to sing "The Climb" beneath a blue spotlight in a purple room. The two settings alternate throughout the video. A vignetted scene from Hannah Montana: The Movie appears in front of Cyrus as she walks on the path. The video zooms into the scene and a montage of film clips plays, featuring Cyrus's character and her love interest, Travis Brody (played by Lucas Till) horseback riding. The video returns to Cyrus walking; she picks up a rose fallen on the path, then throws it behind her. As the video progresses, she also sees things such as a herd of horses and a shooting star cross her path. A new setting enters the video in which Cyrus dances in a purple room with a countdown or, occasionally, film clips projected on the wall behind her. Rain begins to pour in the path setting. Cyrus puts down her jacket, guitar case, suitcase and boots, and continues onwards with only her guitar strapped to her shoulder. More film clip montages play in the same manner as the first. As the last montage ends, Cyrus finally reaches the summit of a reddish, CGI mountain and triumphantly looks over the cliff's edge to watch the sun shining over a shimmering lake. An alternate version of the music video excluding the Hannah Montana: The Movie clips exists and was sent to several channels, including VH1.

Todd Martens of The Los Angeles Times wrote that while he enjoyed the song, he was unsure about the video. He commented that while the video was an improvement since Cyrus's video for "7 Things" (2008), the settings in "The Climb" music video looked as though they had been painted by Thomas Kinkade and Cyrus's dancing appeared off-beat. Travis of MTV described the video as "beautifully shot (although heavily digitized)". Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo! Music remarked that the summit setting was similar to that of the music video for Britney Spears' "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman". Parker also felt the scene in which Cyrus looks out over the cliff, shot using large sweeps with an aerial camera, had been "lifted straight out of an '80s Bon Jovi video". In 2009, the video received a MuchMusic Video nomination for Best International Artist Video, but lost to Lady Gaga's music video for "Poker Face".

Live performances

Cyrus opened the Kids' Inaugural: "We Are the Future" event with the premiere of "The Climb". The event was held on January 19, 2009, in Washington D.C. at the Verizon Center to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Cyrus, dressed in an embroidered red ball gown made by Reem Acra, dedicated the song to Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia Obama. Following the song's official release in March 2009, Cyrus resumed promotion for "The Climb", performing live for shows including American Idol, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Good Morning America, and Live with Regis and Kelly throughout April. On April 13, Cyrus performed "The Climb" as part of her set for the AOL Sessions. On April 24, Cyrus sang "The Climb" and other songs in a London Apple Store. The performances were recorded and sold exclusively by the United Kingdom iTunes Store as a live extended play titled iTunes Live from London. On June 7, 2009, Cyrus performed the song at the 20th annual A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival, an outdoor carnival supporting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Cyrus also sang "The Climb" on The Today Show on August 28 and at the first D23 Expo on September 11, 2009.

To promote the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack, Cyrus performed "The Climb" on a six-day, five-city acoustic radio promo tour that reached over 250 radio shows. The song was also used as the closing number of Cyrus' 2009 Wonder World Tour, her first world tour. During the tour performances, Cyrus performed in a white tank top and shorts, boots, and a metallic vest, while giant overhead video screens displayed sunsets. After finishing, Cyrus exited through a passageway in the stage while the images of shooting stars and the earth in space appeared on the screen. Melinda M. Thompson of The Oregonian described the performance as "really a moment to remember — Miley's soulful and touching rendition of 'The Climb'", while Jim Harrington of The Oakland Tribune said the performance was a "tender closer" that drew a large response at the September 18 concert in Oakland, California, at the Oracle Arena. Cyrus later performed the song at the Rock in Rio concert in Lisbon, Portugal and the London, England nightclubs Heaven and G-A-Y.

Cyrus performed the song during the Gypsy Heart Tour. She also performed this song on CNN Heroes on December 11, 2011.

Cover versions

"The Climb" has been covered by several amateurs and established acts. Mirror Image Records' indie rock group HelenaMaria covered the song and released it as a digital single in March 2009. At auditions for the ninth season of the television singing competition American Idol, "The Climb" was the most popular choice of song amongst contestants. Mandi Bierly, writing for Entertainment Weekly, commented, "it sounds like we could get an Idol whose voice actually suits the inspirational tune that he or she will be forced to record as a first single. (Though the odds of that song being anywhere as good as 'The Climb'...)". While informing Cyrus of its popularity on American Idol, the series' host Ryan Seacrest commented that the contestants "believe [it is] a song that will make an impression and [...] will get them into that next level". Cyrus said she was pleased because the song was about "following your dreams and not giving up". Alan Cumming covered the song in his cabaret tour and included it on the audio CD Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs: Live at the Cafe Carlyle.

Background and composition

In the same year of "The Climb's" original release, British executive Simon Cowell chose for Joe McElderry, Olly Murs, and Stacey Solomon, the three finalists of the sixth series of the British television talent contest The X Factor, to record the song in preparation for a single release as soon as the winner was announced. After Solomon's elimination, Murs and McElderry sang the song on December 13, 2009, as their final performance in the competition. Upon winning the competition, McElderry's version of "The Climb", produced by Quiz & Larossi, was released on December 14, 2009 by Syco Music as the first single from his debut studio album Wide Awake (2010).

McElderry said that the lyrics to "The Climb" meant a lot to him: "It's an emotional song because it's what's been happening in the last few months. It all feels very, very surreal." According to Peter Robinson of The Guardian, the cover has a "plinky" piano in its introduction. In regards to lyrics, Robinson interpreted, "lines about 'uphill battles' and 'having to lose' do seem to talk of Joe's probable future."

Reception

Peter Robinson of The Guardian described "The Climb" as a "controversially uncontroversial choice" for a cover and continued, "While 'The Climb' might be a suitable choice for a winner's single, the fact that it's a cover of such a recent song means that it's still slightly odd."

On the week ending 26 December 2009, "The Climb" debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart; its debut position was influenced by a campaign composed of Facebook group members, aimed at getting Rage Against the Machine's 1992 single "Killing in the Name" to the top position during Christmas week. In the following week, the song reached number one, becoming the final number one of the 2000s decade, where it maintained for a week. The single was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments exceeding 600,000 copies. The song has sold 810,000 copies in the UK as of January 2015.

"The Climb" debuted at number one on the Irish Singles Chart on the week ending December 17, 2009, where it maintained in the top position for four consecutive weeks. In mainland Europe, the song charted in the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles at number four on the week ending January 9, 2010.

Music video

The video was shot on 16 December 2009, in London, England. The video begins with footage from The X Factor and then transitions to a close-up shot of McElderry in the main setting, a flooded cityscape — the scene was shot in a flooded set with a cityscape backdrop. McElderry is clothed by a grey vest and a grey shirt, as he stands in the setting and performs. Throughout the entire video, scenes alternate between the flooded cityscape setting and recycled footage from The X Factor, which are in black and white until it shows him in the live shows in colour. The video concludes with McElderry being informed he won the competition, hugging his peers.

Track listings

1. "The Climb" – 3:36

1. "The Climb" – 3:36
2. "Somebody to Love" – 2:38
3. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" – 2:27