The Top 250 Hits of the Last 50 Years - #222 Again - Janet Jackson

"Again" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from her fifth studio album, janet. (1993). Written and produced by Jackson, James Harris III, and Terry Lewis, the ballad was released as the album's third single in October 1993. "Again" topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in late 1993 and received nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Song information[edit]

Based on a lost love, "Again" was included as the closing song to her 1993 box-office film debut in Poetic Justice. While not included on its soundtrack album, the song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 66th Academy Awards, where Jackson performed the song live. The janet. jazz-funky track "Funky Big Band" appears on the single as a B-side. A French version of the song was also recorded by Jackson and appears on the CD single as well as the limited edition of the janet. album. The track became her seventh number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying atop for two weeks.

Since its release, Jackson has performed the song on all of her tours, including the janet. Tour, The Velvet Rope Tour, All for You Tour, Rock Witchu Tour, and the Number Ones: Up Close and Personal tour where it was dedicated to Phoenix, Ariz and Oslo, Norway. She also performed it on the season 9 finale of American Idol.

Composition[edit]

"Again" is set in common time with a key of C major. Jackson's vocal chords ranges between the tonal nodes of high-tone G₃ to low-tone D₅. The song is in a moderate tempo of 64 beats per minute with the chord progression being set like C–G–Am–F–C–Dm7/G in the first verse and C–E–Am7–D9 in the chorus.

Music video[edit]

The music video for the song was directed by Jackson's then-husband René Elizondo, Jr. in 1993. It features actor Gary Dourdan as Jackson's lost love, with Jackson writing in her diary as she reminisces about her love through flashbacks. The alternate version of the video contains scenes from Poetic Justice playing on a television. The original video appears on the 1994 compilation janet. and the 2004 DVD From janet. to Damita Jo: The Videos, while thePoetic Justice version is included on the 2001 DVD edition of All for You.

Covers and samples[edit]

"Again" was covered by How to Dress Well and appeared as a bonus track on his 2012 album "Total Loss", which was also inspired by Janet's "The Velvet Rope".

The song was sampled by Iyaz on his 2010 single "Solo", which became a Top 3 hit in Europe.