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U Smile” is a song performed by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber. It was written by Justin Bieber, Jerry Duplessis, Arden Altino, and Dan August Rigo, and produced by Duplessis and Altino. According to Bieber, the song is dedicated to his fans. The song was released as the second digital-only single from the latter half of Bieber's debut album on March 16, 2010. It was released to mainstream radio in Canada on August 9, 2010, followed by a mainstream and rhythmic release on August 24, 2010, in the United States as the album's third single there.

The song, a piano and instrument driven blue-eyed soul ballad, garnered acclaim from critics as a standout track from the album. The song charted at seventeen and twenty-seven respectively in the United States and Canada, and later charted in the United Kingdom. Bieber performed the song as an intro to "Baby" on the ninth season of American Idol and on Saturday Night Live.

Background[]

"U Smile" was supposed to be for Musiq Soulchild's project MusiqInTheMagiq (2011). It never made it because Musiq never heard it. The project was played for a bunch of A&Rs who wanted to see what the writers were doing and how it was going. They played "U Smile" and Eric Nicks said “I love that you guys are working on this Musiq Soulchild project. It’s beautiful. It sounds great, but that record right there, we need it.” Wonda & Keyz were like, “Uh, you can’t have it. It’s part of the project.” Nicks said, “That record we need for Justin Bieber.” At the time, they didn’t know who Justin Bieber was, but were told, “He’s a kid that’s going viral. He’s huge. Y’all need to be on this project. You cannot tell us no.”[1]

Bieber helped co-write the song along with Jerry Duplessis, Arden Altino and Dan August Rigo, but he had particularly high praise for someone else he worked with on the track. "I worked with August. I got him. He's a really good writer," Bieber said of his friend and collaborator. "The song is amazing. We really love the song, so we decided to cut it. It's really amazing."[2]

In an interview with MTV News, Bieber said, "'U Smile' is one of the best songs I have ever recorded," he wrote, "It really is a throwback to the great records I listened to growing up. ... I wrote it for all my fans who got me here." Bieber explained on his Twitter that his fans "took him from a small town in Canada" to the "amazing opportunity" he is living now, and feels "grateful for everything" and "blessed" for the support. Bieber confirmed he co-wrote the track with August Rigo. He also told his fans to enjoy it as they are the ones who give him his strength in this.

Audio[]

Performances[]

Date Event City Notes
March 9, 2010 QVC West Chester Acoustic
March 12, 2010
March 16, 2010 MTV's Live Leak Acoustic
March 21, 2010 Rodeo Houston Houston
March 24, 2010 Special Concert at Rosemont Theatre Rosemont
March 25, 2010
March 31, 2010 American Idol
April 1, 2010 Radio Disney Burbank Acoustic
April 5, 2010 Easter Egg Roll Washington, D.C.
April 9, 2010 Private concert at Long Beach Middle School Long Beach
April 10, 2010 Saturday Night Live New York City
April 11, 2010 Walmart Soundcheck New York City
April 26, 2010 Sunrise Sydney A cappella
May 13, 2010 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Burbank A cappella
May 14, 2010 Channel 933's Summer Kick Off Concert 2010 San Diego
May 15, 2010 2010 Wango Tango Los Angeles
June 5, 2010 Fearless Tour opening Foxborough
June 12, 2010 Justin Bieber at Atlantis Bahamas
September 12, 2010 MTV Video Music Awards 2010 Los Angeles A cappella
October 12, 2010 Acoustic Showcase Osaka Acoustic
October 13, 2010 LaQua Tokyo Acoustic
November 2, 2010 Golden Ticket Concert Phoenix Acoustic
June 11, 2011 Benefit concert for College Track Saratoga

Date Event City
December 21, 2011 Home for the Holidays Toronto Acoustic

Tour Date Performances
My World Tour 2010-2011 (All dates) 130
Purpose World Tour April 29, 2016 1

Lyrics[]

[Intro]
Oh whoa
Yeah
Mmmm

[Verse 1]
I’d wait on you forever and a day
Hand and foot
Your world is my world, yeah
Ain’t no way you ever gon’ get any less than you should

[Chorus]
‘Cause baby
You smile, I smile, oh
‘Cause whenever you smile, I smile
Hey, hey, hey

[Verse 2]
Your lip’s my biggest weakness
Shouldn’t have let you know
I’m always gonna do what they say, hey
If you need me I’ll come running from a thousand miles away

[Chorus]
When you smile, I smile
Oh whoa
You smile, I smile, hey

[Verse 3]
Baby, take my open heart and all it offers
‘Cause this is as unconditional as it’ll ever get
You ain’t seen nothing yet
I won’t ever hesitate to give you more

[Chorus]
‘Cause baby (Hey), you smile, I smile, whoa
You smile, I smile, hey, hey, hey
You smile, I smile, I smile, I smile, I smile
You smile, I smile, make me smile, baby

[Bridge]
Baby, you won’t ever want for nothing
You are my ends and my means now
With you there’s no in between, I’m all in
‘Cause my cards are on the table and I’m willing and I’m able
But I fold to your wish ‘cause it’s my command, hey, hey, hey

[Chorus]
You smile, I smile, whoa
You smile, I smile, hey, hey, hey
You smile, I smile, I smile, I smile, I smile
You smile, I smile, oh

[Outro]
You smile, I smile
You smile, I smile


Music video[]

On September 30, 2010, the music video for "U Smile" premiered online, it was directed by Colin Tilley. Bieber had stated that the video for "U Smile" was about "letting fans experience the ultimate fantasy for any hard-core Belieber: being Justin's girlfriend", further explaining in a tweet, "I took the opportunity 2 make a video 4 the fans, about a fan, and how we could fall IN LOVE." Mawuse Ziegbe from MTV met the video with a positive review. Ziegbe felt that the video suggested "a more mature Bieber, who appears to relish the quiet moments with his gal pal away from the nonstop fan hysteria." Ziegbe also felt that the video "displayed [Bieber's] skills as an instrumentalist, as he belts out the lyrics from behind a grand piano throughout much of the vid."

Starting out in a black and white frame (and later incorporating scenes of color), a group of girls are seen standing outside on the street while Bieber is seen exiting a building while trying to walk away without getting noticed. This however, is unsuccessful as the girls run up to Bieber; he then takes pictures and signs autographs with the girls. While this is happening Bieber takes an interest with one particular girl asking her to meet him later on, to which she agrees. As the song starts playing Bieber is seen sitting in an empty auditorium playing the piano and singing. When Bieber's date shows up they sneak into an empty theater where they are seen; holding hands, horsing around on the theater's seats, and sliding down banisters. At the ending of the video they are seen engaging in a playful back-alley water fight and eventually collapse into each other's arms while Bieber is playing the piano back inside the theater.

Awards and nominations[]

Year Nomination Award Result
2011 MTV Video Music Awards Best Male Video Won
StarShine Music Awards Best Ballad Nominated
Youth Rock Awards Rockin' Music Video of the Year Nominated

Credits[]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[3]

  • Producer: Arden Altino / Jerry Duplessis / Kuk Harrell
  • Composer: Arden Altino / Dan Rigo / Jerry Duplessis / Justin Bieber
  • Lyricist: Arden Altino / Dan Rigo / Jerry Duplessis / Justin Bieber
  • Additional Keyboards: Paul J. Falcone
  • Assistant Mixer: Dave Clauss
  • Associated Performer: Arden Altino / Ben DeFusco / Bruno Beatz / Fred Yonnet / Paul J. Falcone
  • Asst. Recording Engineer: Travis Harrington / William Villane
  • Co-Producer: Arden Altino
  • Engineer: Pat Thrall
  • Guitar: Ben DeFusco / Bruno Beatz
  • Harmonica: Fred Yonnet
  • Recording Engineer: Andy Grassi / Dave Clauss / Serge Tsai / Warren Babson
  • Studio Personnel: Andy Grassi / Dave Clauss / Glen Marchese / Pat Thrall / Serge Tsai / Travis Harrington / Warren Babson / William Villane

References[]

  1. Folk, Antwane (May 21, 2021). "Board + Pen: Arden ‘Keyz’ Altino". Rated R&B. 
  2. Vena, Jocelyn (March 16, 2010). "Justin Bieber Raves About 'Amazing' New Single 'U Smile'". MTV. 
  3. Bieber, Justin. "Credits / My World 2.0 / Justin Bieber – TIDAL". Tidal. 


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