Long Distance (song)

Bruno Mars (pictured) wrote and produced on "Long Distance" along with Phillip Lawrence.[1]

"Long Distance" was written by two-thirds of The Smeezingtons production team, singer Bruno Mars and writer Phillip Lawrence.[2] Penned along with producer Jeff Bhasker, the song was one of the first records Lawrence and Mars team collaborated on.[3] Production on the track was handled by Mars and longtime Brandy contributor Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who expanded the original demo track which was sung by Mars.[3] Eventually scouted by Norwood's A&R manager on Epic Records, Brandon Creed, the track was presented to Norwood, who "fell in love with it" upon hearing and later approved of it.[3] "Long Distance" was recorded at The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California, with Mars, Lawrence and James Fauntleroy serving as vocal producers.[1]

When asked about her relation to the song, whose lyrics deal with the conditions of long-distance relationships,[4] Norwood elaborated that "Whether it's a significant other or your daughter, a lot of people are away from the people they love. I met some lady, and she was telling me her husband is away in Iraq right now. I was like, 'I have the perfect song for you.' Just being in a long-distance relationship, that experience is weird. You're not able to have that time, and you need that time."[5] She further added: "I was like 'Oh my God so many people can relate to this! This is big!' It was all beautiful and Rodney [Jerkins] came in and did his thing on it."[3]

"Long Distance" was released to positive reception by critics. Hillary Crosley of Billboard gave the song a positive review, stating: "An old radio wives' tale says that a good ballad will carry an artist through the winter months – and up the charts. As such, Brandy follows her comeback single "Departed" with another slow burn about loss. But this time, her lyric details a long-distance relationship and how difficult it is to go on while her beau is away. The piano-driven track is peppered with layered vocals from the songstress. It's refreshing to hear Brandy's voice again and equally heartwarming to see she and Rodney Jerkins reunite creatively."[6] Talia Kraines, writing for BBC Music, described the song as the soundtrack to "a heartbreaking moment on a Grey's Anatomy finale." She found that the "understated ballad is just as good as [Beyoncé's] "If I Were A Boy" and "should be a global hit, beating with surging strings and tenderness."[7]

Jon Pareles, writing for The New York Times described "Long Distance" as "a hymnlike single that distantly echoes Janet Jackson’s "Again."[8] Nick Bond from MTV Australia called the song "the album's safest moment" and sumed it as a "bombastic piano ballad worthy of Whitney Houston."[9] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe praised the "warmer, more organic" structure of the song, which she found distinguished from the rest of the Human album, and noted that the song "brings out the expressive best in Brandy's pleasantly raspy vocalizing,"[10] while Melody Charles from SoulTracks declared the song "achingly vulnerable."[11] By contrast, Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine criticized the song's "attempt at recapturing Brandy's past successes," and further wrote that it "sounds like a cliché power ballad that could have been sung by Phil Collins or Peter Cetera in the '80s as the theme for some big Hollywood popcorn flick."[12]

Notes

• ^{^[A]} denotes additional producer

Credits lifted the album's liner notes.[1]

"Long Distance" became Norwood's second song to top Billboard's Dance Club Songs during the week of March 21, 2009.[18]