How I wrote Christina Aguilera’s ‘What A Girl Wants’ by Shelly Peiken

Shelly Peiken on writing What A Girl Wants: “One day I wrote something down about it on a receipt. Songwriters love receipts…”

The multi-platinum songwriter recalls how she wrote Aguilera’s second No 1 single and one of the biggest hits of 2000

Multi-platinum songwriter Shelly Peiken has penned tracks for stars including Brandy, Britney Spears, The Pretenders and Keith Urban. One of her biggest hits came in 1998 when she co-wrote the Meredith Brooks anthem Bitch. Her book Confessions Of A Serial Songwriter, part memoir and part writing aid, is a must-read for anyone interested in the process of crafting songs.

Alongside Bitch, one of Shelly’s main successes was with the Christina Aguilera song What A Girl Wants, which she co-wrote with producer Guy Roche. Such was the track’s popularity that it knocked Santana’s Smooth off the No. 1 spot to become the first new chart-topper of the 21st century in the US. Peiken takes us through the song’s journey, from scribbled receipt to mainstream smash…

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Released: 28 November 1999
Artist: Christina Aguilera
Label: RCA
Songwriter: Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche
Producer: Guy Roche
UK chart position: 3
US chart position: 1

“I used to get together with my friend Guy Roche. We’d go into a studio and he’d sometimes have a beat up and would be preparing demos. He started playing something and I remembered those thoughts I’d had and that receipt at the bottom of my purse that I had scribbled them down on. I went scavenging for it and I sung the lines along with what he was playing. The funny thing was that it started ‘what a girl needs / what a girl wants’ and so we were calling it What A Girl Needs. I thought it was kind of hooky, we didn’t have the whole thing but we probably had a lot of it except the bridge. I went home and I remember my husband was reading a book and I said ‘I need you to hear this little snippet and tell me what you think.’ He’s not really a pop junkie, he’s a composer, but he listened to it and said ‘that’s really hooky honey, good luck,’ and shooed me away. I thought ‘if he’s going to use one word then “hooky” is a good one.’

“We went and finished it and then must have sent it out to 25 A&R’s for pitching. Finally, it went to Ron Fair who had been working with Christina. I don’t think she was signed yet, he liked it but said ‘I like the idea of what a girl wants better than I like the idea of what a girl needs.’ I think that’s because ‘wants’ has more yearning whereas ‘needs’ is more needy. He said ‘would you consider changing those around?’ I’d have to change the whole rhyme scheme if I switched the concept but it wasn’t unreasonable. Ron’s a really smart guy and he knows songs. It wasn’t some 20-year-old A&R guy saying something of the top of his head because he wanted 10% of the song. I found a way to rework it so everything rhymed and it did feel stronger.

How I wrote ‘What A Girl Wants’ in Songwriting Magazine August 2017

“Christina recorded it and it was following the footsteps of Genie In A Bottle. I think a whole combination of stars collided which would be; she had the pipes, she had a great A&R guy, it was on a label that was giving her a push, she had the momentum of following another No 1 song and I’d like to think that the song itself catapulted it. It was a No 1 record and it was on the pop charts for over 20 weeks. I was ecstatic when I heard Christina’s version. I’m not always pleased when I hear a record that was made after I loved the demo but in this case, I was because they sprinkled fairy dust on it. The demo was very slow and lethargic and I was just happy that Ron saw the potential in it, because he might not have.

“It’s sing-songable, the melody repeats itself and so do some of the words and the title and I have to say my song Bitch does that same thing. I don’t know if that’s something I do unconsciously, it’s not like I’m trying to do that but sometimes I look at them and go, ‘What do these have in common?’ and it’s certainly that laundry list repetition of what you are or what I am or some kind of call to action.”

For all Shelly Peiken’s latest news head to shellypeiken.com

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