Love Today (song)

Background and composition

Love Today was written by Mika and produced by Greg Wells. He described the story behind the song in an interview with the Sun Newspaper, on 2 February 2007:

"I was really happy when I wrote this and when I'm in that kind of mood I always hope everyone else feels the same way. Everybody is looking for the same thing - to love someone and be loved back. Or just to get laid. It all depends on how you look for it. 'Love Today' captures that, the euphoric feeling you get when those things go right."

Mika revealed to The Times, on 20 November 2009 that the song came fully formed "after the first time I had sleepy with somebody and actually loved it."

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from music critics. Heather Phares from AllMusic wrote that on the song "Mika straddles the line between adorable and annoying." John Murphy from musicOMH agreed, writing that his voice is "infuriating" on the track. In the same vein, Graham Griffith from About.com wrote that the song "finds itself hijacked by Mika's otherwise appealing falsetto, which morphs into an unflattering shriek and transforms the song into something altogether intolerable." Writing for Digital Spy, Nick Levine called the song's chorus a "lost disco classic" and noted that Mika performs the track with similar enthusiasm displayed by the Scissor Sisters.

Christian John Mikane from PopMatters wrote that the song is "sincere." Mikane further added that "The pop-disco arrangement of 'Love Today' dresses Mika in legwarmers and leotards; it's the kind of song you'd expect the TV cast of Fame to perform mid-episode. Frankly, it's refreshing to hear an unproven artist take risks with material that, historically, is subject to derision." Craig McLean from The Observer called it "turbo-funk falsetto fun genetically modified to lay waste to hen nights and Freshers' Balls from Dundee to Dungeness."

Track listings

UK CD single

1. "Love Today"
2. "The Only Lonely One" (demo)
3. "Billy Brown" (acoustic)
4. "Love Today" (Switch remix)

UK 7-inch single :A. "Love Today" (album version) :B. "Stuck in the Middle" (acoustic version)

UK 12-inch single

1. "Love Today" (Switch remix)
2. "Love Today" (Rob Mello No Ears vocal)
3. "Love Today" (Rob Mello No Ears dub)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

"Love Today" was used by Motorola for online and mobile-phone spots in its RED campaign in early 2007. The song could also be heard in an ad for Motorola RED that featured comic Chris Kattan dancing that was shown before movie trailers in theaters at this time.

The song was also used as the background music during the National Costume and Opening Presentation of Miss Universe 2008 held in Nha Trang, Vietnam. A portion of this song was used as a background song in a TV commercial for Indonesian isotonic drink Mizone in 2010. It also featured as background music in the first episode of The Shrink Next Door (miniseries) when they are at Dr. Ike's party at the Hamptons house.

"Love Today" has also been featured in a number of films including Get Him to the Greek, Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage and Monte Carlo.

"Love Today" was featured on commercials of the Chilean department stores chain Corona on 2011 for its new logo.

References

References

1. "Love Today by Mika Songfacts". Songfacts.
2. Phares, Heather. "Life in Cartoon Motion - Mika | AllMusic". [[AllMusic]].
3. Murphy, John. (5 February 2007). "Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion | album reviews | musicOMH". [[MusicOMH]].
4. "MIKA - Life in Cartoon Motion". [[About.com]].
5. Levine, Nick. (20 March 2007). "Mika: 'Love Today'". [[Digital Spy]].
6. Wikane, Christian John. (26 March 2007). "Mika: Life in Cartoon Motion < PopMatters". [[PopMatters]].
7. Ennever, Lizzie. (2 February 2007). "BBC - Music - Review of Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion". [[BBC]].
8. McLean, Craig. (21 January 2007). "Mika, Life in Cartoon Motion | Music | The Observer". [[The Guardian]] [[The Observer]].
9. (2007). "Love Today". [[Island Records]], [[Casablanca Records]].
10. (2007). "Love Today". Island Records, Casablanca Records.
11. (2007). "Love Today". Island Records, Casablanca Records.
12. (10 September 2007). "The ARIA Report: European Top 20 Charts – Week Commencing 10th September 2007". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
13. "2007/26. heti Editors' Choice Top 40 slágerlista". [[Association of Hungarian Record Companies.
14. (14 April 2007). "Pop 100".
15. "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2007". ARIA.
16. "Jaaroverzichten 2007". [[Ultratop]].
17. "Rapports annuels 2007". Ultratop.
18. "European Hot 100 Singles".
19. "Tops de L'année {{!}} Top Singles 2007". [[Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
20. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007". [[Official Charts Company]].
21. (22 December 2007). "The Year in Music & Touring 2007: Hot Dance Club Play Tracks".
22. (21 April 2007). "New Releases: Singles".
23. (23 July 2007). "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 23rd July 2007". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
24. (2007-02-05). "Mika".