Me and My Imagination

"Me and My Imagination" was written by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Hannah Robinson and co-written and produced by Matt Prime.{{cite news|last=Hoffman|first=K. Ross|title=Trip the Light Fantastic - Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Allmusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/trip-the-light-fantastic-mw0000780709|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=Allmusic|date=21 May 2007}} It is an electronic, dance{{cite web|title=Sophie Ellis-Bextor Me and My Imagination: Allmusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/me-and-my-imagination-cd-1-mw0001109377|work=Allmusic|accessdate=6 August 2012}} and disco song.{{cite news|last=Raposa|first=David|title=Staff Lists: Top 100 Tracks of 2007 | Features | Pitchfork|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/6752-top-100-tracks-of-2007/?page=2|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=Pitchfork|date=17 December 2007}} The lyrics advise an overeager suitor to play harder to get. "I don't need to know your every trick, so keep me guessing just a little bit", coos Sophie.

The song received general acclaim from music critics. K. Ross Hoffman of AllMusic called it "an immaculate disco glide," while Nick Levine of Digital Spy named it "a sun-dappled disco."{{cite news|last=Levine|first=Nick|title=Sophie Ellis-Bextor: 'Trip The Light Fantastic'|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/albumreviews/a58175/sophie-ellis-bextor-trip-the-light-fantastic.html|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=Digital Spy|date=23 May 2007}} Stuart McCaighy of DIY magazine wrote a very positive review, stating "It's an immediate and irresistible slice of pop. The song's pace and melody make the most of Sophie's deadpan delivery. This is modern pop with old time appeal - it sticks in the head and refuses to budge."{{cite news|last=McCaighy|first=Stuart|title=Sophie Ellis Bextor - Trip The Light Fantastic|url=https://diymag.com/archive/sophie-ellis-bextor-trip-the-light-fantastic?token=47UlQxsAze_WB1ujJeTnz1wiKtpCr70f|accessdate=8 October 2020|newspaper=DIY|date=21 May 2007}} Emily MacKay of Yahoo! Music commented: "It's an old-school Sophie handbag house with a soft icy melody and a simple, smart lyrical concept."{{cite news|last=MacKay |first=Emily |title=Sophie Ellis Bextor - Trip The Light Fantastic - Yahoo! Music |url=http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/070524/33/21a40.html |accessdate=6 August 2012 |newspaper=Yahoo! Music |date=24 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722141434/http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/070524/33/21a40.html |archivedate=22 July 2011 }} Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian commented: "She excels herself on the delicious single Me and My Imagination, her disengaged presence helping (along with a walloping melody and frantic violins) to push the song to ecstatic heights."{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Caroline|title=CD: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Trip the Light Fantastic|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/may/18/popandrock.shopping2|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 May 2007}} However, Kitt Empire of The Observer wrote that the song "tries to recreate the Ibizan bliss of her debut album Read My Lips, but ends up more fake tan than sunkissed glow."{{cite news|last=EMpire|first=Kitty|title=CD of the Week: Trip the Light Fantastic by Sophie Ellis Bextor | Music | The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/may/20/popandrock.features1|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=The Observer|date=20 May 2007}} Talia Kraine of BBC Music perceived that the song "recalled days of Read My Lips."{{cite news|last=Kraines|first=Talia|title=BBC - Music - Review of Sophie Ellis Bextor - Trip the Light Fantastic|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/6wvr|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=BBC|date=24 May 2007}}

Andrew Bain of musicOMH wrote a favorable review, commenting "On first listen, most of the song is pretty forgettable, but with some persistence it manages, as all good pop songs do, to burrow neatly into the listener's brain and lodge itself there. However, unlike most other pop songs it achieves this goal with a more understated sound, achieving memorability through a chorus so gentle that you barely realise it's there. In other words, Sophie achieves a good pop single with the class that she is known for, never stooping to the unbearably repetitive nature of most pop. It makes for a much more pleasurable listen, even for those whose tastes usually lie outside the genre. As a whole it is a perfectly listenable and amiable song. If you liked Sophie's previous stuff, especially the last single (and not so much Murder on the Dancefloor), then this single is for you."{{cite news|last=Bain|first=Andrew|title=Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Me and My Imagination (Polydor)|url=http://www.musicomh.com/singles/sophie-ellis-bextor-3_0507.htm|accessdate=6 August 2012|newspaper=musicOMH|date=14 May 2007}} Pitchfork ranked "Me and My Imagination" at number 87 on its list of the 100 Greatest Tracks of 2007. David Raposa wrote:

"Some things Sophie Ellis-Bextor can't do without: the three-minute song, disco strings, pop glitter, and men that play hard-to-get. This standout track from her third solo album is more of the same from a UK pop factory that produces pop hooks most Americans adore only when in the mouths of teenage babes or Gwen Stefani. Radio programmers, please note: Pure sugar like this will go a long way toward making the usual Top 40 placebos easier to swallow."

The single peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart and it sold 10,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[http://www.sophie-online.net/en/ttlf_album.php Me and My Imagination sales in the UK] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505044625/http://www.sophie-online.net/en/ttlf_album.php |date=5 May 2008 }} "Me and My Imagination" later appeared on the Abercrombie & Fitch playlist in America.[http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/lifestyles/flash/af_radio/af_radio.html Abercrombie & Fitch playlist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701214600/http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/lifestyles/flash/af_radio/af_radio.html |date=1 July 2007 }}. abercrombie.com. Retrieved 7 July 2007. On the Russian Top Hit 100, the song debuted at number 96 on the issue dated 21 May 2007.{{cite web|title=TopHit.Ru: Weekly General Airplay Top 100 Hit (21/5 - 27/05/2007)|url=http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1179777600|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221010604/http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1179777600|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 December 2013|work=TopHit.Ru|accessdate=7 August 2012}} On the issue dated 28 May 2007, the song climbed from 96 to 53.{{cite web|title=TopHit.Ru: Weekly General Airplay Top 100 Hit (28/5 - 03/06/2007)|url=http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1180382400|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221005239/http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1180382400|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 December 2013|work=TopHit.Ru|accessdate=7 August 2012}} On the issue dated 4 June 2007, the song moved to number 35.{{cite web|title=TopHit.Ru: Weekly General Airplay Top 100 Hit (4/6 - 10/06/2007)|url=http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1180987200|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221011941/http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1180987200|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 December 2013|work=TopHit.Ru|accessdate=7 August 2012}} The song peaked at number 16 on the chart issue dated 16 July 2007.{{cite web|title=TopHit.Ru: Weekly General Airplay Top 100 Hit (16/7 - 22/07/2007)|url=http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1184616000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221004715/http://www.tophitru.com/airplay_week.shtml?week_st=1184616000|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 December 2013|work=TopHit.Ru|accessdate=7 August 2012}}

The single's digital release caused controversy when iTunes failed to add the song until a week after it was supposed to be released, appearing on 14 May 2007 instead of 7 May 2007. Ellis-Bextor believed she would have scored a top 10 hit if the problem had not occurred.Jonny Evans. [http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsID=18050 "Sophie Ellis Bextor slams iTunes error"]. macworld.co.uk. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007. She described the error as "a nightmare", and believed it placed her chart position in jeopardy.

File:meandmyimaginationvideo.png

The music video was directed by Nourizadeh Nima and filmed in west London. Sophie Muller was Ellis-Bextor's first choice to direct the video, but Muller had to decline the offer when she broke her ankle.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070410122945/http://www.fan-sites.org/sophie/en/info/videography.php Videography]. Sophie Online. Retrieved 2 July 2007. The video features Ellis-Bextor in various places, singing to the camera. There are four sequences; the first takes place on an empty street, which then turns into a black studio. The second features Ellis-Bextor dancing in the studio in front of a troupe of dancers, each wearing illuminated costumes of different colours. The third sequence takes place in a park, while the fourth has Ellis-Bextor finding cover from the rain in London.{{cite web|title=Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Me and My Imagination video|url=https://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/ip76O6g3hZs/search/sophie%20ellis-bextor|work=NME|accessdate=7 August 2012}}

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• 2-track single

1. "Me and My Imagination" – 3:27
2. "Move to the Music" – 3:33

• Maxi single{{cite web|title=iTunes - Musik - Me and My Imagination - EP Sophie Ellis-Bextor|url=https://itunes.apple.com/de/album/me-and-my-imagination-ep/id255525351|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104102542/https://itunes.apple.com/de/album/me-and-my-imagination-ep/id255525351|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 November 2012|work=iTunes|accessdate=7 August 2012}}

1. "Me and My Imagination" – 3:27
2. "Move to the Music" – 3:33
3. "Me and My Imagination" (Tony Lamezma Radio Mix) – 3:43
4. "Me and My Imagination" (StoneBridge Radio Mix) – 3:14
5. "Me and My Imagination" (video)

• 12" picture disc

1. "Me and My Imagination" – 3:28
2. "Here's to You" – 2:46
3. "Catch You" (Riff & Ray's Mix) – 8:17
4. "Me and My Imagination" (StoneBridge Vocal Mix) – 7:20

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• Digital single (2024){{Cite web |title=Me and My Imagination |url=https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/album/2W8iCVI6iMJz2nYP9PDNCs?si=8fcvpUUeSL6R8vXiTPilew |website=Spotify}}

1. "Me and My Imagination" – 3:27
2. "Move to the Music" – 3:32
3. "Here's to You" – 2:47
4. "Me and My Imagination" (StoneBridge Radio Mix) – 3:14
5. "Me and My Imagination" (StoneBridge Remix) – 6:40
6. "Me and My Imagination" (Tony Lamezma Radio Mix) – 3:44
7. "Me and My Imagination" (Tony Lamezma Club Mix) – 5:19

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• Additional production by Justin Spier and Mat Jackson
• All instruments by Matt Prime
• Additional bass: Guy Pratt
• Recorded at Stanley House in 2006

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Trip the Light Fantastic, Interscope Records.{{cite AV media notes |title=Trip the Light Fantastic|others=Sophie Ellis-Bextor |date=2007|type=liner notes |publisher=Fascination Records.}}

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{{Sophie Ellis-Bextor}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Me and My Imagination}}

Category:2007 singles

Category:Sophie Ellis-Bextor songs

Category:Songs written by Matt Prime

Category:Songs written by Hannah Robinson

Category:Songs written by Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Category:2007 songs

Category:Fascination Records singles

Category:Nu-disco songs