Promise This

"Promise This" is an up-tempo dance-pop song written by American songwriter Priscilla Hamilton, British music producer Wayne Wilkins, who was responsible for Cole's debut single "Fight for This Love", and Christopher Jackson. It is written in the music key of C minor with a time signature in common time and a tempo of 151 beats per minute. Cole's vocal range spans from G₃ to E♭₅. The chord progression of the song is Cm, B♭, F in the intro, Cm, E♭, B♭, F in the verse and A♭, E♭, B♭, Cm in the chorus and bridge. The song sees Cole singing some of the lyrics in French, referencing the children's song "Alouette". It was recorded in Santa Monica, California, and "finds her contemplating mortality with a cheerful morbidity, asking for prayers over a brutal march beat."{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-cheryl-cole-messy-little-raindrops-polydor-2119268.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121051318/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-cheryl-cole-messy-little-raindrops-polydor-2119268.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=21 November 2010 | title=Album: Cheryl Cole, Messy Little Raindrops (Polydor) | author=Andy Gill | work=The Independent | publisher=Independent News and Media | date=29 October 2010 | access-date=30 October 2010 }} Tabloids suggested that the lyrics were based upon her divorce from footballer Ashley Cole, and how her dancer friend Derek Hough nursed her to health while she was suffering from malaria.{{cite web |title=Cheryl Cole's new single is a 'coded love message' for Derek |url=http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/197553-cheryl-coles-new-single-is-a-coded-love-message-for-derek/ |website=STV |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116130105/http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/197553-cheryl-coles-new-single-is-a-coded-love-message-for-derek/ |archive-date=16 January 2014 |date=15 September 2010}} The Daily Star had also noted Cole's apparent affection in the song by her use of the French word alouette, meaning "skylark".

"Promise This" received generally favourable reviews from music critics. Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the songs five stars out of five. Levine called the song "a proper bloody corker. 'Promise This' skips along thrillingly from video gamey verses to choruses that shimmer like Cheryl's Saturday night eyelids to, well, those alouettes. The reverby middle 8's pretty ace too."{{cite web | url=http://www.digitalspy.com/music/singlesreviews/a283627/cheryl-cole-promise-this.html | title=Cheryl Cole: 'Promise This' | author=Nick Levine | work=Digital Spy | publisher=Hachette Filipacchi Médias | date=22 October 2010 | access-date=24 October 2010 }} A CBBC Newsround review praised the "thumping dance track" and said "the X Factor judge has a major hit on her hands."{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_9090000/newsid_9096000/9096004.stm | title=Single review: Cheryl Cole – Promise This | work=CBBC Newsround | publisher=BBC | date=22 October 2010 | access-date=24 October 2010 }}

Gavin Martin of the Daily Mirror described the track as "modern electro-pop mash-up with a tribal chorus" and concluded, "A busy, catchy foretaste of Cheryl's forthcoming second album, this should lie comfortably in the Top Five."{{cite web | url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/10/22/cheryl-cole-promise-this-single-review-115875-22651227/ | title=Cheryl Cole – Promise This: Single review | author=Gavin Martin | work=Daily Mirror | publisher=Trinity Mirror | date=22 October 2010 | access-date=24 October 2010 }} A reviewer from OK! magazine said "The upbeat, pop track has more of a dance feel than her previous releases but the songstress hasn't failed to impress with this one – we have it on loop!"{{cite web |url=http://www.ok.co.uk/celebnews/view/26317/Ooo-Cheryl-Cole-s-new-single-Promise-This-is-unveiled-/ |title=Ooo, Cheryl Cole's new single Promise This is unveiled! |publisher=IPC Media |work=OK! |date=14 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130094832/http://www.ok.co.uk/celebnews/view/26317/Ooo-Cheryl-Cole-s-new-single-Promise-This-is-unveiled-/ |archive-date=30 November 2010 |url-status=dead }}

"Promise This" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her second solo UK number one behind "Fight for This Love" (October 2009).{{cite web | url=http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/cheryl-cole/news/244221-cheryl-cole-promise-this-number-1-rihanna-x-factor | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104025040/http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/cheryl-cole/news/244221-cheryl-cole-promise-this-number-1-rihanna-x-factor | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 November 2010 | title=Cheryl Cole scores second solo number 1 | work=MTV News | publisher=MTV | date=1 November 2010 | access-date=1 November 2010 }} It sold 157,210 copies in its debut week,{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_9140000/newsid_9143800/9143863.stm | title=Cheryl Cole's Promise This beats Rihanna to number one | work=CBBC Newsround | publisher=BBC | date=1 November 2010 | access-date=1 November 2010 }} which earned it the highest first-week sales of the year, for a non-charity single at that time.{{cite web | url=http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1043113&c=1 | title=Cole tops 150,000 sales to debut at one | author=Alan Jones | work=Music Week | publisher=United Business Media | date=1 November 2010 | access-date=1 November 2010 }}{{cite magazine | url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/952140/cheryl-cole-rains-on-rihannas-chart-parade | title=Cheryl Cole rains on Rihanna's chart parade | author=Paul Sexton | magazine=Billboard | publisher=Prometheus Global Media | date=1 November 2010 | access-date=1 November 2010 }} It is Cole's fourth solo consecutive top-five single in the United Kingdom and her second solo chart topper.{{cite web |url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/cheryl%20cole/ |title=Artist Discography = Cheryl Cole |publisher=The Official Charts Company |access-date=13 January 2011}} The following week, Cole's second studio album Messy Little Raindrops topped the UK Albums Chart while "Promise This" dropped to number two,{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11706403 | title=Rihanna gets fourth UK number one single | work=BBC News | publisher=BBC | date=7 November 2010 | access-date=24 November 2010 }} "Promise This" was also successful in Ireland, where it also topped the charts.{{cite web | url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-singles-chart/20101031/41/ | title=Top 40 Scottish Singles Archive – 6th November 2010 | work=Official Charts Company | access-date=1 November 2010 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240001&arch=t&lyr=2010&year=2010&week=43 | title=Top 50 singles, week ending 28 October 2010 | work=Irish Singles Chart | publisher=GfK | access-date=1 November 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528001552/http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240001&arch=t&lyr=2010&year=2010&week=43 | archive-date=28 May 2012 | url-status=dead }} It had limited success elsewhere, reaching top-fifteen Hungary and top-twenty in Belgium. As of June 2012, Promise This has sold 427,262 copies in the United Kingdom.

File:Cheryl Cole Promise This Video Snap.jpg-esque black leotard.]]

The video for the song was directed by Sophie Muller and choreographed by Fatima Robinson debuted on 21 September 2010 on UK television channel ITV2.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/cheryl-cole/news/237429-cheryl-cole-promise-this-video |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919135428/http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/cheryl-cole/news/237429-cheryl-cole-promise-this-video |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 September 2010 |title=New Cheryl Cole Promise This Video Pics Hit Web! | Cheryl Cole | News |publisher=Mtv.co.uk |date=15 September 2010 |access-date=14 February 2012}} It incorporates scenes of "silhouetted shapes, cut-outs and projected imagery".{{cite web |url=http://www.promonews.tv/2010/09/21/cheryl-cole%e2%80%99s-promise-this-by-sophie-muller/ |title=Cheryl Cole's Promise This by Sophie Muller |publisher=Promonewstv.com |date=21 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}} Digital Spy's Ryan Love described the theme of the video as "dark and glossy". The X Factor official magazine said the video for the song was "gothic ballet".{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a276602/cheryl-cole-premieres-new-single.html |title=Cheryl Cole premieres new single |publisher=Digital Spy (Hachette Filipacchi Médias) |last=Copsey |first=Robert |date=14 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}} Cole's close friend and bandmate from Girls Aloud, Kimberley Walsh, used her OK! magazine column to say "[Cole's] gone ballerina theme this time – she used to be a great ballerina and went to the London Royal Ballet School, so that's quite fitting."{{cite web |url=http://www.ok.co.uk/celebnews/view/26582/Kimberley-Walsh-LOVES-Cheryl-Cole-s-new-single/ |title=Kimberley Walsh LOVES Cheryl Cole's new single |publisher=IPC Media |work=OK! |date=21 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}}

In the video Cole wears several outfits, described as "gorgeous" by ITN, including a low-cut red dress, a ballerina's leotard, to a short embellished mini-dress. Cole plays a dominant role in part of the video, waiting for a man in a darkened room in one scene and pushing him to the floor with her foot in another. ITN commented on the second part of the film, "We see a softer side to the 27-year-old though, as she dances in a floaty dress, showing off some of her skills which, as a child, won her a sponsorship to study at London's Royal Ballet Summer School." In one of music video's main outfits, Cole is seen wearing 'Wolford Bondage Tights'.{{cite web |url=http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/62967-1285147251-wolford-new-fashion-aw-2010-arrives-at-mytightscom.html |title=Wolford New Fashion A/W 2010 arrives at MyTights.com |publisher=Onlineprnews.com |date=22 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}} "In one scene she is dressed in a Madonna-styled black leotard and black jacket with her hair pushed back in a high ponytail. Another scene shows her dressed as a ballerina, and there's another one where she wears a red flamenco dress, all in all she looks spectacular."{{cite web |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/music/841435-cheryl-cole-s-red-hot-flamenco-look-in-new-video |title=Cheryl Cole's red hot flamenco look in new Promise This video |publisher=Associated Newspapers Ltd |work=Metro |last=Lee |first=Ann |date=20 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}}

Promonewstv commented positively upon the direction marking that "Sophie Muller delivers this sympathetically earnest promo with both graceful and muscular choreography all adding to the drama". A reviewer from ITN News said remarked that Cole was "looking as sexy as ever" in the video.{{cite web|url=http://itn.co.uk/5593d4ff242818e0e2849a6660022910.html|title=Cheryl Cole's new video for Promise This revealed|publisher=ITN|date=20 September 2010|access-date=23 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024152649/http://itn.co.uk/5593d4ff242818e0e2849a6660022910.html|archive-date=24 October 2010|url-status=dead}} Stop Press News agreed with earlier reviews commenting that the video is "hot, but is not x rated" comparing it to other female music artists. The review added, "it is sexy, but not something that you would be embarrassed to watch with your family".{{cite web|url=http://www.stoppressnews.com/cheryl-coles-promise-this-video-is-red-hot/232772/|title=Cheryl Cole's Promise This Video Is Red Hot|publisher=Stoppressnews.com|date=21 September 2010}}

The single was premiered on Chris Moyles' BBC Radio 1 breakfast show on 14 September, where it was introduced as the lead single from Cole's second studio album, Messy Little Raindrops.{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a276911/cheryl-cole-confirms-new-single.html |title=Cheryl Cole confirms new single | work=Digital Spy | publisher=Hachette Filipacchi Médias |last=Copsey |first=Robert |date=15 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/thesound/a277806/alouette-uette-uette.html |title=The Sound – Alouette uette uette | work=Digital Spy | publisher=Hachette Filipacchi Médias |last=Love |first=Ryan |date=20 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}} In addition to her role as a judge on The X Factor, Cheryl Cole made a high-profile appearance on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, in which she discussed her marriage and divorce with Ashley Cole and her life-threatening battle with malaria.{{cite web | url=http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/844935-cheryl-cole-i-will-always-love-ashley | title=Cheryl Cole: I will always love Ashley | author=Amy Duncan | work=Metro | publisher=Associated Newspapers | date=25 October 2010 | access-date=25 October 2010 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2010/10/24/pop-star-cheryl-cole-opens-her-heart-on-marriage-collapse-and-malaria-battle-86908-22655710/ | title=Pop star Cheryl Cole opens her heart on marriage collapse and malaria battle | author=Lauren Crooks | work=Sunday Mail | publisher=Trinity Mirror | date=24 October 2010 | access-date=24 October 2010 }} The show's ratings reached an all-time high.{{cite web | url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a283928/cheryl-cole-boosts-life-stories-to-72m.html | title=Cheryl Cole boosts 'Life Stores' to 7.2m | author=Paul Millar | work=Digital Spy | publisher=Hachette Filipacchi Médias | date=24 October 2010 | access-date=24 October 2010 }} On 24 October, Cole performed "Promise This" on The X Factor's results show. She donned a white tuxedo jacket, "frilly black knickers," knee-high zebra print tights, and leather boots and was joined by multiple back-up dancers.{{cite web | url=http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/844964-cheryl-cole-raunches-up-x-factor-with-sexy-promise-this-performance | title=Cheryl Cole raunches up X Factor with sexy Promise This performance | author=Amy Duncan | work=Metro | publisher=Associated Newspapers | date=25 October 2010 | access-date=25 October 2010 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.heatworld.com/XFactor/2010/10/X-Factor-what-did-YOU-think-of-Cheryl-Coles-Promise-This-performance/ | title=X Factor: what did YOU think of Cheryl Cole's Promise This performance? | work=Heat | publisher=Bauer Media Group | date=25 October 2010 | access-date=25 October 2010 }} She "showcased her vocal and dancing skills with an energetic, raunchy routine that earned a standing ovation from her fellow judges."{{cite web | url=http://entertainment.stv.tv/tv/204658-cheryl-cole-lives-up-to-promise-as-she-shines-on-x-factor/ | title=Cheryl Cole lives up to Promise as she shines on X Factor | work=stv.tv | publisher=STV Group plc | date=24 October 2010 | access-date=25 October 2010 }} Similar to her 2009 performance of "Fight for This Love" on The X Factor, the media speculated whether Cole lip synced or not.

• The X Factor – 24 October 2010
• Children in Need 2010 – 19 November 2010
• Alan Carr: Chatty Man – 20 December 2010
• A Million Lights Tour – October 2012
• Jingle Bell Ball – 8 December 2012

British recording artist Adele covered "Promise This" on 27 January 2011 for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.{{cite web | url=http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/x-factor/x-factor-adele-covers-cheryl-coles-promise-this-on-radio-1-live-lounge/ | title=Unrealitytv.co.uk }}

; CD single

1. "Promise This" – 3:23
2. "Promise This" (Digital Dog Remix Edit) – 3:47

;Digital remix – Exclusive to Nokia Store{{Cite web | url=http://xfactor.itv.com/2010/music/viewer/read_exclusive-cheryls-promise-this-remix_item_100885.htm |title = The X Factor}}

1. "Promise This" (Nu Addiction Dub Mix)

;Digital EP{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0046C4FBS |title=Promise This: Cheryl Cole: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=14 February 2012}}

1. "Promise This" – 3:23
2. "Promise This" (Nu Addiction Radio Edit) – 3:31
3. "Promise This" (Almighty Radio Edit) – 4:04
4. "Promise This" (Digital Dog Remix Edit) – 3:47

;Digital EP – The Remixes{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0046HJR8Y |title=Promise This: Cheryl Cole: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=14 February 2012}}

1. "Promise This" (Mayday's Club Mix) – 4:10
2. "Promise This" (Nu Addiction Club Mix) – 7:52
3. "Promise This" (Almighty Club Mix) – 8:39
4. "Promise This" (Digital Dog Remix) – 6:03
5. "Promise This" (Funkagenda Remix) – 6:47

;Digital 'Christmas' EP – Exclusive Free Download in iTunes '12 Days of Christmas' Promotion{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/promise-this-christmas-bundle/406121299 |title=iTunes Store |date=January 2010 |publisher=iTunes |access-date=14 February 2012}}

1. "Promise This" (Mayday's Drum & Step Mix) – 3:59
2. "Promise This" (Digital Dog Remix Edit – Video) – 3:55
3. "On The Road With Cheryl Cole" (Edit – Video) – 4:09

• Songwriting – Priscilla Hamilton, Wayne Wilkins, Christopher Jackson
• Production, keyboards and programming – Wayne Wilkins
• Backing vocals – Priscilla Renea, RaVaughn Brown
• Mixing – Mark Stent
• Mastering – Brian Gardner

Source:{{cite AV media notes |title=Messy Little Raindrops |title-link=Messy Little Raindrops |others=Cheryl Cole |year=2010 |type=Booklet |publisher=Fascination, Polydor Records (Cat no. 2753287) |location=London, UK}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Promise This|artist=Cheryl Cole|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2001|certyear=2013|id=11647-2305-1|salesamount=490,000|salesref={{cite web |title=Official Chart Flashback 2010: Cheryl's Promise This beats Rihanna to debut at Number 1 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/official-chart-flashback-2010-cheryls-promise-this-beats-rihanna-to-debut-at-number-1__34371/ |publisher=Official Charts |access-date=6 November 2021 |date=9 January 2015 }}}}

{{End}}

• List of number-one singles of 2010 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles from the 2010s (UK)

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Cheryl Cole}}

Category:Cheryl (singer) songs

Category:Songs written by Wayne Wilkins

Category:Music videos directed by Sophie Muller

Category:Polydor Records singles

Category:2010 singles

Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:Number-one singles in Scotland

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Muni Long

Category:2010 songs

Category:Franglais songs