Carrie Underwood Announces New Single, “See You Again” (With Reaction Roundup)!

By On 03/19/2013 · 25 Comments · In American Idol, Carrie Underwood

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One day after scoring her 16th country Mediabase #1 hit (out of 17 official country singles) with the gold-selling “Two Black Cadillacs,” Carrie Underwood took to Twitter to announce the 4th single from her 4th album, and the choice was somewhat of a surprise. Let’s hear from Carrie herself

Ok…I am so excited to announce that, hopefully, your radios will soon be blasting “See You Again!” I hope you are as happy as I am!

Check out “See You Again” here:

“See You Again” is a song that Carrie originally cowrote with David Hodges and Hillary Lindsey when they were invited to write an end credits song for The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. As such, it’s a faith-based pop song expressing the belief that though people pass on, she will once again meet those she cares about in Heaven. The Narnia producers would choose a different song, the Golden-Globe nominated power ballad “There’s A Place For Us” for the film, but in this video, Carrie says she loved “See You Again” so much, she wanted to sing it somewhere and felt it fit the Blown Away album:

The choice of this single has spawned fan reaction that seems to fall in 1 of 2 camps:

Camp 1: Yessssssssssss!!!!! Catchy song, infectious melody, Carrie sounds amazing, she always releases a faith-based song, I don’t care that it isn’t country because Carrie’s voice still sounds country and little of country radio is really country anyway, this song means a lot to her, and maybe this will cross over to CCM formats if not maybe HAC.

Camp 2: Um, Carrie? Don’t get us wrong, we love how you pushed the envelope with “Blown Away” and “Two Black Cadillacs.” But remember how your album has all these great true country songs like “Wine After Whiskey,” “Cupid’s Got A Shotgun,” and “Leave Love Alone” and some really wonderful country/pop ballads like “Do You Think About Me,” “Forever Changed,” and “Thank God For Hometowns” and even the lovely pop/country ballad “Good In Goodbye”? How about some single love for that side of the album? And how is a song like this going to do on country radio?

In the country world, Kelli Haywood, current Director of Strategic Marketing & Brand Development at Narvel Blackstock’s Starstruck Management Group, former VP Brand Marketing at Warner Brothers Nashville and wife of Lady Antebellum‘s Dave Haywood replied to Carrie’s tweet with a touching response:

@carrieunderwood a beautiful tribute to those we will “see again” one day in Heaven – a beautiful reminder that I will see my Dad again.

Country Universe’s Kevin Coyne mentioned “See You Again” as one of his top 3 album tracks in his Blown Away blurb for Country Universe’s Top Albums Of 2012 as did Roughstock’s Matt Bjorke in recapping that site’s favorite albums of 2012. Urban Country News offers an endorsement with reservations, saying:

What pulls it over the line however, and presumably why it has become a fan-favorite, is its sincerity in wishing to bring comfort and Underwood’s confident performance.

Going back to the week Blown Away was released last May, “See You Again” was the 3rd best-selling album track behind the title track and “Good In Goodbye,” selling 15k. Blown Away the album had sold 1.346 million copies in the US as of last week and over 100k copies in Canada, also making a t5 debut on the Australian ARIA album charts and a debut of #11 on the UK album charts. Lead single “Good Girl” topped both the Mediabase and Billboard country airplay charts and has sold over 1.651 million downloads, second single “Blown Away” also topped both the Mediabase and Billboard country airplay charts for two weeks and is about to sell 2 million downloads, and third single “Two Black Cadillacs” topped the Mediabase country airplay chart after selling over 538k downloads.

How do you think “See You Again” will do as a single, and which camp do you belong to when it comes to its selection as a single?

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1638805698 Jason Scott

    I’m definitely in Camp #2. It’s actually one of the songs I frequently skip if I’m listening to the whole album. I’m not really a fan. She showed such creative and musical steps forward with GG, BA and TBC that this just feels like a letdown, especially considering standouts DYTAM or WAW will never be released because of this.

  • Mateja Praznik

    Ugh, I find it a bit bland. I wanted “One Way Ticket” for late spring/early summer and then finish with “Cupid’s got a Shotgun”.

  • Eileen99

    I’m a solid Camp 1 and may have tweeted that exact yesssss when I saw Carrie’s announcement. I definitely did not expect SYA to be the choice & was actually pretty surprised she announced the next single so quickly, because I wasn’t sure if we’d see Arista keep working 2BC or not. We have our answer now.

    I think SYA would do well on Christian radio & also HAC, which makes me wonder if this is part of the plan with this single. Good Girl made the mid to lower end of the HAC chart and I really thought BA would do a better there than it did (lower end of the chart iirc). idk if Arista just didn’t put any effort into BA outside of Country or if the song didn’t get the reaction they expected. In any event, I think SYA could be a better crossover success than either of those songs if they decide to work it.

    I do understand the feeling in Camp #2, however, and know a lot of people were hoping for a “country” single to follow the first three singles, which did lean pop/rock for sure. I see a lot of speculation around the first four singles being the first four album tracks & maybe Do You Think About Me being the fifth single. That one is definitely country to my ear & reminiscent of The Band Perry’s sound.

  • http://twitter.com/AmirHazwan Amir Hazwan ?

    I am definitely Camp 1. Although I’m a bit worried that it’s too pop but this song is very personal to me. I lived in London for about 5 years for my degree and this album/song came out right before I was about to leave London for good last year after my graduation. I had to leave all my friends and someone I love so much and this song always makes me cry. It is definitely my top 3 of all her singles she’s ever released. I have no idea how it’s gonna do on country radio but I know it’ll sell.

  • http://twitter.com/bluinjewin Landon Cox

    Cupid’s Got a Shotgun is such a great song, hope it gets released

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Wui-Zhuan-Lim/777616348 Wui Zhuan Lim

    Camp 1 FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://twitter.com/tippingcow Em

    Camp 1. This wasn’t my top choice for a single, but it is definitely
    one of my favorite tracks on the album. Pleasantly surprised to see this
    get picked as single!

    This era has been REALLY good in terms of singles. Among all the faith-based/inspirational singles Carrie has released (one per album era), this is actually my top favorite, tied with So Small. (I’m in the minority who
    aren’t that in love with JTTW… heh).

    I hope the chart run and success of this song will go on longer over the summer period, so that it will be too late to release OWT as single #5…*grin*. We can then have track #5 as single #5, and this era would be perfect!

  • mad1son

    This song is the musical version of a Hallmark sympathy card. The sentiment is nice, but the lyrics and melody are utterly generic. It’s a real step backward from the quirky storytelling of Blown Away and TBC.

  • http://twitter.com/Sofa_Critic Sofa Critic

    The song has a nice sentiment and good vocals from Carrie (especially the falsetto section). However, the song is lightweight and doesn’t have the strong hooks found on her previous BA singles. I predict Top 10, but not Top 5.

  • vdawg

    SYA is my favorite “pop” song on Blown Away, I love it. I just wish they would have released a more country song such as Do You Think About Me or Leave Love Alone. I know my favorite Wine After Whiskey will never be a single since my favorites never become singles. I would have even taken Nobody Ever Told You since the production is great on that song. I do feel they think they can go to Christian radio with this and HAC. I guess they want more crossover and I guess I can’t blame them. I can only hope one more song becomes a single. and maybe DYTAM, GIG, LLA or WAW.

  • girlygirltoo

    This sounds like something that could do well on CCM. I don’t know if it will interest HAC radio.

  • FinalFantasy13

    I loved this song and first heard it on idol. so I’m all for it.. Although I could understand why the hardcore country fans would be upset that she chose the 4 least country songs on her album has her first 4 singles lol..

  • http://twitter.com/pokepikalem Le Viet Anh Nghi

    Have always been a Carrie fan, i’m camp #2 this time. Sorry, the first 3 singles are great, this is NOT. Too bland, too generic.

  • http://twitter.com/HaleyOnEllen GET HALEY ON ELLEN=)

    It’s funny how she released track 1 as single 1, track 2 as single 2 and so on… Hahaha apart from that, it’s one of my favorite song on the album happy for Carrie and I wish her the best!

  • undrwood9098

    PERFECT SINGLE CHOICE! This era is immaculate.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000075236182 Diana Adams Tyler

    I like Carrie Underwood’s new song, I Will See You Again, a lot.

  • http://www.celebritybug.net/ Amanda (Celebrity Bug)

    As much as I love Carrie, I hate the fact that she rarely takes her fans’ wants into consideration when she is picking singles or planning tours. On the official Carrie forums, fans have been begging for her to add Wine After Whiskey or Good in Goodbye to the second leg of her tour and she does them a disservice by just adding Flat on the Floor. A song that isn’t on her current album and one that the masses probably don’t even care to hear.

    Now, she picks a single that is one of the most forgettable on the album. I simply don’t understand, its too pop and in my opinion, this is why Miranda keeps beating her out for awards despite having a lesser voice.

  • babylockthemdoors

    I love Carrie so much but this single choice is my least favorite ever. This is the lone track in the Blown Away album that I often skip. The ooh-oohs are blaring too much and the power-pop production is just over the top. I’d take the embarrasing “lick it” part in the summer tune “One Way Ticket” any day over “I will see you ageeeeen” in this new single. :p

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1638805698 Jason Scott

    Completely agree. Miranda just released “Mama’s Broken Heart,” which, imo, is one of her best songs she’s ever released. SYA is exactly why Carrie loses awards.

  • babylockthemdoors

    I also agree. What I have always wondered is if Carrie intends to stay in the country genre and is half-hearted in crossing over to pop, why does she keep on releasing half-baked singles that are neither good country songs nor pop songs? I guess I get the point of Taylor Swift saying that “Mean” was too bluegrass and that many songs from Red were unabashedly pop. She’d rather be “too something” than be “not enough of something”.

  • FinalFantasy13

    I don’t think it’s fair to say she doesn’t listen to her fans.. A lot of them were asking for see you again to be a single.. You can’t please everyone.

  • LongKissGoodnight

    I would not call myself a fan but there are usually 1-2 songs on Carry’s album that I love and pick out for my audio collection.
    This time around it was “Cupid’s Got A Shotgun,” and “Leave Love Alone”, so it would be nice to see them released as singles at one point.

  • http://twitter.com/AmirHazwan Amir Hazwan ?

    does she have the final say on what should and shouldn’t be a single? I thought the label has the ultimate power.

  • windmills

    The awards point is completely naive. Mama’s Broken Heart is the 1st good single from Miranda’s album, and she’s been winning country awards for Over You, a pop song that sounds like an uncreative 12 year old wrote it. Notice that at the Grammys, not only was Over You not nominated as a song or vocal performance but when Miranda performed it, the audience was full of no1curr. I saw a number of country media people noticing and writing about the Grammy audience’s lack of interest.

    Awards are political, look no further than the disparity between the Grammys and the CMAs/ACMs. The CMAs/ACMs are all about whatever the “power couple” does, no matter how good or bad, and the Grammys aren’t. The Grammy winner for Best Country Song and Best Solo Vocal Performance didn’t even get nominated for Single/Song Of The Year at the ACMs despite its huge success and critical acclaim. It’s a joke.

    Carrie’s took 2 out of the 3 biggest risks by any act at country radio in the last year (the other big risk being by Kacey Musgraves) by releasing Blown Away and Two Black Cadillacs. As Country Weekly pointed out, what makes Carrie stand out is the fact that she takes a lot of classic country themes and adapts them to contemporary sounds. She’s not trying to be a CHR/Pop hitmaker like Taylor because she’s not interested in that. I’ve always said: Kelly and Carrie are 2 Idols who have had superstardom at their doorstep, and they both in their own way chose not to pursue it.

    Carrie’s versions of pop songs aren’t pop because she wants to be on pop radio, they are pop because she has pop influences and she goes about them in her own way. Not even her country singles this era cater to country radio formulas. And that’s why the first 3 singles from this era have been among Carrie’s most critically acclaimed singles, while being successful anyway.

    See You Again was not in my t4 picks for the next single, I wanted sometimes countrier. But I’ve always thought of SYA as a fan favorite. I also really love Carrie’s voice on it. There’s something about how she sings on her faith-based songs that’s special. Clearly it’s going to be added to her setlist now that it’s going to be a single (they already played it at a couple shows) so, that’ll address one of the requests a lot of fans were making about the set list. As far as the other set list changes, I wish Carrie hadn’t dropped Do You Think About Me but adding Flat On The Floor and dropping her Aerosmith cover of Sweet Emotion were 100% the right decisions IMO. She already plays a longer set list of songs than a lot of country headliners.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1006015841 Amber Shannon

    I am a huge Carrie fan, and unforturnately I’m in Camp 2!!! There are so many other great written songs, my favorite being “Wine After Whiskey” that I don’t think “See You Again” will do anything on the charts. Basically, I don’t see it fitting in anywhere. Really disappointed and I would at least liked to have heard it at her concert. I think Wine After Whiskey could have been the single she needed to win Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year again by her country pals. Darn shame!