“Where Are You Gonna Hide” is a song recorded by Babyface and released as the fourth and final single for their debut album, “We Are... Babyface”
The song reached number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming another top-10 single from We Are... Babyface. And entered the top-10 on charts of numerous regions, including Australia and Canada. It also made the top 40 in countries like the United Kingdom, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. The accompanying music video was directed by Kyle Newman and premiered on February 13, 2020. It topped the charts in South Africa.
Background[]
“Where Are You Gonna Hide" merely began as an instrumental track written by David Andrew Sitek for himself and guitarist Jahaan Sweet. Sweet, detailing the collaboration with Day and Martinez (aka Babyface) to the Grammys, stated that the track was not initially intended for anyone and he "didn’t have a clue that Babyface would sing on it." However, the collaboration with Babyface was made possible when Boi-1da played the track to D’Mile, El Michels in his room at Church studios, London, with Zella becoming interested in the track after overhearing the beat through the door. After D’Mile agreed on the collaboration, Jahaan, Cool & Dre, David, and D’Mile then proceeded to write new lyrics to the track.
"Where Are You Gonna Hide" debuted as a snippet in a Target Commericial to promote their album. In late August, Universal Records head Scott Borchetta answered a fan's question on an impromptu Q&A on social networking site Twitter. The fan asked, "What's Babyface’s next single?," and Borchetta responded promptly that he was leaning towards "Where Are You Gonna Hide"—it was an "obvious single choice", according to Billboard. In October 2019, Blackground officially announced "Where Are You Gonna Hide" as Babyface’s fourth single from We Are... Babyface, set for a release of November 25th. Martinez explained the meaning and inspiration of the song to Ryan Seacrest during an interview on iHeartRadio in December 2019.
Composition[]
”Where Are You Gonna Hide" has a tempo of 95 beats per minute and is written in the key of D major. Analyzing the song's structure, Vox's Kelsey McKinney compared the opening beat of the song to a call-and-response format. McKinney also noted that although the first half of the chorus plays D major and G major chords, the use of a B minor chord in the second half lends dissonance to the upbeat sound of the chorus.
Jason Lipshutz from Billboard characterized "Where Are You Gonna Hide" as a "James Dean-evoking" pop rocksong. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Times's Mikael Wood and The Observer's Kitty Empire described the track as funk-pop. On behalf of Time, however, Sam Lansky detailed it as a "disco anthem."
Critical Reception[]
PopMatters described Babyface as "(trying) on several fresh styles that fit her like a cashmere-lined leather glove" on "WAYGH" and praised it as "immaculate, almost impossibly ebullient and thrilling". The Observer called it a "percolating funk-pop number that satisfies on every level". The New York Times declared it the album's high mark and compared it to the original Miami Vice soundtrack. Now chose it as the top track from the album. The Los Angeles Times praised it as "a sensual funk track."
Consequence of Sound credited "Where Are You Gonna Hide" for "one of the album's most arresting hooks... The song is deliriously triumphant, but triumph is an easy place to get to when you’re young, hot, and loaded in the country's sparkliest city. Here, Babyface’s girl-next-door likability slips, making it harder to forget that "Where Are You Gonna Hide" literally debuted as an advertisement." Drowned in Sound commented that "There's that same 'stay positive' philosophy, and a fair few shouty bits. Best of all is 'Where Are You Gonna Hide', which celebrates Zella’s fling with her forgotten ex, as though being young and reckless is all a part of growing up. This is something anyone can relate to, whether they've made a string of poor romantic choices or 'done a whitey' on the weekend gone by." NME described "Where Are You Gonna Hide" as "so '80s-indebted with its thick piano-house and uplifting "You" coda, echoes the retro-modern atmosphere conjured by the slinky cool of Electric Youth and Blood Orange." Pitchfork Media named "Where Are You Gonna Hide" the 50th best song of 2019. The Village Voice ranked "Where Are You Gonna Hide" at number 24 on its annual year-end critic's poll for 2019. Internet music critic Todd in the Shadows named "Where Are You Gonna Hide" the best pop song of 2019
In a less enthusiastic review, The Independent criticized the song's "desperately inclusive electropop grooves and corporate rebel clichés of songs", while also suggesting that "a certain piquancy" was apparent.
Chart Performance[]
The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 60 due to strong digital download sales following the release previous singles of the of parent album We Are... Babyface, but fell off the chart the following week. Following her live performance at the 2019 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in December, the song re-entered the charts in the chart dated December 1st at number 75, having sold 48,000 copies. "Where Are You Gonna Hide" peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and spent nine consecutive weeks in the top 10. Aside from its success on the Billboard Hot 100, the song has topped the Adult Top 40, the Mainstream Top 40, and the Adult Contemporarychart and also charted at number 21 on the Rhythmic chart. "Where Are You Gonna Hide" likewise topped the Hot AC, CHR/Top 40, and AC airplay charts in Canada. As of January 2020, "Where Are You Gonna Hide" has sold 2,200,000 copies in the United States.
The song was also a worldwide commercial success, charting at number one in Israel and South Africa. In Australia, "Where Are You Gonna Hide" peaked at number eight. In neighboring New Zealand, the song peaked at number 11. "Where Are You Gonna Hide" charted at number 9 and 21 in Scotland and the United Kingdom, respectively. It also received top 40 positions in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia.
Cover Versions And Usage In Media[]
Ryan Adams covered "Where Are You Gonna Hide" for his album Stupidity Doesn’t Lie. Yahoo!writer Oscar Gracey called Adams' cover of the track "chaotic and gruff." The song is also featured in the 2019 film San Andreas.
Lyrics[]
Do you think I’m that naive
When you say shit i haven’t seen
Like your “coworker” that has the same name as me
Baby why do you leave
I hope that you see
What’s gonna happen if I find her with you, im gonna take your keys
And slash my name on your car, hoping that you see
What you missed out on, what you cheated on
What monster you brought upon, yourself baby
(You)
Stay up so late, hold her so tight
(You)
Don’t get no rest, cause you stay up the whole night
(You)
Can’t get away, when you leave on your bedroom lights
Tell me, where are you gonna hide
Things ain’t so black and white
You can’t get out of my sight
Cause
(You)
Show me all your favorite places
(You)
Don’t know how to hide both of your faces
(You)
Can be as careful as you want, you can stay up all night
But baby, where are you gonna hide
Baby your soul is mine
You better hope she doesn’t mind
When I find you cheating on her when you say you have to work at night
I know when you’re telling me the truth
You don’t act like you already knew
How and what I was gonna say
Cause babe i know you better than yourself
And telling me lies ain’t gonna help
Your fake love isn’t gonna sell
What’s the truth, are you going to tell
If you don’t things aren’t gonna end well
(You)
Stay up so late, hold her so tight
(You)
Don’t get no rest, cause you stay up the whole night
(You)
Can’t get away, when you leave on your bedroom lights
Tell me, where are you gonna hide
Things ain’t so black and white
You can’t get out of my sight
Cause
(You)
Show me all your favorite places
(You)
Don’t know how to hide both of your faces
(You)
Can be as careful as you want, you can stay up all night
But baby, where are you gonna hide
Baby your soul is mine
You better hope she doesn’t mind
When I find you cheating on her when you say you have to work at night
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Tell me the truth already
Just tell me tell me tell me
Baby
I got nothing to lose
You’re the one who’s gonna move
I know you’ve been cheating on me, with who
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
(You)
Stay up so late, hold her so tight
(You)
Don’t get no rest, cause you stay up the whole night
(You)
Can’t get away, when you leave on your bedroom lights
Tell me, where are you gonna hide
Things ain’t so black and white
You can’t get out of my sight
Cause
(You)
Show me all your favorite places
(You)
Don’t know how to hide both of your faces
(You)
Can be as careful as you want, you can stay up all night
But baby, where are you gonna hide
Baby your soul is mine
You better hope she doesn’t mind
When I find you cheating on her when you say you have to work at night
(You)
Stay up so late, hold her so tight
(You)
Don’t get no rest, cause you stay up the whole night
(You)
Can’t get away, when you leave on your bedroom lights
Tell me, where are you gonna hide
Things ain’t so black and white
You can’t get out of my sight
Cause
(You)
Show me all your favorite places
(You)
Don’t know how to hide both of your faces
Can’t get away, when you leave on your bedroom lights
Things ain’t so black and white
You can’t get out of my sight
Can’t get away, when you leave on your bedroom lights
Tell me, where are you gonna hide
Things ain’t so black and white
You can’t get out of my sight