| Ka-Ching! | |
| Cover: | Shania Twain - Ka-Ching!.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Shania Twain |
| Album: | Up! |
| Released: | February 17, 2003 |
| Recorded: | 2002 |
| Length: | 3:22 |
| Label: | Mercury Nashville |
| Producer: | Robert John "Mutt" Lange |
| Prev Title: | Up! |
| Prev Year: | 2003 |
| Next Title: | Forever and for Always |
| Next Year: | 2003 |
"Ka-Ching!" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released on February 17, 2003, as the second single to her fourth studio album Up! (2002), exclusively to Europe and Central America. The song was written by Twain and Robert John "Mutt" Lange. "Ka-Ching!" lyrically centers on greed and consumer culture, a topic Twain had never sung about before.
"Ka-Ching!" became one of Twain's most successful singles in Europe to date, reaching the top ten in six European countries and topping the Portuguese music charts, which lead to the song peaking at number two on the European Hot 100 Singles, becoming her highest peaking single on the chart. Twain performed the song on the Up! Tour, while an interlude of the song was performed on her Rock This Country Tour and the European dates of Now Tour.
The song was written by Robert Lange and Shania Twain. Lyrically, the song deals with what it considers to be the greed in the world.[1] The tongue-in-cheek lyrics look at how our world revolves around money. It features an opening similar to Pink Floyd's "Money".[1] According to Jennifer Nine from Yahoo! Music, "it's essentially Radiohead's "squealing Gucci little piggies" served up for those without Oxford educations and Naomi Klein's Guardian columns: "We spend the money that we don't possess/Our religion is to go and blow it all".[2]
"Ka-Ching" centres on consumerism. Opening with sound of a cash register ringing, Twain then sings that the world teaches children to want and want and want ("we live in a greedy, little world/that teaches every little boy and girl/to earn as much as they can possibly/then turn around and spend it foolishly") and that the adults do not know how to spend their money wisely, either ("we've created us a credit card mess/we spend the money that we don't possess"). And as soon as the money is there, people will go to the new churches — the malls ("Our religion is to go and blow it all/so it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall"). In the chorus, Twain sings the satisfaction and fulfillment people find in buying and having more money and things ("Can you hear it ring/it makes you wanna sing/it's such a beautiful thing -- Ka-ching!").[3]
In the second verse, she sings that the shallow, materialistic people are irresponsible and will go to drastic lengths, including risking foreclosure on their home to buy more stuff ("when you're broke go and get a loan/take out another mortgage on your home/consolidate so you can afford/to go and spend some more when you get bored"). She taunts them in the bridge ("Dig deeper in your pocket/Oh yeah/Come on, I know you've got it/Dig deeper in your wallet").[3]
The song received mostly positive reviews from most music critics. S. Renee Dechert from PopMatters wrote that the song "stands out as different against the others."[1] Jennifer Nine from Yahoo! Music commented that "musically, its Timbaland-style strings and off-kilter chorus are the best thing on the album."[2] Jake Taylor from Sputnikmusic agreed, writing that the song is "one of the more triumphant moments of the album."[4] Robert Christgau picked the song as one of the best tracks on the album.[5] Lachlan Sutherland from "UK Mix" wrote: "The song is a definite stand out track, with incredibly witty lyrics. It's very fresh and invigorating!."[6] "Traveling to the Heart" wrote a very positive review, stating: "Twain's delivery matter-of-fact and matches the biting tone. With this gem, she proves that she is capable of writing music with some substance to it. Unlike her previous hits, 'Ka-Ching!' is against type. Pop music is being about glamorous, into high-fashion, and living in mansions. However, Twain sees the emptiness of it all and sings about something different for once."[3]
"Ka-Ching!" has become one of Twain's biggest singles in Europe. In the UK, it became her sixth consecutive, seventh overall, top ten single. It debuted on March 22, 2003, at its peak at number eight. It remained on the entire chart for eight weeks.[7] In all, "Ka-Ching!" hit the top ten in seven countries: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Switzerland, Portugal (where it reached #1) and the UK. It became her highest charting single in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary where it spent 62 weeks in the top 40.
The music video for "Ka-Ching!" was shot in the Casino Español and in a hotel in Mexico City, Mexico, and Madrid, Spain, in January 2003. It was directed by Finnish director Antti J, who also shot her video for "Up!" around the same time. The video debuted in Europe and Central and South America on February 25, 2003. It was not released to North American stations. The video depicts a city consumed with greed, Twain finds the streets empty and cars left abandoned while everyone is in a casino, sticking with the theme of the song. Scenes of Twain sporting a silver outfit and a red dress, both by Marc Bouwer are intercut throughout the video. These scenes are the base of two further versions of the video that lack the narrative and only show Twain performing the song in the studio. One of these two videos shows her in the silver outfit while in the other one, she is seen wearing the red dress. "Ka-Ching!" was released on YouTube in mid-2011.[8]
"Ka-Ching!" appears in the Oxford University Press' New English File: Intermediate Student's Book, an ESL book.[9]
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Ka-Ching!".
"Ka-Ching!" remains one of Twain's most genre-diverse songs. The main "Red" version is an upbeat rhythmic song with a Middle Eastern influence. The "Green" version has a country feel, and the "Blue" version is more worldly. Remixes have provided Hip hop, Lounge, and Bhangra versions.
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[10] | 2 |
| Poland (Polish Airplay Charts)[11] | 3 |
| Portugal (AFP)[12] | 1 |
| Romania (Romanian Top 100)[13] | 2 |
| Spain (Radio Top 40)[14] | 18 |
| Chart (2003) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[15] | 14 | |
| France (SNEP)[16] | 95 | |
| Germany (Official German Charts)[17] | 20 | |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] | 92 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] | 69 | |
| Romania (Romanian Top 100)[20] | 27 | |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[21] | 75 | |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] | 17 | |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[23] | 133 |
| Region | Date | Format | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | February 17, 2003 | Maxi single | Universal | [25] |
| February 26, 2003 | CD single | [26] | ||
| United Kingdom | March 10, 2003 | [27] |