"Born to Try" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Delta Goodrem, written by Audius Mtawarira and produced by Ric Wake for her debut studio albumInnocent Eyes. The song was released as the first single off the studio album on 11 November 2002 by Epic Records and Daylight Records. It was later featured on her first Japanese compilation albumInnocent Eyes. The song was co-written by her while she was staying at her home in Sydney, Australia for the production of the studio album, as well as written and producing four other songs together. Though many of the public consider this as Goodrem's breakthrough single, it is not her debut single. As the song features instrumentation with a piano, guitars and drums, the song is a low tempo pop song, with influences of piano pop and pop rock. Lyrically, it talks about taking chances and leading your independence. The song was universally praised from music critics, praising Goodrem's vocal abilities and lyrical content. The song is considered as Goodrem's signature song, as the song managed to enter charts around the world, including two number ones in her native Australia and New Zealand. The song also peaked at number three in the United Kingdom, her first single to chart outside the Oceania. It also charted in many European countries including Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. An accompanying music video was shot for the single, which featured Goodrem near a lake, then sees her in a more country-side place and also featured in Helsinki where its effects was presented with timelapse effects. The music video was featured on her video compilation Delta and was performed at both her commercially successful tours; Visualise Australian Tour and Believe Again Australian Tour.
Background and composition
Before this song or the album Innocent Eyes had even commenced, when she was 15, she got signed a record deal with Sony Music and began work on an album of pop-dance songs including the unsuccessful debut single "I Don't Care". The album and proposed second single "A Year Ago Today" were pushed aside as a result, allowing Goodrem and Sony to re-evaluate her future musical direction. The song was included on the track list on her third studio album Delta as a bonus track. Then in 2002, Goodrem starred on Australian TV series Neighbours as a shy school girl and aspiring singer Nina Tucker. The song was eventually performed on an episode on Neighbours. The song was co-written by Goodrem along with songwriter Audius Mtawarira at her home in Sydney. The two originally met in 2001 and Goodrem states "Audius and I got on really well and someone at the record company suggested we write together. He came out to our house, mum made some lunch and we wrote four songs. 'Born To Try' was the last one. We just naturally clicked and there was no pressure so it was just music for music's sake". Musically, "Born to Try" is a lowtempo pop song, with influences of piano pop and pop rock. The song fuses instrumentations including piano, guitars and drums. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is written in the key of Ab major. The song's beat is set in common time, and moves at a tempo of 66 beats per minute. Goodrem's vocals span from the note of F3 to the note of Ab5.
Reception
"Born to Try" was praised from certain music critics. Matthew Chisling from Allmusic said, along with "Longer" and "Innocent Eyes"; " are pop gems in purest form." The song was highlighted as a standout from the album. Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian said the song along with the album's lyrical content " are a bit la-la-floating-on-clouds, but that doesn't dilute their charm." The song received many accolades from many nominations. The song received an accolade for the ARIA No.1 Awards for Gaining the Number One position on the charts. The song won two awards at the ARIA Music Awards; both for Best Single and Best Breakthrough Artist. The song had won the International Viewers' Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003. The Video Hits show won the Video of the Year award. Commercially, the song was successful and has been known as Goodrem's signature song. The song debuted at number three on the Australian Singles Chart, and eventually peaked at number one for a sole week. The song spent a total of twenty-two weeks in the charts and was certified triple-platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, selling over 220,114 copies in that country. After the releases of her other singles off the album, which subsequently peaked at number one, it gave her a record for becoming the first ever artist to have five number-one singles from a debut album. It spent three months in the top five and went on to sell over 210,000 copies, making it the third highest selling single of 2002. The song debuted at number forty-nine on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and rose to number five. After fourteen weeks, it managed to peak at number one, making it her first and only number one in that country. It stayed in the charts for twenty-four weeks and was certified gold by Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, selling over 7,500 copies. The song had less success in Europe, where it peaked at fifty-eight in Switzerland, where it stayed in the charts for six weeks. It also peaked at eighteen in The Netherlands, staying in the charts for twelve weeks. It was successful in the UK Singles Chart, where it debuted at number three, a high peak for Goodrem and stayed in the charts for thirteen weeks.
