Extraordinary (Liz Phair song)


"Extraordinary" is a song by American singer/songwriter Liz Phair. It was released in January 2004 as the second single from her self-titled 2003 album.

Release

The song was released as a promotional one-track CD single.

Use in media

The song was featured in the 2004 film Raising Helen. It was also featured in an episode of Charmed, titled "Oh My Goddess!" The song was included on the teen pop compilation Got Hits! 2 as well. The song was included on the soundtrack for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Music video

Two music videos for the song were released. The first features black-and-white footage of Phair singing the song. After the song was featured in the 2004 film Raising Helen, a second music video was made, featuring clones of Phair in front of various backdrops.

Critical reception

The song garnered mixed reviews from music critics, who were dissatisfied with her attempt to go mainstream. Slate's Mim Udovitch said that Phair sounds "bogus," while PopMatters called the song "sickeningly effervescent." Some critics were more complimentary towards the song, however. Chuck Klosterman, writing for Spin, praised the song's "authenticity," while Allmusic noted that it was one of its parent album's highlights. Michael Paoletta of Billboard called the song "ultra-catchy" and "oh-so-buoyant".

Commercial performance

Though the song failed to recreate the chart success of past hits "Supernova" and "Why Can't I?" it still managed to chart. It reached number 111 in the US, spending a total of 5 weeks on the "Bubbling Under Hot 100" chart. It also charted on the Mainstream Top 40 chart and the Adult Top 40 chart, on which it spent six months.

Charts