The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory

by John Seabrook

bubblegum writer.’ ” After they had chatted for a while, Max played Davis a demo of the songs he and Dr. Luke had been working on, “Since U Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes.” Max Martin had at first had Pink in mind for “Since U Been Gone,” but she turned it down. And he didn’t think Hilary Duff could sing the high parts. The Swede was hoping Davis would help “cast” the song with one of his rock-oriented artists, but Davis had someone else in mind: Kelly Clarkson. “Are you crazy?” Max replied heatedly. “Didn’t I tell you that I wanted this song to go to rock artists? That I didn’t want to be typecast? Now you want to give it to an American Idol winner?” “You don’t understand,” Davis told him. “Kelly’s got a great voice, she’s got real potential, and she likes edge. Look, you’ll produce it. You’ll get the right performance.” It took several such conversations before Max finally agreed to give Clarkson the song. Davis then presented the song to the artist. She didn’t want to record it. “It didn’t have any lyrics and the melody really wasn’t finalized,” she recalled.