Production and Composition
"Footprints in the Sand" was written by Simon Cowell, David Kreuger, Per Magnusson and Richard Page, whilst the production was helmed by Steve Mac. It was recorded in 2007 at Rokstone Studios in London, England. Cowell originally came up with the idea to base a song around the Christian poem "Footprints", and asked Kreuger and Magnusson whether they could write something dealing with this subject. They accepted the idea for co-writing and had scheduled session in Page's home in Malibu, California, succeeding to finish the full song for one day. Cowell secured a songwriting credit for coming up with the idea. In an interview with HitQuarters, Magnusson said they had thought the song would be a good idea for Irish boy band Westlife, but it was offered to British singer Leona Lewis instead. When Cowell mentioned the song concept to Lewis, she agreed that it could be "really quite interesting". Regarding the song, Lewis commented: "Originally it was a poem; it's very inspirational so we put it into a song. I think it is very moving, with a very emotional lyric and I really love to sing this song"; and added that the poem " about standing by someone and being there for people who need your help."
"Footprints in the Sand" was included on Lewis's debut studio album Spirit, which was released in 2007 by Syco and J Records. The song has a duration of 4:09 and was composed using common time in the key of A♭ major with a larghetto tempo of sixty beats per minute; Lewis's vocals spanned from the low note of E♭3 to the high note of G♯5. The song follows the sequence of A♭5–A♭5/B♭–Fm7–E♭ in the verses and A♭–B♭–B♭m–Fm–G♭–D♭ in the chorus as its chord progression. It incorporates four instruments: keyboard instruments (a piano, an organ and synthesizers), guitar, bass and drums, and includes a choir performance made by The Tuff Session Singers. It incorporates elements of R&B and pop musical genres, and, according to music critics, contains a gospel production performed by a choir and features "crashing drums".
Read more about this topic: Footprints In The Sand (song)
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