The Promise (Girls Aloud Song) - Background and Composition

Background and Composition

"The Promise" is an homage to 1960s music, particularly Phil Spector's famous Wall of Sound technique. It has been described as "a 1960s-influenced pop gem given a contemporary Girls Aloud twist". Peter Robinson, however, noted that the song "also hinted at a mellower side of 1970s New York disco, as if it were some sort of long soundtrack from a deleted scene in Saturday Night Fever." The song is written in A major with a time signature in common time and a tempo of 88 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from G♯₃ to C₅. The chord progression varies throughout the song, but chord include E, Am, C, A, Dm, and D. "The Promise" is through-composed, the chorus serving as the song's only repeated section. A key change takes place before the song's final chorus. The album version of "The Promise" is around fifteen seconds longer, opting for a repeat and fade.

The backing track for the song was composed by two Australian musicians, Jason Resch and Kieran Jones, who would later play the song for Brian Higgins. Higgins and Miranda Cooper, afraid they'd "ruin the moment", waited weeks to write the song's lyrics; they eventually wrote the song in seven minutes. Higgins said, "We knew that was the piece of music Girls Aloud needed to announce them as a supergroup in this country, so we knew we couldn't drop the ball melodically or lyrically." He elaborated, "Girls Aloud's records were more driving and pumping and innovative then than they are now because that's not what's required "The Promise" was the sound of a big group, a group about to be huge. They needed the theme tune to the biggest girl group on the planet". As soon as Girls Aloud heard the song, they decided it should be the first single from Out of Control. The day before the song was due to be delivered to Fascination Records, the entire backing track was ditched and replayed.