Janet Jackson Breaks Down “Someone to Call My Lover”

Today, Vevo and Janet Jackson premiered a new episode of Footnotes celebrating her beloved hit “Someone to Call My Lover,” the second single from her seventh studio album, All For You. The episode arrives amid the song’s viral resurgence and ahead of Janet Jackson being honored with the Icon Award at the 2025 American Music Awards.

 

 

The episode gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the track and the creative choices that shaped its timeless sound, which blends two iconic samples: the guitar riff from America’s 1972 classic “Ventura Highway” and a sped-up melody from Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No.1.” Initially, Janet didn’t recognize “Ventura Highway” when producer Jimmy Jam played it in the studio. However, she recalled hearing “Gymnopédie No.1” in a commercial during her childhood. The episode also reveals that her son now loves the song and sometimes falls asleep to it. Janet first sang the vocal melody over the phone to Jimmy Jam. Reflecting on the lyrics, Jackson says the song is “really about the next person you want to be with and call yours.”

More than two decades after its release, “Someone to Call My Lover” has found new life online, leading to a 600% surge in daily streams and earning a spot in the encore section of her 2024 tour, marking a rare return of the track to her live set.

Full Transcript Below:

0:10

“Someone To Call My Lover” features two iconic samples. First, this lead instrumental melody: a slightly-slowed version of the guitar riff from the 1972 hit “Ventura Highway” by the folk band America.

0:30

According to Jackson, producer Jimmy Jam showed her “Ventura Highway” during a studio session, and she “felt bad” for not immediately recognizing it.

0:50

The second sample occurs in the chorus. The ascending and descending keyboard line is a sped-up version of the central motif in Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No.1,” made famous by Claude Debussy.

1:10

Jackson first heard “Gymnopédie No.1” in a commercial as a child, and the melody stuck with her. “My son loves it,” she told SiriusXM. “He falls asleep to that song.”

1:30

In 2024, “Someone To Call My Lover” started to regain popularity on TikTok, so much so that Jackson included it in the encore section of her tour setlist that year. Between 2002 and 2017, she rarely performed the song.

1:50

Thanks to the popularity of social media fan edits, daily streams for “Someone To Call My Lover” surged over 600% in a four-week span in early 2025.

2:10

“Lyrically speaking, it’s really about the next person you want to be with, and call yours,” Jackson has said.

2:30

Janet first sang the vocal melody “over the phone to Jimmy,” who urged her to come to Minneapolis to record the track.

2:50

“Someone To Call My Lover” is from Jackson’s seventh studio album ‘All For You.’ Its title track was the best-performing single on the Billboard charts in 2021.

3:10

Jackson once said that the album contains “songs that feel right, that feel good. That you could see you’re in the car, the top down, you’re cruising, it’s summertime.”