Her first album was Santa Claus Lane (2002), a collection of Christmas songs which included duets with Lil Romeo, Christina Milian, and her sister Haylie Duff. Accompanied by the Disney Channel-only single “Tell Me a Story”, it peaked well outside the top 100 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart, but eventually received a gold certification. The album’s title track was included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2, and another song, “What Christmas Should Be” was used in Cheaper by the Dozen. Duff sang several tracks for the soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie, including “Why Not”, which became a modest top twenty hit in Australia.
Duff’s second studio album, Metamorphosis (2003), included contributions by songwriter-producers such as The Matrix and reached number one on the U.S. and Canadian charts. It became one of the biggest selling albums of the year in the U.S. and has since gone to sell over 3.7 million copies. The lead single, “So Yesterday”, was a top ten hit in several countries and its music video received heavy airplay on MTV, while “Come Clean” became Duff’s first top forty U.S. hit and reached the top twenty elsewhere. The third single, “Little Voice”, was not released in the U.S. and was a minor hit in Canada and Australia. In late 2003 Duff embarked on her first concert tour, the Metamorphosis Club Tour and later the Most Wanted tour. All shows on her tour were sold out, a feat neither Britney Spears nor Christina Aguilera achieved that year. She won the award for Best New Artist at the 2004 World Music Awards and Best Female Artist at the Kids Choice Awards of 2004.
Duff’s third album, Most Wanted (2005), comprised her favorite tracks from her previous two albums, remixes, and new songs inspired by pop-rock musicians such as The Killers and Muse. Duff stated that it was not a greatest hits album, but that her label told her it was time to release a new album. She had more creative control over Most Wanted compared to her previous releases, co-writing and co-producing all of the new material with Joel Madden and his brother Benji, both of the band Good Charlotte. The lead single, “Wake Up”, became Duff’s highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 and her highest peaking single in the U.S., and its video received heavy rotation on MTV. The video for the second single, “Beat of My Heart”, was also popular, but the single itself did not chart in the U.S. The album itself debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became her third number-one debut in Canada. By March 2006, it had sold 1.3 million copies in the U.S. An Italy-only compilation, 4Ever, was released in 2006.
Duff’s fourth album, Dignity, was released on April 4 2007. It reached the top five in the U.S. and Canada, the top twenty in Australia and the top forty in the UK. Duff co-wrote all but two of the material for the album with Kara DioGuardi, and she also worked with producer-songwriter Rhett Lawrence in Toronto, Canada. It shows her more mature side. The Dignity tour began in mid-2007.
Although Hollywood Records was planning to release up to five singles from Dignity, only three were actually released: “Play with Fire”, presiding the album release, became a minor club hit but failed to chart in the U.S.; the second single, “With Love”, was more successful, becoming Duff’s biggest U.S. Hot 100 hit and topping the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The music video for “With Love” was used as a commercial for Duff’s first fragrance, With Love… Hilary Duff, which was launched in September 2006; “Wrapped With Love” a new fragrance was released latter in 2008. The music video for “Stranger” was released on July 6. Critics applauded Duff for the music and video, pointing: “this is how a modern pop anthem should sound”. The video has Duff dressing up as a snake charmer in a sexy Balinese-inspired costume. The video received heavy airplay on MTV and Muchmusic and was very active in charts.
On September, 2008, It was officially announced that Hilary would be leaving her record label Hollywood Records after six years of service due to lack of promotion Dignity had been having since its release and lack of creative freedom since the very first album.
In November 2008, Duff’s second greatest hits album (and last album with Hollywood Records), Best of Hilary Duff, was released with two new songs: “Holiday,” and the album’s first single “Reach Out,” which samples Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” The song became Duff’s third #1 dance hit despite the lack of airplay.
Between labels, Duff took a hiatus for recording new music. During this time, she began appearing in independent films such as War, Inc. (2008), According to Greta (2009), and Bloodworth (2010). She later released the novel Elixir (2010), which became a New York Times best seller. The book was followed by the sequels Devoted (2011) and True (2013).
She returned to music in 2014, signing with RCA Records. Through RCA, she released two new singles, "Chasing the Sun" and "All About You", originally planned to be the lead single from her new album. Citing a change in the musical direction of the album, she released another new single "Sparks" on April 6, 2015, which debuted and peaked at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her fourth top ten hit on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Her fifth studio album Breathe In. Breathe Out. was released on June 12, 2015. It debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, becoming her fifth top five album. Duff also has worked with numerous charities and organizations throughout her career, and currently stars in the comedy-drama series Younger as Kelsey Peters. She has sold an estimated 15 million records since her debut in 2002.
Little Voice
Hilary Duff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause it's not the same thing you're thinking too
You could say I got a best friend
And she's always tellin' me what to do
She's out of sight but easy to find
She's in the front of our minds
The little voice in my head won't let me forget
All of this noise is what keeps me from making a mess
The little voice in my head
Just won't let me get with you
La-la, la-la, la-la, la, la
La-la, la-la, la-la, la
When I see you I admit
I start to lose my grip and all of my cool
You smell so sweet, just like my perfume
What have you been doing since I left you?
You're always there in my thoughts
But that doesn't mean that it's on
The little voice in my head won't let me forget
The little voice in my head is never misled
All of this noise is what keeps me from making a mess
The little voice in my head
Just won't let me get with you
La-la, la-la, la-la, la, la
La-la, la-la, la-la, la
I know I sound insane like I'm playin' games
'Cause all I really want is you
But there's some things a girl won't do, ooh-ohh
The little voice, the little voice
The little voice in my head won't let me forget
The little voice in my head is never misled
All of this noise is what keeps me from making a mess
The little voice in my head
Just won't let me get with you
La-la, la-la, la-la, la, la (the little voice)
La-la, la-la, la-la, la (the little voice)
La-la, la-la, la-la, la, la
In this song, Hilary Duff reveals the internal conflict that she is experiencing, between her heart and her mind. The little voice in her head is speaking louder than any other external noise, whether from her friends or from the person she is interested in. She is aware of her best friend's advice and the different opinions that they have, but still, the little voice dictates her actions. It represents her inner conscience, which is trying to protect her from making any mistakes. While she is attracted to the person she is singing about, her little voice is preventing her from making any irrational decisions.
As she sees the object of her affection, Hilary becomes flustered and begins to "lose her grip", but her thoughts quickly return to the voice in her head that keeps her grounded. The chorus emphasises the idea that the little voice is the one thing that prevents her from making a mistake, which causes her confusion and frustration. Hilary acknowledges that she sounds "insane" and that she is "playing games," but her little voice will not let her get carried away.
Overall, Little Voice is a song that deals with the doubt and insecurity that often arise during romantic situations. It shows how our inner voice can sometimes overpower our external desires, and how this battle can lead to confusion and hesitation.
Line by Line Meaning
I won't tell you what I'm thinking
I'm keeping my thoughts to myself because they're not the same as yours.
'Cause it's not the same thing you're thinking too
My thoughts are different from yours and that's why I won't share them.
You could say I got a best friend
I have a voice inside my head that guides me and advises me like a best friend.
And she's always tellin' me what to do
This voice inside my head is always giving me advice and telling me what to do.
She's out of sight but easy to find
The voice inside my head is not visible, but it's always present and easy to access.
She's in the front of our minds
The voice inside my head is always in the front of our minds, guiding and advising us.
The little voice in my head
The guiding voice that I refer to is the little voice inside my head.
Won't let me forget
The little voice inside my head reminds me constantly.
Is never misled
The voice inside my head always gives me the right advice and is never wrong.
All of this noise is what
All the chaos around us, including our thoughts and other people's opinions, is what...
Keeps me from making a mess
...prevents me from making a mess by guiding me with its wise advice.
Just won't let me get with you
I can't be with you because the voice inside my head won't allow me to.
When I see you I admit
When I see you, I confess that...
I start to lose my grip
...I start losing control of my thoughts and actions.
And all of my cool
I lose my composure and equilibrium.
Ya' smell so sweet
I love the scent of your body.
Just like my perfume
Your smell reminds me of my perfume, which I love.
What have you been doing since I left you
I want to know what you've been doing since we last saw each other.
You're always there in my thoughts
I always think of you.
But that doesn't mean that it's on
Thinking of you doesn't necessarily mean that we have a future together.
I know I sound insane like I'm playin' games
I'm aware that I may sound crazy and like I'm playing games with you.
'Cause all I really want is you
But the truth is that all I really want is to be with you.
But there's some things a girl won't do
But there are some things that I won't do, even if it means being with you.
Oh oh!
Expressing a flustered or excited feeling.
The little voice, the little voice!
Referring again to the guiding voice inside my head.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Kara Dioguardi, Patrik Jens Berger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind