text: army of me ( christina aguilera song ) " army of me " is a song recorded by american singer - songwriter christina aguilera for her seventh studio album , lotus ( 2012 ) . it was co - written by aguilera with jamie hartman , david glass and phil bentley , with production done by tracklacers and jamie hartman . described by aguilera as part two to her 2002 single " fighter " , she decided to record the song so that her newer , younger fans would have an empowering song to listen in case they were unfamiliar with her previous work . the song combines dance - pop and euro - dance genres ; its instrumentation incorporates drum beats and rock guitars . " army of me " garnered mixed reviews from music critics . many praised aguilera 's strong delivery of the song 's message and branded it a potential single , while others criticized it for being too similar to " fighter " . upon the release of lotus , the song debuted on the south korea international singles chart at number 103 with digital download sales of 2 , 689 . aguilera has performed the song at the 40th american music awards in the united states . background and recording following the release of her sixth studio album , bionic ( 2010 ) , aguilera filed for divorce from her husband jordan bratman , starred in her first feature film , burlesque and recorded the accompanying soundtrack . she then became a coach on nbc 's singing competition show the voice and appeared as a featured artist on maroon 5 's single " moves like jagger " ( 2011 ) , which spent four weeks atop the us billboard hot 100 chart . following these events , aguilera announced that had plans to begin production of her seventh album , stating that she wanted high quality and " personal " songs for the record . regarding the creative direction , she revealed that the album would be a " culmination of everything i 've experienced up until this point ... i 've been through a lot since the release of my last album , being on ( ' the voice ' ) , having had a divorce ... this is all sort of a free rebirth for me . " she further said " i 'm embracing many different things , but it 's all feel - good , super - expressive [ and ] super - vulnerable . " aguilera continued to say that the album would be about " self – expression and freedom " because of the personal struggles she had overcome during the last couple of years . speaking about her new material during an interview on the tonight show with jay leno in 2012 , aguilera said that the recording process for lotus was taking a while because " i don 't like to just get songs from producers . i like them to come from a personal place ... i 'm very excited . it 's fun , exciting , introspective , it 's going to be great " . recorded at henson recording studios , hollywood , california , and radley studios , los angeles , california , by justin stanley , " army of me " was co - written by aguilera with jamie hartman , david glass and phil bentley . it was produced by tracklacers and it was co - produced by hartman . aguilera 's vocals were recorded by oscar ramirez at the red lips room in beverly hills in california . programming was carried out by steve daly and john keep , while strings were composed by hartman . in an interview with andrew hampp for billboard , aguilera explained how her role on the voice has allowed her to reach a new generational audience who may not be familiar with her past work , including songs such as her 2002 single , " fighter " . when asked if some of the songs on lotus feature themes which are similar to that of her 2002 album , stripped , aguilera responded by saying that " army of me " is what she describes as " fighter 2 . 0 " . absolutely . there 's a song called ' army of me , ' which is sort of a ' fighter 2 . 0 . ' there is a new generation of fans from a younger demographic that might not have been with me all the way but that watch me on the show now . i feel like every generation should be able to enjoy and have their piece of ' fighter ' within . this time , the way it musically came together it just felt right for this time and this generation . there 's always going to be a fighter in me getting through some obstacle and some hurdle . all these 6 - year - olds who know me from pushing my button and turning around in a big red chair who weren 't around for the actual ' fighter , ' this is my chance to recharge it , rejuvenate it and do something modernized for them . composition and lyrics " army of me " is an up - tempo dance - pop and euro - dance song which lasts for a duration of 3 : 26 ( three minutes and 26 seconds ) . instrumentation consists of a " pounding " drum beat and " rocky " guitars . aguilera presents herself as a fighter and tells her ex - boyfriend that she is stronger than he is in the lyrics " so how does it feel to know that i beat you ? / that i can defeat you ? " although aguilera is heartbroken by the decision to split up with her ex - boyfriend , she is not a broken person . the lyrics " one of me is wiser / one of me is stronger / one of me 's a fighter / and there 's a thousand faces of me / we 're gonna rise up for every time you broke me / you 're gonna face an army of me " are similar to those performed by aguilera on " fighter " , although of " army of me " does not sample any of the song . aguilera sings " now that i 'm wiser / now that i 'm stronger / now that i 'm a fighter / there 's a thousand faces on me " over a " thumping " beat , and belts the line " we 're gonna rise up for every time you broke me " on the chorus . the song was covered by recording artist anastacia for her compilation album ultimate collection . critical reception " army of me " garnered mixed reviews from music critics . andrew hampp for billboard and chris younie for 4music both though that " army of me " could have been a potential single , the latter of whom writing " this track must be a future single . " younie continued to write that the song " captivates and excites right from the very start " , has a " euphoric " energy and is the type of " angry " pop song that kelly clarkson " would give her right arm for " . sarah rodman of the boston globe described it as a " gloria gaynor - meets - depeche mode dance of anger . " mike wass for idolator wrote that although " army of me " is a " quality " song , it is an album filler . writing that it sounds as though it would have been a good song to include on her previous studio album , bionic , wass thought that aguilera was " not exaggerating " when she refers to it as " fighter 2 . 0 " . he concluded his review by saying that although her vocals are sparse , it is a " quirky " addition to lotus . the a.v. club 's annie zaleski described aguilera as a " playful " and " sassy techno diva " on " army of me " . kitty empire of the observer also thought that it shares similarities with " fighter " . she cited the björk song of the same name as another influence , due to its " emotional territory " robert copsey for digital spy described the song as " nothing we haven 't heard from her before , but there 's an urgency to it that suggests christina needed to get it out of her system " , while matthew horton of virgin media wrote that aguilera sounds as though she is declaring war . michael gallucci for popcrush was critical of the song , writing that it sounds like a cher disco song which features aguilera " overworking " her vocal cords . melissa maerz of entertainment weekly found the song 's message to be confusing and did not understand who exactly aguilera is supposed to be rising up against on the song , writing " she hollers ' and we 're gonna rise up ... / for every time you wronged me / well , you 're gonna face an army , army of me . ' which begs the question : rise up against whom ? is the whole world really out to get her , or is this just an excuse to wear camouflage hot pants ? " live performance aguilera performed " let there be love " for the first time at the 40th american music awards on november 18 , 2012 , held at the nokia theatre in los angeles , california . as one of the first singers to be announced as a performer at the award ceremony on october 19 , 2012 , aguilera sang " army of me " as part of a medley with two other tracks from lotus : " lotus intro " and " let there be love " . during an interview with mtv news , aguilera revealed what the performance would be like and the creative direction behind it : it 's very exciting . it 's definitely going to be a reflection of what lotus means to me . if you take that album cover and give it a little performance twist , i 'll bring that album cover to life , so it 's going to be really fun . i can 't give too much away about the songs , but it 's definitely going to represent the album because the album is very multilayered . it doesn 't represent ' your body ' as a single tone . it has its ballads ; and everything comes from a very sincere , deep – rooted place whether it 's having fun or being vulnerable . wearing a " fuller – figure " " cinched in corset " designed by the blonds , who also design outfits for lady gaga , leah simpson for the daily mail wrote that aguilera put a " sexy twist on patriotism with a star – spangled bodysuit and managed to get a few pulses racing in the over – the – top ensemble . " the performance featured dance routines and dancers wearing " torture bags labelled the words ' freak ' and ' queen ' over their heads . " bruna nessif for e ! online described the performance as " interesting , " and noted that the theme " to celebrate everyone for who they are " was similar to the moral content presented on gaga 's album born this way ( 2011 ) . as aguilera finished her set , she was joined on stage by pitbull to perform his song " feel this moment " , on which she is a featured artist . credits and personnel recording recorded at henson recording studios , hollywood , california ; radley studios , los angeles , california . string , bass and piano recorded at henson recording studios , hollywood , california . acoustic guitars , synth piano and synth strings recorded at radley studios , los angeles , california . vocals recorded at the red lips room , beverly hills , california . personnel credits adapted from the liner notes of lotus , rca records . charts upon the release of lotus , " army of me " debuted on the south korean singles chart at number 103 during the week of november 11 to 17 , 2012 , due to digital download sales of 2 , 689 . anastacia version american recording artist anastacia covered the song for her second greatest hits album ultimate collection ( 2015 ) . the song was released as album 's second single on 23 october 2015 by sony music entertainment .