text: get back ( demi lovato song ) " get back " is a song performed by american singer demi lovato . it was written by lovato , joe jonas , nick jonas and kevin jonas and produced by the jonas brothers alongside john fields , for lovato 's debut studio album , don 't forget . the song features jack lawless on drums and john taylor and the jonas brothers on guitars . the initial writing of the song took place when lovato wanted to write a song about getting back together with an old boyfriend , as opposed to writing mean or heartbroken songs . " get back " was released as the album 's lead single on august 12 , 2008 , by hollywood records . musically , the song is an upbeat rock song with a guitar - driven sound . the song was met with positive reviews from critics and performed average commercially , peaking at number forty - three on the billboard hot 100 and ninety - three on the canadian hot 100 . in australia , the song peaked at number ten on the aria hitseekers chart . lovato has performed the song on several occasions , including the opening of the 2008 disney channel games and the ellen degeneres show . background " get back " was written by lovato , joe jonas , nick jonas and kevin jonas , and produced by the jonas brothers alongside john fields . lovato wanted to write a song about getting back together with someone , as she believed enough mean and heartbroken songs had already been made . she said , " it 's kind of a fun , upbeat song and it 's kind of just fun to sing to the person that i wrote it about . " the jonas brothers provided backing vocals and guitars on the track . in addition to co - producing the song , fields also provided bass , guitars and keyboards . jack lawless played the drums , and john taylor contributed backing vocals and played the guitar . the song was released as the lead single for don 't forget on august 12 , 2008 , in the united states and canada via digital download . the edited radio disney version was released on the same day . composition " get back " is a upbeat guitar - driven rock song . according to the sheet music published at musicnotes.com by sony / atv music publishing , the song is set in common time with a tempo of 120 beats per minute . it is performed in the key of c major and lovato 's vocals span from the note of b3 to the note of g5 . ed masley of the arizona republic compared the song 's sound to works by tommy . lyrically , the song is about a desire to get back together with an old boyfriend , demonstrated in the lines " i want to get back to the old days " , and " kiss me like you mean it " . reception critical reception the song received positive reviews from critics . judy coleman of the boston globe called " get back " a " welcome girl - rock hit " . ed masley of the arizona republic included the song at number eight on his " top 10 from the disney girls " list , and said , " she wrote this with the jonas brothers , but it sounds more like a tommy b - side from the early ' 80s or the sort of thing greg kihn was pining for when he sang , ' they don 't write ' em like that anymore ' " . masley noted that the song sounds better live , as does " nearly everything lovato touches " . masley concluded , writing , " when she sings ' i want to get back to the old days , ' what she means is when she and her boyfriend were happy , but power - pop fans will hear it as a call to get back to much older days than that . " stephen thomas erlewine of allmusic noted it as one of the best tracks on don 't forget . joey guerra of the houston chronicle called it " undeniably kicky , and lovato manages some surprisingly credible rock wails . " ken barnes of usa today called it an " insidious , go - go 's - like single " . chart performance on august 30 , 2008 , " get back " debuted at its peak position of number at number forty - three on the billboard hot 100 . the following week , it fell fifty places to number ninety - three . the song spent a total of six weeks on the chart , and it has sold 578 , 000 digital copies to date , according to nielsen soundscan . > in canada , it charted at number ninety - three on the canadian hot 100 , which was its only appearance on that chart . in australia , the song peaked at number ten on the aria hitseekers chart on may 11 , 2009 . music video and live performances " get back " was directed by philip andelman and shot in one day . the video premiered on disney channel on august 22 , 2008 , following the premiere of the cheetah girls : one world . it was later made available for digital download on itunes store on september 16 , 2008 . the video begins with a shot of the manhattan bridge , lovato and her band are then seen on a small stage on top of a building . lovato sports black clothing , a beaded scarf and red gloves . throughout the first verse and chorus , lovato dances around on stage with manhattan bridge visible in the background . following the first chorus , the sun goes down and an aerial shot of the city 's nightlife is shown . the second verse and chorus are performed during night . during the song 's bridge , a daytime shot is shown of lovato while sitting alone on the rooftop and looking away from the camera . after this , she is back on stage and performing the last chorus during nighttime with bright lights in the background . the video ends with the performance being finished , with lovato turning around and walking towards her band . lovato performed " get back " for the first time at the opening ceremony of the 2008 disney channel games on may 4 , 2008 . on october 1 , 2008 , she performed it on the ellen degeneres show . on january 19 , 2009 , lovato performed the song alongside " la la land " at the kids ' inaugural : " we are the future " event in washington , d.c. , at the verizon center . the event was held to celebrate the inauguration of barack obama as president of the united states . on april 24 , 2009 , lovato performed an acoustic version of " get back " in radio disney 's network studio . also in april 2009 , the song was performed as part of the itunes live from london series . the full performances were released as an itunes store - exclusive extended play featuring recorded live versions on may 17 , 2009 . in may 2009 , lovato performed the song at a walmart concert , which was released as demi lovato : live : walmart soundcheck , featuring recorded live versions on a cd , and the full performances on a dvd . lovato performed " get back " on the jonas brothers ' burnin ' up tour , for which she served as the opening act , during the summer of 2008 . later in 2009 , the song was performed during her first headlining tour , summer tour 2009 . the song was performed last , and ed masley of the arizona republic called it " super - charged " . in 2010 , she performed the song during her south american tour as the show 's finale . lovato also performed the song as the opening number for her set during the jonas brothers live in concert world tour 2010 . in september 2011 , lovato performed the song during the revue concert an evening with demi lovato . track listings digital download " get back " – 3 : 19 radio disney download " get back " ( radio disney version ) – 3 : 19 music video version " get back " ( music video version ) – 3 : 20 note : the only change in the music video version is the line " kiss me like you mean it " is changed to " hold me like you mean it " . credits and personnel demi lovato – writer , lead vocals john taylor – guitars , background vocals kevin jonas – writer , guitars , background vocals nick jonas – writer , guitars , background vocals jack lawless – drums john fields – bass , guitars , keyboards , programming , producer joe jonas – writer , background vocals jonas brothers – producers source : charts and sales weekly charts sales