...Baby One More Time
"…Baby One More Time" is the debut single from Pop singer Britney Spears, who released from her debut album ...Baby One More Time during the fourth quarter of 1998.
Britney Spears' Breakout Hit
The song, written and produced by long-time Spears collaborator Max Martin, recalls Britney regretting her previous decision to end a relationship and how much she wishes to reconcile because of what he means to her, emphasizing how much she wants him to "hit me baby one more time".
As a result of its international success, the single is generally perceived as Spears' signature song. Its accompanying music video is also perhaps her most well-known, and is famous in the way that it has come to symbolize the late '90s teen-pop revival. The schoolgirl outfit that Spears is found wearing for parts of the video has also become one of her unofficial 'trademarks'; an easily-recognizable public way of representing her.
Covers by other artists
- The song has also been recorded by Fountains Of Wayne, and it gained popularity after being played on Howard Stern's radio show. It was never released as a single, although the song is present on Fountains Of Wayne's 2005 two-disc set of b-sides and cover songs, Out Of State Plates.
- Richard Thompson included the song in his "greatest hits of the millennium" show and performed a somewhat ironic version for his own recording.
- "…Baby One More Time" was also recorded by Bowling For Soup, Weezer, and Travis, and was originally offered to the group TLC to record, which they passed on.
- It has spawned a series of spoofs, such as this (explicit) 1, as well as this one relating to constitutional law.
Other uses of the song
In April, 2005, the British network ITV aired a short series called "Hit Me Baby One More Time," hosted by Vernon Kay. The show pitted one-hit wonders who generally had their moments of fame in the '80s against each other to play their own hits and a currently popular cover song. The favorites were chosen by audience voting.
The American version of the show also aired on NBC later in the year, and it was also hosted by Kay.
Music video
Directed by Nigel Dick, the "...Baby One More Time" video is what arguably fueled the single to become a success. Its original setup, however, was in high contrast to what eventually became the final product. The plan was to have the video in a cartoon-like environment, in a likely attempt to attract the audience of younger children. However, Spears was unhappy with this, and argued that the set should be a bit more mature. So, the childish nature of the primary plan was scrapped, and instead was replaced with Britney's idea for the video to be shot in a school. Her now-famous sexy schoolgirl outfit followed up this plan, and the video's production went underway.
Shot at Venice High School in California, the scenario begins with Spears in a particularly boring class right before the end of the day. Her assistant Felicia played the role of Britney's teacher. When the bell rings, Spears runs out into the hall and begins a choreographed dance. After this, we find Britney outside now adorned in an athletic outfit. Along with a couple of other students, she performs a number of gymnastic moves before heading back inside. At this point, we find her sitting on the bleachers in the gymnasium watching a basketball game. Her love interest in the video (who happens to be played by her cousin) is revealed. After this short segment, Britney begins her final dance routine and the video ends shortly afterwards, revealing that the whole thing had actually just been Britney's daydream.
The video became an instant hit on MTV and other music channel vehicles, and eventually became her first to retire on TRL.
Awards
As mentioned above, the music video became a smash hit, so it was not surprising when it earned Spears her first three MTV Video Music Award nominations in the categories of Best Pop Video, Best New Artist and, most prominently, Best Female Video. However, she went home empty-handed, beginning her abysmal VMA losing streak.
Despite her losses at the VMAs, the single still won numerous awards, including a Teen Choice Award for Choice Single and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song, proving that the single's success was not limited to the U.S.
The song was nominated in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at what many consider the most prestigious musical awards show of the year: the Grammys.
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Single | Won |
| 1999 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Female Video | Nominated |
| 1999 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Pop Video | Nominated |
| 1999 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best New Artist | Nominated |
| 1999 | M6/Mellier Premier Clip Awards | Best Music Video | Won |
| 1999 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Song | Won |
| 2000 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated |
Chart performance
"…Baby One More Time" remains to be Spears' biggest U.S. (and international) hit to date. The song debuted at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100 (the highest debut of her career), and was able to climb to number one on the chart, staying there for two weeks and becoming her first and currently only number one single in the U.S. The song also reached the top spot of the Hot 100 Singles Sales, staying there for a solid four weeks; this eventually propelled the single to a Platinum certification. Though not as strong as its sales tallies, the single also experienced considerable airplay, becoming one of her few top ten hits on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The track spent thirty-two weeks on the Hot 100 (her longest run on the chart), with a vast majority (twenty-nine) of these weeks within the top forty. Partially due to this longevity, the song was later ranked at number five on the 1999 Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart.
The single also became an all-around hit on Top 40 radio, going top ten on both the Top 40 Tracks and Rhythmic Top 40, and to number one for five weeks on the Mainstream Top 40. The song even broke into the lower half of the Adult Top 40.
Internationally, it was a similarly huge hit, reaching the top spot in most European nations (including the U.K.) and also ascending to the summit in other countries, such as Canada and Australia.
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 (2 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | 1 (4 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 41 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40 | 1 (5 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 10 |
| TRL Top 10 Countdown | 1 (2 Days) |
| Australian ARIA Top 50 | 1 (9 weeks) |
| Belgian Top 50 | 1 (8 weeks) |
| Canadian Billboard Top 100 | 1 (4 weeks) |
| French Top 100 | 7 |
| German Top 100 | 1 (6 weeks) |
| Italian Top 50 | 1 (1 week) |
| Netherlands Mega Top 100 | 1 (4 weeks) |
| Philippine Top 20 | 1 (8 weeks) |
| Swedish Top 60 | 1 (3 weeks) |
| Swiss Top 100 | 1 (9 weeks) |
| 'Tokio Hot 100' | 5 |
| Indonesia Chart' | 1 (6 weeks) |
| U.K. Top 40 | 1 (2 weeks) |
| World Chart Show | 1 (8 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart trajectory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Chart position | 17 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 29 | 31 | 38 | 46 | 46 | 49 |