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Originally written December 5, 2005.
Would the world still be talking about Britney Spears if it had't been for Baby One More Time? It's a matter for conjecture. What we can be certain of is that it was one of a set of circumstances that came together like the conjunction of astral forces to launch one of the most remarkable careers in the history of pop music and, as a media commentator recently noted, "the most talked about woman in America".
Could it ever happen again? Well, you would need a combination of an amazing, soon-to-be-classic song, a ground-breaking video surrounded by both positive and negative controversy, an imaginative and hyper-energetic promotion program, a pent-up audience of young kids hungry for new sounds, a long-standing scarcity of new female pop singers, the resurgence of music video like the one that followed the launch of TRL...and someone with the curiously profound impact and appeal of Ms Spears herself.
Some people reckon Britney wouldn't get past stage one of a modern-day Pop Idol or X-Factor audition. Perhaps they don't realize that Simon Cowell holds her in high regard. In the early stages of this season's X-Factor (the show which has pretty much replaced Pop Idol in the UK), the three judges revealed the names of the artists they thought had the "X factor". The first artist Simon named was Britney Spears.
Mind you, if Simon had had his way a few years earlier, Britney's career trajectory could have been somewhat less stratospheric. Max Martin originally wrote BOMT for TLC, but they passed on it because they were on a break. On hearing about this, Simon Cowell tried his best to capture it for his boyband "5ive" and offered Max all manner of inducements to hand it over. But, says Simon, Max had promised it to "a girl singer with a funny name", and to his great credit, stood by his word. Britney herself was fully aware of the value of "...Baby One More Time" and according to some accounts told friends "This is the song that will make me".
"...Baby One More Time" has long since become part of the collective consciousness. Six years after Britney's astounding success it remains a karaoke favorite, and the world is not short of people who have perfected the art of sticking their tongues out, Britney-style, when singing all the words that start with "L". However, its potential for the standard Pop Idol repertoire was severely compromised by Darius Danesh's notorious rendition, and most other attempts have been intended as ironic commentary on the supposed vacuity of pop music, teeny pop fans and Britney Spears, in roughly that order.
Nevertheless, it remains without any doubt one of the greatest pop songs of all time, acknowledged as such by many songwriters as well as critics, and it has appeared in numerous orders of merit.
These are the words, according to the internet - if there still remains anyone who doesn't know them:
Oh baby, baby
How was I supposed to know
That something wasn't right here
Oh baby, baby
I shouldn't have let you go
And now you're out of sight, yeah
Show me how want it to be
Tell me baby 'cause I need to know now, oh because
Chorus:
My loneliness is killing me
I must confess I still believe
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
Oh baby, baby
The reason I breathe is you
Boy you got me blinded
Oh pretty baby
There's nothing that I wouldn't do
It's not the way I planned it
Show me how you want it to be
Tell me baby 'cause I need to know now, oh because
Chorus:
My loneliness is killing me
I must confess I still believe
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
Oh baby, baby how was I supposed to know
Oh pretty baby, I shouldn't have let you go
I must confess, that my loneliness is killing me now
Don't you know I still believe
That you will be here
And give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
Chorus:
My loneliness is killing me
I must confess I still believe
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
It's the perfect pop song - simple but not simplistic, with a strong, memorable melody, lots of verbal as well as musical hooks, and a distinctiveness that makes it both timeless and instantly recognisable in any context, no matter how noisy. The one potential weakness is the need for the extended "oh-oh-oh" at the end of "I shouldn't have let you go", which, coming from T-Boz or Chilli, might have sounded soulful but, coming from Britney, has always invited parody.
The production is also fairly simple, but again contains enough substance to satisfy. It begins with the famous three chords that make everyone shut up and listen - an act of genius that hasn't been copied as much as might have been expected - then establishes a sort of mildly r 'n' b ambiance with some funky guitar licks before setting off with a deceptively lazy but seductive rhythm. Britney's unique vocal personality shines through from the moment she opens her mouth and somewhat mysteriously sings "Oh babin, babin".
Structurally, the production presents a dialog between Britney's clearly recorded solo at center and a variety of double- and multi-tracked vocals spread over a soundstage of about 45 degrees. There's no stereo separation or by-play at the extremes, so it works well on car stereos and cheap home systems alike. The guitarist contributes little more than an occasional pluck, the bassline is a sparse, laid-back track that only comes alive with some deep notes at 2.00, and the rhythm track is an unhurried hi-hat and snare. A string-like synth line enters at 0.45 and stays till the end and a synth piano makes an appearance at 2.05 to underpin the quiet section before the final choruses. From 3.00, as the song comes to an end, the backing vocals, now almost choral, alternately echo and anticipate Britney's words in an enthralling climax.
Songwriters around the world have spent the last 7 years trying to figure out just what it is about BOMT that conquered the world, caused a musical revolution and helped turn a modest little Louisiana teenager into the best-selling female artist of the present century. But like Britney herself, it's probably a one-off: a phenomenon impossible to copy and unlikely ever to be repeated.
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I just finished reading on BB how wrong you were about this whole entire article.