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Originally written October 8, 2005. Breathe on Me will go down in pop history as one of the great lost opportunities. After the knockout success of Toxic and Everytime, consecutive No.1’s in the UK and on the world charts, all Jive had to do to make an astounding three in a row - and cement Britney’s place forever in the Hall of Fame of pop greatness - was release Breathe on Me. The public would have done the rest. Even the BBC’s Radio Two jocks loved it, as Richard Allinson, one of said jocks, told Britney in a radio interview in November 2003.
BOM was Britney’s favorite track on “In The Zone” but instead Jive and Larry Rudolph hatched a misconceived hook-up plan involving the flop movie Catwoman and Britney’s least favorite track, “Outrageous”. The rest is a dire and disastrous history of injury, tour cancellation and a career break that has already lasted 16 months and shows no sign of ending in the near future.
It has to be one of the worst decisions in showbiz history, and an inexcusable one, since Breathe On Me had been earmarked from the start of the promotion campaign for ITZ as one of the singles (which is why Britney performed it at Gotham Hall in the ABC Special) and its release was eagerly awaited by fans all around the world. Indeed, such was the disappointment, when fans realised it was not going to be a single, that numerous petitions were organised and posted off to Jive.
Breathe on Me was written by S. Anderson, S.Lee and L. Greene. Many have commented that it sounds like the greatest single Kylie Minogue never made, and that’s probably because Steve Anderson was Kylie’s musical director at the time. The track was produced by Mark Taylor, Steve Anderson provided keyboards and programming, and the backing vocals were by Britney and the song’s co-writer Lisa Greene.
Breathe on Me has to be one of the most erotic songs ever put on record, yet it’s far from “dirty”. The words refer to a level of sexual awareness and empathy that few couples attain. It’s broadly in the arena of tantric sex and the subject is a heightened consciousness where a breath is as good as or better than a touch. Some of us whose sexual experiences involve erotic imagination and fantasy may glimpse what Britney’s getting at, but it takes a couple who know each other’s minds inside out to achieve orgasm together without touching. That’s why she says “Monogamy’s the way to go”. Here's the words (checked):
It’s so hot in here...
Oh, it's so hot, and I need some air.
And boy, don't stop 'cos I'm halfway there
It's not complicated, we're just syncopated
We can read each other's minds.
One love united
Two bodies synchronising
Don't even need to touch me
Baby, just
Breathe on me, yeah
Oh Baby just breathe on me
We don't need to touch, just
Breathe, oh, yeah
Oh, this is way beyond the physical
Tonight, my senses don't make sense at all
Our imagination, taking us to places
We have never been before
Take me in, let it out
Don't even need to touch me
Baby, just
Breathe on me, yeah oh Baby just
Breathe on me.
We don't need to touch, just
Breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me), oh baby just
Breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me)
We don't need to touch
Just breathe
Monogamy is the way to go
Just put your lips together and blow
Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe,
Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe
Breathe on me
Baby just, breathe on me
We don't need to touch, just
Breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me)
Oh Baby just breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me)
We don't need to touch, just...aaaah
The song thumps along to a classic Europop beat, not easy to dance to but a fine vehicle for posing and writhing - as Britney ably demonstrates in the various visual presentations of Breathe on Me.
At Gotham Hall, Britney in skin-tight PVC pants and a spangly red bra writhes wantonly on a chaise-longue and dances against a hot guy and an equally hot gal. On the CDUK special (the video included in the UK Everytime DVD single) there’s a chaise-longue again, and writhing, strutting, prowling and straddling. Britney’s in a skimpy black abs-revealing tee and low jeans from which her ass appears to be constantly trying to make an escape. In "Live From Miami" Britney in bra, knickers, suspenders and ribbed black stockings dances against, rubs, strokes and kisses Leo Moctezuma and he returns the favor.
The production of the song is fairly simple. Britney’s lead vocal is placed centrally against keyboards mixed between left and right channels. There’s not much of a bassline, just a repeated, churning synth-bass riff and the drum track amounts to little more than bass drum and an offbeat hi-hat figure. Keyboard atmospherics appear briefly here and there. Britney whispers “way beyond the physical” from the extreme edge of the left-hand channel and “we’ve never seen before” from the right.
In the chorus, the words “breathe.....on.......me” seem to surge separately from the speakers, while in the final chorus the backing vocals are multi-tracked, volume rises, and a croaking synth joins the party. This reductivist description may not sound like any sort of endorsement, but there is alchemy at work and the track is so much more than the sum of its parts that it's a near-classic.
Britney’s vocal incorporates breathy purring, sighing and whispering but no all-out vocalising. Set against the visceral pounding of the backing track, her restraint and focus help to make this an experience that is both powerfully sexual yet essentially mental. This is her Unique Selling Point and she’d be foolish to abandon it without a lot of careful thought and career planning.
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