Songoftheday 11/12/24 - Notice me take my hand, why are we strangers when...

 

 

"Everytime" - Britney Spears

from the album In The Zone (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #15 (four weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 11

 

Today's song comes from Britney Spears, whose third album In The Zone stalled a bit at the start with hyped mega-star duet with Madonna, "Me Against The Music", barely snuck into the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, but rebounded into the top ten with the Grammy-winning bop "Toxic".  For the third single from the record, Britney released "Everytime", a ballad purportedly addressing her breakup with Justin Timberlake. Written by the singer with Greek/American singer Annet Artani, the lyrics detail the despair of a failing relationship (both Britney and Annet had just gone through splits involving people in their own profession). But in this Spears comes across as apologetic, not bitter, and resigned to her fate. The production from Guy Sigsworth, who was one-half of the alt-pop duo Frou Frou with singer Imogen Heap, is probably the most delicately painted backdrop she's had, which allows her vocals (breathy as they are) to actually be an asset here, displaying the weakness she feels inside. The lack of percussion on this also puts one in a dream-like state listening. The music video is pretty damn dark, showing Britney as the starlet, ignored by her other half, get pummeled by paparazzi in Vegas, where a blow from a camera to the head turns to blood then some alternate realities...

"Everytime" became the third top-40 hit on the Hot 100 from In The Zone in July of 2004. On the radio, the song peaked at #4 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 chart and #25 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format. Club remixes of the song, done by the Scumfrom and Above & Beyond production teams among others, helped the track rise to #4 on the Dance Airplay chart and #17 on the Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the single topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and Hungary, and reached the top ten in France (#2), Canada (#2 sales/#6 airplay), Sweden (#3), Norway (#3), Czechia (#3), Germany (#4), the Netherlands (#4), Austria (#4), Belgium (#4 Flanders/#5 Wallonia), Denmark (#5), Poland (#5), Switzerland (#6), and Romania (#8). 

A final single from the album, "Outrageous", was written and produced by the future incarcerated felon R. Kelly. The song tried to cast her into the current "eastern Asian vibe that was out of her milieu, and in return, while the song made it to #23 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 chart, it stalled all the way down at #79 on the Hot 100 (the dance remix hit #27 on the Club Play list). 

As for Annet Artani, she went on to represent the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. Her entry "When Angels Cry" failed to pass the semi-finals, and ended up 15th overall in the show. (It deserved better.)

As for Britney, she will be back to the series.

(8/10)

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Here's Britney performing the song on her ABC Special debuting the album...

and from her Onyx Hotel tour behind the album...

and lastly, from her Vegas stint in 2016...

Up tomorrow: Mr. WorldWide makes his debut with a little booty-shakin'.