Toxic

The perfect pop song?

I have a deep abiding love for this song. When I hear the distinct opening sound, a rush of joy comes through me. I used to do this song at karaoke a lot and had so much fun playing with it. To me, it is the perfect pop song.

Is it the Bollywood strings sample hook?¹ Is it the surf guitar? Is it the funky bass? Is it the breathy vocal? Is it the Swedish hit-makers song structure?² All I know is the elements all together create an incredibly catchy song. Feel free to share your thoughts on why it works.³

The music video was directed by prolific music video director Joseph Kahn and includes references to Blade Runner, The Seven Year Itch, and John Woo films. It features Spears as a scantily dressed flight attendant who turns out to be a secret agent. These are interspersed with scenes of Spears in what appears to be a see-through body suit studded with diamonds. (It’s not.) The action shifts to Spears looking like she was in a Batman film, complete with backflipping through spinning lasers during the bridge. No stunt double! At the end, she poisons the hot guy we saw on the plane with the poison she stole before the bridge.

The video was deemed too racy for MTV and was moved to late-night programming. Is this video exploitive, in light of all we know about her life? Hell yes. But it’s fun and compelling and gives her a chance to act again.

This video was posted by the creative director and choreographer Brian Friedman, which came from the MTV episode Making the Video. At one point you see her asking just how much she’s going to need to do with a guy. It makes you uncomfortable. But it’s really cool to see how it was shot and the ending is so heartwarming as she cuts a cake for the crew at the wrap and praises their hard work. She looks so happy and it’s nice to remember who that woman was.

Enjoy your song of the day!

1. Find out more about that here.

2. It was written by Cathy Dennis, Henrik Jonback, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg from the production team Bloodshy & Avant. It was produced by Karlsson and Winnberg.

3. The writers thought it was too weird to work. They talk about it here.