Toxic (song)
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"Toxic" is a Grammy Award-winning song and the second single from the album In the Zone by pop superstar Britney Spears, released during the first quarter of 2004 and an international #1 smash hit, "Toxic" was chosen as the second favorite song of the world (all time) in a global survey made by Sony Ericsson, in which 700,000 music fans of 66 countries contributed, only behind We Are the Champions by Queen.
The Bloodshy and Avant-produced "Toxic", which has been described as a pop song crossed with a James Bond theme song, boasts both Bollywood strings and slick production. It was written by Cathy Dennis, Christian Karlsson, Henrik Jonback and Pontus Winnberg.
The lyrics describe a woman falling in love with a man. She feels addicted to him: he is like a drug for her. His effect on her is like alcohol or drugs: she calls it a "poison paradise". On the one hand, it is "paradise" because it makes her feel high ("too high: can't come down", "I'm on a ride", "I'm loving it"). On the other hand, it is "poison" ("you're toxic") because she feels addicted to his love ("I need a hit", "There's no escape") and "it's dangerous" (she thinks "a guy like you should wear a warning").
The single was a major international success. It has been covered by The BossHoss, The Pulsar Triyo, Local H, the Chapin Sisters, Juliet Turner, and Nickel Creek. Even Marillion played it during their Marillion Weekend in February 2007 in the Netherlands. Monsters From Mars released an instrumental surf version.
Music video
The Joseph Kahn-directed music video for "Toxic" ranks with "I'm a Slave 4 U" as Britney's most risqué. Like "...Baby One More Time", Spears came up with the whole entire concept all by herself.
The video begins with a scene of several birds flying in front of a futuristic airplane in the sky. The camera moves for shots inside the aircraft and reveals Spears to be a flight attendant. She answers a phone call, dances provocatively with her trolley and spills wine on a man's trousers (and then proceeds to clean up her mess), before moving on to an overweight man standing in the path eating a sandwich; she then abandons her trolley to push him into the facilities, and locks the door with both of them inside. The two begin kissing, in which Spears pulls the face of the man off, revealing a supermodel's face beneath. They continue making out, and while the man is distracted from their actions, Spears steals his wallet from him.
Spears is on the streets of Paris in the next part of the video, wearing a dominatrix suit, sporting wavy red hair, waiting to be picked up. Her transportation (shirtless supermodel Tyson Beckford who is riding a red Ducati 999 motorcycle) arrives, and the pair drive off to Spears' destination, a factory owned by "Toxic Industries Inc". She uses the key she stole from the man on the airplane to enter a room that contains toxin. Spears then exits the building, but not before having to pass through a series of security measures, including eruptions of fire and rotating glass wheels.
Following the adventure, Spears climbs up the wall of a building. Now adorned in a type of superhero costume with black hair, she enters the apartment of her former lover, played by New Zealand actor Martin Henderson. They begin to make out, but for Spears, this is only a distraction so that she can use the toxin she stole to murder the man. She plants a kiss on his face, and then jumps off the edge of the building, and lands in the airplane that the video originally began in, winking at the camera before returning to her duties as a flight attendant. The video closes as it began, with birds flying behind the aircraft.
Tracklisting and formats
- EU/AUS CD Single
- "Toxic" (Album Version) 3:19
- "Toxic" (Instrumental Album Version) 3:19
- "Toxic" (Bloodshy & Avant’s Intoxicated Remix) 5:35
- "Toxic" (Armand Van Helden Remix Edit) 6:35
- UK CD Single
- "Toxic" (Album Version) 3:19
- "Toxic" (Lenny Bertoldo Mixshow Edit) 5:46
- "Toxic" (Armand Van Helden Remix Edit) 6:35
- "Toxic" (Felix Da Housecat Club Mix) 7:09
- "Toxic" (Instrumental Album Version) 3:19
- UK DVD Single
- "Toxic" Video
- "Britney Previews 'In The Zone'" Video Interview
- "Toxic" Lenny Bertoldo Mixshow
Remixes and other versions
These are (official) remixes and other versions of "Toxic" and the album/single they appear on:
- Album Version 3:19
- Instrumental 3:19
- Peter Rauhofer Reconstruction Mix 7:56
- Peter Rauhofer Reconstruction Mix Edit 6:43
- Peter Rauhofer Reconstruction Mix Radio Edit 4:29 - only available on B in the Mix: The Remixes Deluxe Edition
- Bloodshy & Avant's Intoxicated Remix 5:35
- Felix Da Housecat's Club Mix 7:09
- Lenny Bertoldo Mixshow Edit 5:46
- Lenny Bertoldo Radio Mix 3:32
- Armand Van Helden Remix 9:34
- Armand Van Helden Remix Edit 6:25
- Armand Van Helden Radio Edit 3:46
- Yiannis Outstanding Tribal Mix
- Wave Group/Shoichiro Hirata Remix 1:50 - Cover of the original featured in beatmania, a music simulation game on the American PS2 game console
There is also a mix by DJ Sat One going around featuring a rap by Bahamadia (who some confuse with P. Magnet) which is considered by some to be official; however, it's not a commissioned release.
There are a further 2 remixes, the first nicknamed "toxic riddims" released in the UK on the club circuit and is still doing the rounds, which involves rap style lyrics. This is an unofficial remix and as such can only be found on p2p networks although due to its success in the clubs it is surprising it has not been actually released. The official title for this remix is Britney Spears vs Cutback - toxic vs rock to the rhythm or on the p2p networks, toxic riddims or toxic remix. The second was released on MTV Mash Up and is a mix of Usher - Yeah with Britney Spears - Toxic
MTV also released another unofficial mash-up remix, this time mixing the song Faint (by Linkin Park) with Toxic (By Britney Spears). This remix is widely available over p2p networks, like Limewire .
Mark Ronson sampled Toxic, in a hip-hop version of the song titled simply "Toxic", featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Nick Catchdubs
Chart performance
"Toxic" became Spears' biggest U.S. hit since "...Baby One More Time", and her first top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 since 2000's "Oops!... I Did It Again". For these reasons, the song is considered by some critics to have been her first comeback single.
"Toxic" reached #9 on the Hot 100 chart. The single also experienced strong downloads, and became her first number one on the Hot Digital Tracks (it was the 4th most legally downloaded song of 2004); however, these downloads did not help the song on the charts, as digital sales did not begin counting towards chart positions until early 2005; it likely would have been a top 5 single otherwise[citation needed]. The single was also ranked at forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart for 2004.
On Top 40 radio, the song reached number one for four weeks on the Mainstream Top 40 and number two on the Top 40 Tracks. "Toxic" also reached the top twenty on the Rhythmic Top 40.
"Toxic" became one of the biggest worldwide hits of 2004, and reached the top five or number one in nearly every country it charted in.
The single also became a huge success in the UK, selling 102,000 copies in its first week of release and debuting at number one, charting ahead of Kylie Minogue's "Red Blooded Woman" which entered the chart at #5. The chart battle between the two divas was highly popularized in the UK[1]. Ironically, the song had originally been offered to Kylie for inclusion on her 9th studio album Body Language, but she turned it down [2]. "Toxic" sold a total of 268,000 copies in the UK and became the 9th best selling single of 2004.
In Europe, the single peak at # 1 in the Euro 200, becoming her first and only #1 and third Top 10.
In Latin America, the song became one of Britney's biggest hits, hitting the top ten in every single country (quite a feat considering that most countries' charts are full of Latin acts and not too many international acts) the song hit number-one in Peru, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador which ensured the song a number-one on the Latin American Top 40 Singles Chart.
Charts
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Certifications
| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| U.S | Platinum | 1 million+ |
| Latin America | Platinum | 1,000,000 |
| Australia | Platinum | 70,000 |
| France | Silver | 125,000 |
| New Zealand | Gold | 5,000 |
| UK | Silver | 200,000 |
| Worldwide | 3x Platinum | 6.5 million |
Trivia
- "Toxic" was chosen as the second favorite song of the world (all time) in a global survey made by Sony Ericsson, in which 700,000 music fans of 66 countries contributed.
- The song was used in the 2006 Life on Mars (TV series) episode 7.
- The song was used on HBO's "Entourage (TV series)" Season 1 on an episode called "Date Night".
- The song was used in the 2005 Doctor Who episode The End of the World.
- The song was covered by hard rock band Local H and is available for free here
- The song is mentioned in one of the remixes of Busta Rhymes' song Touch It, when Missy Elliot is rapping.
- Toxic was voted number 100 in the Video Hits Australia Top 100 Video Clips of the past 20 years in 2006. ...Baby One More Time was also in the countdown at number 69.
Notes
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3541221.stm
- ^ Kylie Minogue turned down "Toxic" for her Body Language album:
- ^ Chart peak positions:
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