Peak
9
Weeks
20
Score
3,354
Chart Year
2004
The music video begins with an open shot of an airplane flying and preceded by three menacing dark birds, referencing the works of Hong Kong director John Woo.[57] Spears appears with blonde hair dressed as a flight attendant, lifting the in-flight intercom as if on a phone call. After serving some of the passengers, she "accidentally" spills a drink into the lap of a seated male passenger; later beckoning a middle-aged, overweight, bespectacled male passenger to the bathroom where she seduces him.[63] She peels off the man's mask to reveal an attractive man (Matthew Felker) underneath it and steals a black pass from his pocket as they passionately kiss.[57][64] Spears then appears, completely re-dressed and with red hair, standing in a futuristic Paris, similar to the film Blade Runner (1982),[57] and takes a ride on the back of a Ducati 999, driven by a shirtless male (Tyson Beckford). She wears a tight black catsuit and sports red hair, inspired by the character of Sydney Bristow from the television series Alias.[60] As they speed past a woman, the draft from the motorcycle lifts up her dress, a homage to the iconic Marilyn Monroe scene in the film The Seven Year Itch (1955).[57] They also pass two women, erotically frolicking in a store window.[63] The action narrative is repeatedly intercut with scenes of Spears, on all fours on the floor, wearing only diamonds.[57] The look was compared to that of Kate Bush in the music video for her 1978 single, "The Man with the Child in His Eyes".[65] Spears then enters Toxic Industries and gains access to a vault from which she steals a vial of green poison. As she leaves, she accidentally triggers a Mission: Impossible-style laser trap, which she evades with elaborate dance moves, including a back handspring. Scenes are intercut of Spears' ex-boyfriend (Henderson) making out with another woman in the shower. Spears, now dressed as a black-haired super-heroine, scales a building and enters an apartment, where her ex-boyfriend is waiting for his lover who is in the shower. She pummels him to the floor and kisses him just before pouring the poison into his mouth, killing him. Spears kisses him again and flies from the window balcony. She appears back on the plane as the flight attendant and winks at the camera. The video ends with a shot of the airplane flying off, through clouds, towards the sun, followed by five menacing screeching blackbirds, as seen at the beginning
In this song, Britney Spears is mad for a man who is like her toxic addiction. The English songwriter Cathy Dennis wrote it in 2003 with Spears in mind. Dennis was the female voice of the group D-Mob, who had a hit in 1990 with "C'mon And Get My Love." She had some other hits as a solo artist, including "Too Many Walls" and "Just Another Dream," before writing songs for other artists. She wrote Kylie Minogue's 2002 hit "Can't Get You Out Of My Head." The video was released around the same time Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at the Super Bowl. The uproar over indecent material caused MTV to banish the "Toxic" clip, and a few other highly sexual videos, to late-night rotation. In the Joseph Kahn-directed video, Spears is shown in a provocative pose wearing a flesh-colored body suit. Kahn also directed the clips for Spears' "Stronger" and "Womanizer." This won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. It was Spears' first Grammy. This was produced by the Swedish production duo Bloodshy & Avant (Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg), and the pair received writing credit on the song as well. They also worked on Spears' 2007 track "Piece Of Me." Spears' previous Top 10 hit was "Oops... I Did It Again" in 2000. While she did rack up some minor hits, her commercial success was fading a bit. This song, with its memorable high-pitched hook, brought her back to the Top 10 and gave her career a nice boost. >> Report this ad There have been some very interesting and unusual cover versions of this song. The French-Israeli folk-pop artist Yael Naim recorded it, as did the alternative group Local H. A Static Lullaby recorded a Punk version on their 2008 album Rattlesnake!. The singer-songwriter interview with Jayme Dee got a lot of attention with her acoustic cover that she posted on YouTube. Dee has covered many popular songs in this style which routinely get over 100,000 views, but she tells us that "Toxic" is the one she most connected with. Said Dee: "It's so different than the original version. I wanted to make the song a little more sultry and less obtrusive, so I pulled out my acoustic and went for a more bluesy vibe. It was fun!" Spears told MTV News in 2003: "It's basically about a girl addicted to a guy. "I really like 'Toxic.' It's an upbeat song. It's really different, that's why I like it so much. This villain girl, she'll do anything to get what she wants. She goes through different obstacles." Cathy Dennis said that writing this song was "sheer torture." She told Songwriting magazine: "I beat myself up for seven days, not sleeping. The melody came first, then I had this puzzle of trying to fit words to the right number of syllables. It was really weird. I kept writing and then re-editing myself again, and again, and again." For the video, Britney appears to be a flight attendant, but she's actually a secret agent in disguise. Director Joseph Kahn told MTV News: "The plot is pretty nonsensical. It's just fun. James Bond flicks and sex." "Toxic" was the most-searched song on Google in 2004; Spears was the most-searched artist that year. The song was originally offered to Kylie Minogue, but she rejected it. Jay-Z revealed during a Twitter Q&A that this is his favorite Britney song. "Jamming my G," he remarked. Britney responded by tweeting: "You learn something every day! Never knew @S_C_ was a fan of Toxic! That's Big Pimpin." This was used on the TV series Chuck in the 2007 episode "Chuck Versus the Truth." The composer Anthony Willis created a strings-only version of "Toxic" for the 2020 film Promising Young Woman. Baz Luhrmann's 2022 Elvis biopic features a mashup of "Toxic" and the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)." The majority of the film's soundtrack contains covers of Elvis tunes by contemporary artists, including the film's star Austin Butler, along with the King's own vintage recordings. Although it doesn't appear on the album, the movie's inclusion of the pop mix is a bit of a head scratcher.
Baby, can't you see? I'm calling A guy like you should wear a warning It's dangerous I'm falling There's no escape I can't wait I need a hit Baby, give me it You're dangerous I'm loving it Too high Can't come down Losin' my head Spinnin' 'round and 'round Do you feel me now? With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride You're toxic I'm slippin' under With a taste of a poison paradise I'm addicted to you Don't you know that you're toxic? And I love what you do Don't you know that you're toxic? It's getting late To give you up I took a sip From my devil's cup Slowly, it's taking over me Too high Can't come down It's in the air and it's all around Can you feel me now? With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride You're toxic I'm slippin' under With a taste of a poison paradise I'm addicted to you Don't you know that you're toxic? And I love what you do Don't you know that you're toxic? Don't you know that you're toxic? (Oh, oh) (Oh, oh) Taste of your lips I'm on a ride You're toxic I'm slippin' under With a taste of a poison paradise I'm addicted to you Don't you know that you're toxic? With the taste of your lips I'm on a ride You're toxic I'm slippin' under (toxic) With a taste of the poison paradise I'm addicted to you Don't you know that you're toxic? Intoxicate me now With your lovin' now I think I'm ready now I think I'm ready now Intoxicate me now With your lovin' now I think I'm ready now
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 31, 2004 | 53 | 73 |
| 2 | Feb 7, 2004 | 36 | 90 |
| 3 | Feb 14, 2004 | 29 | 97 |
| 4 | Feb 21, 2004 | 22 | 104 |
| 5 | Feb 28, 2004 | 18 | 108 |
| 6 | Mar 6, 2004 | 14 | 112 |
| 7 | Mar 13, 2004 | 11 | 115 |
| 8 | Mar 20, 2004 | 10 | 116 |
| 9 | Mar 27, 2004 | 9 | 117 |
| 10 | Apr 3, 2004 | 11 | 115 |
| 11 | Apr 10, 2004 | 11 | 115 |
| 12 | Apr 17, 2004 | 10 | 116 |
| 13 | Apr 24, 2004 | 14 | 112 |
| 14 | May 1, 2004 | 17 | 109 |
| 15 | May 8, 2004 | 19 | 107 |
| 16 | May 15, 2004 | 19 | 107 |
| 17 | May 22, 2004 | 37 | 89 |
| 18 | May 29, 2004 | 41 | 85 |
| 19 | Jun 5, 2004 | 51 | 75 |
| 20 | Jun 12, 2004 | 56 | 70 |