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Toxic (song)

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"Toxic" is the second single from the album In the Zone by pop singer Britney Spears, released during the first quarter of 2004.

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, with writing credits from Cathy Dennis and others.

The song is about Britney 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 Pulsar Triyo, Local H, and Nickel Creek.

Contents

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.

Although radio has never really warmed to Spears' music, "Toxic" did reach #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, and likely would have been a #1 single if other wise. 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 U.K. selling 102,000 copies in its first week of release and debuting at number-one, beating Kylie Minogue's 'Red Blooded Woman' which only managed #5, the chart battle between the two divas was higly popularized in the UK[link]. Britney would later beat her again in album sales. "Toxic" sold a total of 268,000 copies and became the 9th best selling single of 2004.

Music video

The video for "Toxic" is perhaps best known for its intercut scenes that feature Spears entirely nude aside from several strategically-placed crystals.
Enlarge
The video for "Toxic" is perhaps best known for its intercut scenes that feature Spears entirely nude aside from several strategically-placed crystals.

The Joseph Kahn-directed music video for "Toxic" ranks with "I'm a Slave 4 U" as Britney's most risqué. The video was even banned from MTV for a short period of time (though it was still capable of retiring on TRL).

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 a key 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 transport (shirtless supermodel Tyson Beckford who is riding a red 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. 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. The video closes as it began, with birds flying behind the aircraft.

Awards

"Toxic" earned a number of award nominations and wins. Predictably, with its popular video, it became one of the most-nominated works at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. It also became Spears' first to be nominated in the category for Video of the Year; she was the only female nominated in the category for that year's ceremony. However, she still lost to Beyoncé's "Naughty Girl" in the category of Best Female Video, securing a second consecutive win for Beyoncé.

Regardless of the VMAs' outcome, "Toxic" still won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Single and, her first Grammy in the category of Best Dance Recording.

Year Ceremony Award Result
2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Single Won
2004 MTV Video Music Awards Video of the Year Nominated
2004 MTV Video Music Awards Best Female Video Nominated
2004 MTV Video Music Awards Best Dance Video Nominated
2004 MTV Video Music Awards Best Pop Video Nominated
2004 Nrj Music Awards Video Of The Year Nominated
2004 Ivor Novello Awards Most-Performed Work Won
2004 MTV Europe Music Awards Best Song Nominated
2005 Grammy Awards Best Dance Recording Won
2005 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Song Nominated
2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards Sexiest Video Nominated
2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards Video of the year Nominated
2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards Best Pop Video Nominated

Remixes and other versions

These are (official) remixes and other versions of "Toxic" and the album/single they appear on:

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.

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position 		Year End
Chart 2004
ARC Weekly Top 40 1 (1 week) 13
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 9 48
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales 52
U.S. Hot Digital Tracks 1 (1 week)
U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 (1 week)
U.S. Dance Radio Airplay 1 (1 week)
U.S. Hot Dance Singles Sales 3
U.S. Top 40 Tracks 2
U.S. Adult Top 40 37
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream 1 (4 weeks)
U.S. Rhythmic Top 40 16
U.S. Latin Pop Airplay 35
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 1 (2 weeks) 38
Canadian Singles Chart 1 (2 weeks) 33
UK Official Singles Chart 1 (1 week) 9
Austrian Singles Chart 5
Belgium UltraTop 50 6 33
Brazilian Singles Chart 4
Dutch Top 40 4 51
French Singles Chart 3
German Singles Chart 4
Indonesia Chart 1 (6 weeks)
Irish Singles Chart 1 (4 weeks)
Italian Singles Chart 4
Japanese Top 200 1
Mexican Top 100 1 (9 Weeks)
N.P. Top 100 1 (8 weeks) 2
New Zealand Singles Chart 2
Norwegian Top 20 1 (3 weeks)
Philippine Singles Chart 1 (6 weeks)
Russian Top 100 Airplay 6
Singapore Top 20 Singles 1 (4 weeks)
Spanish Singles Chart 5
Swedish Singles Chart 2
Swiss Singles Chart 4
Tokyo Hot 100 7
World Chart Show 1 (5 weeks)
VH1 Top 20 Countdown 1 (3 weeks)
Top Hits Online 1 (9 Weeks)
TRL Top 10 Countdown 1 (16 Days)

Certifications
Chart Trajectories
ARC Weekly Top 40
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Chart position 40 34 24 16 6 4 4 3 3 2 1 2 4 4 4 4 9 12 14 17 24 37

U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Chart position 53 36 29 22 18 14 11 10 9 11 11 10 14 17 19 19 37 41 51 56

UK Official Singles Chart trajectory
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
Chart position 1 2 4 7 11 20 27 18 24 34 44 54 64 74

Australian ARIA Singles Chart
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
Position 1 1
3
4
6
9
17
27
45

Trivia

The song was used in the 2005 Doctor Who episode The End of the World.

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Britney Spears
Discography | Awards | Music videos | Unreleased songs | Bootlegs

 

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