I had been in studio for about six months listening and recording material, but I hadn't really heard a hit yet. When I started working with Max Martin in Sweden, he played the demo for 'Baby One More Time' for me, and I knew from the start it [was one] of those songs you want to hear again and again. It just felt really right. I went into the studio and did my own thing with it, trying to give it a little more attitude than the demo. In 10 days, I never even saw Sweden. We were so busy.
Claudia Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, authors of Girl Culture: Studying girl culture: a readers' guide (2008), noted the lyrics of the song "gesture toward [Spears] longing for the return of an ex-boyfriend."[20] Spears said "...Baby One More Time" is a song "every girl can relate to. She regrets it. She wants him back."[21] The lyrics, however, caused controversy in the United States, because the line "Hit me baby one more time" supposedly has sadomasochistic connotations.[22] As a response, the singer said the line "doesn't mean physically hit me. [...] It means just give me a sign, basically. I think it's kind of funny that people would actually think that's what it meant."[6] Music journalist John Seabrook has said "Everybody thought it was some sort of weird allusion to domestic violence or something. But what it really was, was the Swedes using English not exactly correctly. What they really wanted to say was, "hit me up on the phone one more time" or something. But at that point, Max's English wasn't that great. So it came out sounding a little bit weird in English."[23]
The song was officially sent to contemporary hit and rhythmic contemporary radio on September 28, 1998.[33] On November 21, 1998, "...Baby One More Time" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 17 and topped the chart two and a half months later for two consecutive weeks, replacing R&B-singer Brandy's "Have You Ever?".[34] Simultaneously, it climbed to number-one on the Canadian Singles Chart.[35] The song reached the top spot of the Hot 100 Singles Sales and stayed there for four consecutive weeks.[36][37] This eventually propelled the single to a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.[38] Though not as strong as its sales tallies, "...Baby One More Time" also experienced considerable airplay, becoming her first top ten hit on the Hot 100 Airplay, peaking at number eight.[39] The single also became an all-around hit on Top 40 radio, going top ten on both the Top 40 Tracks and Rhythmic Top 40, and to number one for five weeks on the Mainstream Top 40.[35] It spent 32 weeks on the Hot 100 and ended up at number five on Billboard's year-end chart.[40][41] As of June 2012, "...Baby One More Time" has sold 1,412,000 physical singles, with 511,000 paid digital downloads in the United States.[42] It is Spears's best-selling physical single in the country.[42] "...Baby One More Time" debuted at number 20 on the Australian Singles Chart,[43] a month later reached number one and stayed there for nine consecutive weeks.[43] The song eventually became the second highest-selling single of the year,[44][45] only behind Lou Bega's "Mambo #5",[44][45] and was certified three-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for selling over 210,000 copies.[44][45] In New Zealand, the single spent four non-consecutive weeks at the top of the charts and after shipping over 15,000 units to retailers the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand certified it platinum.[46][47]
The track reached the top spot in the majority of countries in which it charted.[48] "...Baby One More Time" spent two consecutive weeks at number-one on the French Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Ãdition Phonographique after selling over 500,000 units in the country.[48][49] Additionally, the song topped the German Singles Chart for six consecutive weeks and sold over 750,000 copies, resulting in a three-times gold certification by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.[50] In the United Kingdom, according to Jive Records, "...Baby One More Time" sold more than 250,000 copies in a mere three days.[51] Spears broke a first-week sales record for a female act in the UK at the time when "...Baby One More Time" sold a total of 460,000 copies.[52] Eventually, the British Phonographic Industry certified it two-times platinum on March 26, 1999.[53] The single went on to sell over 1,445,000 units by the end of 1999,[54] making it the highest-selling single of that year and the 8th biggest song of the 1990s. As of 2018, it is the 32nd best-seller of all-time in the UK.[55] Additionally, "...Baby One More Time" is the fifth best-selling single by a female artist in the country, behind Cher's "Believe", Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", Adele's "Someone like You" and CÃline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On".[55] "...Baby One More Time" is one of the best-selling singles of all time, with over 10 million copies sold worldwide.[56] As of May 2020, "...Baby One More Time" has generated over 285 million streams in the US.[57]
The music video was directed by Nigel Dick.[58] After being chosen, Dick received criticism from his colleagues about wanting to work with Spears. He responded saying, "It's a great song. I don't know anything about Britney. I never watched The Mickey Mouse Club. She seems like a great kid and she's very enthusiastic, but I just love the song. It's just a great song".[21] The video's original setup was very different from what eventually became the final product. The plan was to have the video in a cartoon-like environment, a likely attempt to attract an audience of younger children.[58] Spears was unhappy with this, and argued that she wanted her video to reflect the lives of her fans and wanted to set the video in a school.[21][58] Spears pitched this idea to Dick, and explained she wanted the video to have dance scenes. The original setting was scrapped and replaced with Spears's concept.[21] Dick's first idea for the wardrobe was jeans and a T-shirt, but during the wardrobe fitting Spears asked for a schoolgirl outfit. Dick said that "Every piece of wardrobe in the video came from Kmart, and I was told at the time not one piece of clothing in the video cost more than $17. On that level, it's real. That probably, in retrospect, is a part of its charm."[21] The knotted shirt was Spears' idea, she recollects saying, "The outfits looked kind of dorky, so I was like, 'Let's tie up our shirts and be cute'".[59] About the experience of shooting her first music video, Spears said, "It was a wonderful experience. All these people there, working for you. I had my own trailer. It was an amazing experience".[21] The music video was shot on August 7 and 8, 1998, at Venice High School, the same school used to shoot the 1978 film Grease.[60][58] The video premiered on MTV and other video stations on November 26, 1998.[61][62]
The first live performance of the song was at the "Singapore Jazz Festival" in Singapore on May 16, 1998. That day, she also performed the song "Sometimes" for the first time. Britney performed "...Baby One More Time" on several occasions. She performed the song on July 6, 1999, during her appearance at the Woodstock 99 festival.[71] Neil Strauss, from The New York Times, noted that "all the backing music was on tape, and most of the vocals were recorded, with Ms. Spears just reinforcing selected words in choruses and singing an occasional snippet of a verse".[71] It was also performed at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards;[72] after a classroom roll call ended, Spears appeared on the stage and began performing the song. Halfway through, she was joined by Justin Timberlake and the members of NSYNC for a dance routine. Afterwards, the band performed their hit "Tearin' Up My Heart".[73] The song was also performed at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards, along with "(You Drive Me) Crazy", the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, the 1999 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops and the Greenwich Millennium concert on December 31, 1999, she also performed it with broadcasters David Dimbleby and Michael Buerk on 2000 Today. Spears performed the song in a medley with "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" at the 42nd Grammy Awards. Spears was wearing a turtleneck and a full tulle skirt at the beginning of the performance, while dancers surrounded her with enormous hand fans. After singing a shortened version of the song, she then took a few moments to shuffle into a form-fitting red rhinestone outfit (with side cutouts) and emerged onto a stage to perform "...Baby One More Time." Spears was also criticized of lipsynching the song during her performance.[74] Later, in 2003, Spears performed the song in a remixed form at Britney Spears: In the Zone, a concert special that aired in ABC on November 17, 2003.[75] "...Baby One More Time" was also performed at the 2003 NFL Kickoff Live on September 4, 2003, at the National Mall, in a medley with "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001), which included pyrotechnics.[76][77][78] She sported shoulder-length blond hair and was dressed in black football pants, a black-and-white referee halter top and boots from Reebok.[79] Her outfit was later auctioned off to benefit the Britney Spears Foundation.[77]
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