Womanizer (song)
"Womanizer" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, Circus (2008). It was released on September 26, 2008, by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. Produced and written by The Outsyders, the song was re-recorded after a snippet was leaked onto the internet. "Womanizer" is an up-tempo electropop and dance-pop song. Described by Spears as a girl anthem, the song's lyrics recall a womanizing man, while the protagonist of the song makes clear she knows who he really is.
"Womanizer"
September 26, 2008
- Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank
- Legacy Studios in New York City
- MixStar Studios in Virginia
3:44
The Outsyders
"Womanizer" received critical acclaim with critics mostly praising its hook, melody and empowering lyrics. Critics also observed it as a stand-out track from the album, while some deemed it a comeback single for Spears. It became a major global success, topping the charts in twelve countries including the United States and reached the top five in every country it charted in also receiving several certifications from several countries. In the United States, "Womanizer" was her first single to reach number-one since "...Baby One More Time" in 1999. The song broke the record for the highest jump to number one at a time which was later broken by Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" in 2009. It is also her best-selling digital song in the country, having sold over 3.5 million copies.[1] The song received a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards, becoming her second nomination in the category.
The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, was created by Spears as a sequel to the music video of "Toxic". It portrays Spears as a woman who disguises herself in different costumes and follows her boyfriend through his daily activities to expose him in the end. The video also contains interspersed scenes of Spears naked in a steam room, as a response to the attacks she had received over the years about her weight. The video was also nominated for two categories at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and won for the Best Pop Video.
The song has been covered by a numerous artists from different genres, including Lily Allen, Franz Ferdinand and Girls Aloud. Spears performed "Womanizer" on several television shows including The X Factor and Good Morning America, as well as award shows such as the 2008 Bambi Awards. She has also performed the song at The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009), the Femme Fatale Tour (2011) and Britney: Piece of Me (2013).
Background[edit]
The song was written and co-produced by Nikesha Briscoe and Rafael Akinyemi of the production team, The Outsyders. Spears recorded main vocals with Brendan Dakora at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California and Bojan "Genius" Dugic at Legacy Studios in New York City. Pro Tools engineering was done by John Hanes, assisted by Tim Roberts.[2] On September 19, 2008, a low quality 37 second snippet of the song was posted on the official website of 107.5 The River, a radio station in Lebanon, Tennessee. According to Jive Records, a representative of the label played a rough mix of the song for people at the station, who recorded it and leaked it on the Internet. The snippet was later removed from the website.[3] The song was scheduled to premiere on September 23, 2008, but the release was delayed when Spears went into the studio to re-record some vocals.[4] The new recordings were done with Jim Beanz and Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica.[5] The song was finally mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia.[2][6]
Music and lyrics[edit]
"Womanizer" is an uptempo electropop and dance-pop song with dark synths that runs through a dance oriented beat.[4][7] It has been compared to previous Spears' songs such as "Toxic" (2004) and "Ooh Ooh Baby" (2007).[8] It is written in the verse–pre-chorus–chorus form. The track opens with its characteristical sirens.[9]
According to Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times, Spears' "quick-witted" vocals are similar to the style of The Andrews Sisters.[10] It was also noted by Daily News writer Jim Farber that Spears' delivery has a "tone of petulance".[4] After the bridge, Spears sings the chorus one more time and the song ends while the beat drops and Spears sings the "you're a womanizer, baby" hook.[8]
The song is set in a 12/8 time signature and played in the key of C# Phrygian at a tempo of 137 beats per minute. The chord progression in the song is C#m-F#m-E6-D#7-Dmaj7.[11]
Lyrically, the song refers to a womanizing man.[10] It has been suggested that the lyrics address Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline.[4]
Cover versions and media appearance[edit]
"Womanizer" has been covered by many artists from a variety of music genres, as well as a great number of amateurs.[71] Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly explained that "the song has been covered by other artists with an enthusiasm only matched in recent times by musicians' desire to remake Radiohead's 'Creep' in their own image".[72] On December 8, 2008, New Zealand singer Ladyhawke performed a cover at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[73] The song was covered by American band The All-American Rejects on the Yahoo! Music Pepsi Smash show in December 2008. It was performed in an acoustic version, in which the band members played percussions with beer bottles. The cover also included an excerpt from The Turtles's "Happy Together".[74] British singer Lily Allen also covered the song, because "simple really, I love Britney and I love the song".[71] Her cover was a stripped-down version, that according to Nick Levine of Digital Spy, "might provoke those who reckon it doesn't have much of a chorus to revise their opinion".[75] Allen also performed the song as the encore during her 2009 tour.[76] French singer Sliimy cover was deemed as an "indie makeover".[71] He would later be the opening act of the second Paris date at The Circus Starring Britney Spears.[77]
On January 13, 2009, English singer Ana Silvera covered the song during one of her London concerts.[78]
On April 6, 2009, Scottish band Franz Ferdinand also covered the song at Radio 1's Live Lounge. Lead singer Alex Kapranos claimed "It's been the best song out in the last few months".[79] It was also covered regularly by them during their 2009 American spring tour.[80] The song was performed live by British girl group Girls Aloud during their Out of Control Tour, starting April 24, 2009, and released on their 2009 live album Out of Control: Live from the O2.[81] "Womanizer" was also covered by Fall Out Boy, among others.[72] "Weird Al" Yankovic also covered this song for part of the polka medley off his 2011 album Alpocalypse. In the 2012 Glee episode "Britney 2.0", actors Melissa Benoist, Alex Newell and Jenna Ushkowitz performed a cover of the song.[82]
A cover by The Gym-All Stars appears on the 2009 dance-party video game Just Dance.[83]
The Italian rock band Måneskin covered "Womanizer" at Coachella 2022, but have gone on to incorporate into their setlist