Today we celebrate the 12th year since the release of ‘Everytime.’
‘Everytime’ was a song written by Britney about her ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, which Britney confessed was a hard time and point in her life. Britney co-wrote the track with her back-up singer Annette Artani and some of the lyrics were intended as a reply to Justin’s, ‘Cry Me A River,’ which was written about Britney.
Every time, is in fact two words, however if you are a hard-core Britney fan you would be forgiven for always typing it out as one word.
Actor Stephen Dorf plays the lead male character in the video directed by David LaChapelle (before this, most notably worked with Britney on the famous 1999 Rolling Stones cover). The video focuses on Britney being hounded by an aggressive mob of paparazzi, who are directly responsible for her death… the end of the video reveals it was all a dream, so you can breathe easy…
Stephen Dorf when speaking to MTV news about the video said, ‘ It was a little weird. [David LaChapelle] just told me to diss her and just kind of ignore her, so I was just playing like the boyfriend in a fight.’ He followed on to comment on the limo scenes, ‘This is our take on paparazzo’s too. They put prosthetic noses on all of them, which is funny. You see how they all look kind of weird. You see all the noses. ‘
When it came to the scene where Britney was drowning, Stephen told MTV news, ‘’That was my idea. I knew I had to save her in the bathtub, but it was my ideas to go in with the shoes and the jeans and just kind of find her. First they had me change into my boxers. I was like, ‘I don’t think he has time. She’s dying.’ So I just go in.’’
Britney’s original concept for the video was for her, ‘to die in an overflowing bathtub with pills and booze strewn around, and get reincarnated as a baby,’ a quote from and issue of Rolling Stone. The concept was later changed as Britney did not want to endorse suicide with this video. Good thing they changed it, as when the press got hold of it, they went absolutely crazy! Click HERE for the MTV article.
Michelle Elliott, director of child protection charity Kidscape said,’ This is absolutely outrageous, totally irresponsible, completely stupid. If even one child follows her lead she will surely be held responsible. What is she thinking of?’ Michelle compared Britney’s influence and impact to Marilyn Monroe and stating that she would have a similar pull on audience members and ‘glamorize’ suicide. Britney was not impressed as the concept of the video was already changed by her before the press got hold of the story and felt like this was an unjustified personal attack.
MTV later posted an article stating the plot had changed, ’‘Ms. Spears revised the treatment to ensure the video for ‘Everytime,’ will not have a scene in it that could in any way be perceived as a reference to a suicide. The singer’s label said it was not her intent to present suicide in any sort of positive light and that she hopes people who are considering suicide seek help. ‘[Spears] does not endorse [suicide] as a solution to any individual and fully recognizes that people who go to this length need assistance and advice and should contact their local suicide prevention organization,’ the statement read.’’
There were extra scenes that were shot, but did not make the cut. It is believed the deleted scenes showed Britney pouring glasses of wine to diffuse the situation. This then escalated before Britney goes to the bathroom. You can see Britney throwing the glass of wine in the mirror and Stephen Dorf kicking a glass of wine off the table. The deleted scenes show more of how the argument escalated.
When the video initially aired, some countries showed a version with an alternative ending. The ending showed Britney underwater in the bathtub, except the video ends this way and Britney does not rise out of the water. This video is extremely rare to find.
According to a source on the shoot, Britney wanted to cancel the shoot for ‘Everytime,’ as it was not the concept she fully wanted. Apparently she was complaining on the first day of the shoot and by the second day she refused to leave her hotel room. She finally agreed to film, however under the condition that they stocked up on red bull and that a doctor was called as she was not feeling well.
David LaChapelle later confirmed that Britney was not willing to shoot the video: ‘It’s so intense. She never actually wanted this career. Her parents pushed her to do this. She was doing pageants. She was doing beauty pageants. When she was 17 years old and when she shot rolling stone, I met her parents at her house and they were sweet. Everyone was really nice. There were trophies and pictures of her in the beauty pageants. Britney was kinda from a very young age doing these beauty pageants for a TV show in America. When we were doing the ‘Everytime’ video and shooting the second day, instead of finishing it, she did not want to finish it. We didn’t have the video. The interview can be seen HERE.
The video was referencing the 1995 film, Leaving Las Vegas. When the video premiered on TRL on April 12, 2004, Britney called in and explained the reincarnation video, ‘It’s more like a movie. It’s different than anything I’ve ever done. It’s dark and it shows me in a different light. Of course I’m doing to go back to dance videos, but I wanted to be inspired and challenged.’ An alternate version of the video which featured Brit in the white hallway was released on the 2004 DVD, ‘Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.’
‘Everytime’ was covered by numerous artists, however one odd pairing stands out in particular, ‘Spring Breakers.’ James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine sing the track around a piano wearing ‘My Little Pony,’ masks, strapped with guns. A very different take on the track.
As random as the scene is, it was the most spoken about (and best) part of the film.
Harmoney Korine spoke about the song in an interview, ‘I like her music! I think it’s like perfect pop music. That song ‘Everytime’ – I was always taken by that song. It has this real kind of beauty and airlessness and this haunting kind of morose lullaby effect and underneath it there’s some type of hard-core aggression and menace that was really connected to the film in the way that the film deals with the culture of surfaces, this candy-coated neon haze really. Underneath it, there’s this subtext and feeling of this kind of darkness. It was a connection I felt.’
Have a look at the video comparisons here:
Celebrate with us by watching the iconic music video:
And these amazing performances:
Happy Birthday Everytime!
