Today we celebrate the 17th birthday of Britney’s second single, ‘Sometimes.’
Britney started rehearsing for the music video in February 1999. However Britney injured her knee during rehearsals and was forced to start sessions of physical therapy.
A month later Britney issued a statement, ‘I want to thank my wonderful fans and all of the people who have offered their love and support during this time,’ whilst also revealing she wouldn’t be able to shoot a music video until April 1999. The music video was then directed by Nigel Dick, who also filmed Britney’s début, ‘…Baby One More Time.’ It was shot at the Paradise Cove in Malibu, California. The music video was then released on May 6, 1999 on TRL.
According to MTV, the initial concept for the video was to portray Britney on the porch of a beach front home watching a group of kids having fun, prompting flashbacks about her former boyfriend. The concept was later changed to a man and a dog walking on the beach, with Britney being the girl next door watching her love interest, played by model Chad Cole, from afar.
Paul Walker was originally cast as the love interest, but was unfortunately later changed.
If you look at the scene where the dancers create a heart shape, the camera shadow can be seen.
The BMW sign off the car was also blacked out – we can only assume for copyright purposes.
Part of the video was shot outside Britney’s beach house.
Blink 182 included comparisons to the ‘Sometimes’ music video in their single promotional video for, ‘All The Small Things,’ in 2000.
In the scene by the car one of the extras are seen scratching their crotch…
There was some controversy surrounding the writing credits to, ‘Sometimes.’ Steve Wallace, and Indiana songwriter, claimed he wrote the song in 1990, but did not copyright it until 2003, four years after Britney registered the song’s copyright. Wallace claimed that Britney confessed he wrote the song, by showing a possible email exchange in court. The email stated, ‘I now know for a fact that you wrote [‘Sometimes’]. But there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s all I can say about it.’ The email was later proved fake and the lawsuit was dismissed on October 31, 2005, when Judge John D. Tinder claimed that the Britney didn’t steal the song.
Take that Steve….
Did you know the video had 3 versions? Have a look at the differences in the video here:
Celebrate the birthday with us by watching the music video, that has over 60 million VEVO views! Not bad for a video from the 90’s!
Take a look back at some of the performances for this epic track:
Happy Birthday ‘Sometimes!’ What an amazing track!
