We always knew Britney Spears wasn’t literally asking someone to physically hit her when Baby One More Time was released back in 1999.
But there was always a little bit of ambiguity around the subject.
Well, now the story behind the iconic (yes, it IS iconic) chart-topper …Baby One More Time has been uncovered, and it’s not what we thought at all.
Seventeen years after its release, John Seabrook has solved the mystery in his new pop music history book The Song Machine, according to The Huffington Post.
The track was penned by Swedish songwriter Max Martin and Swedish/Moroccan songwriter Rami Yacoub, about a girl who has just split up with her boyfriend.
The two Swedes thought that “hit” was slang for “call” in the states and so penned the lyrics as a way of saying “call me baby one more time”.
Of course, “hit me up” is regularly used in this context, but without the “up” it’s just awkward.
Anyway, the folk at Jive loved the record even though they were a little unsure about the “Hit me” lyrics.
This is why they settled on just ...Baby One More Time as the track title and the rest is history.
Carly Rae Jephson will be bulling.
