Born to Make You Happy

Name	Born to Make You Happy
Cover	Britney Spears - Born to Make You Happy.jpg
Artist	Britney Spears
Album	...Baby One More Time
B-side	Bonus Remix
Released	November 27, 1999
Format	CD single, Cassette single
Genre	Bubblegum pop, teen pop
Length	4:03 (album version)
Label	Jive
Writer	Andreas Carlsson, Kristian Lundin
Producer	Kristian Lundin
Last single	"(You Drive Me) Crazy"(1999)
This single	"Born to Make You Happy"(1999)
Next single	"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart"(1999)

"Born to Make You Happy" is a song by American pop singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time. It was released on November 27, 1999 by Jive Records in some selected territories such as Europe. The song was written Kristian Lundin, who also produced it, and Andreas Carlsson. Lyrically, Spears recalls a relationship she desires to correct, not quite understanding what went wrong as she comes to the realization that she was "born to make you happy." Background vocals were provided by Andreas Carlsson and Nana Heidn.

"Born to Make You Happy" was commercially successful, peaking at number one in Ireland and United Kingdom, while reaching the top-ten positions on every single country that it charted on. Since it wasn't released as a single in the United States, the song didn't charted on Billboard Hot 100 or any Billboard component charts. The song was certified Platinum by IFPI on 2000.

The music video, directed by Billie Woodruff, was originally going to portray Spears lamenting over her ex-lover, by whom she was secretly pregnant with their child. However, the idea was rejected once it was leaked to the public and received negative reception. The released version of the video features Spears dreaming that she's with her lover, while she sings and dances during the majority of the video.

Background and composition

The song was written by Andreas Carlsson and Kristian Lundin, and was also produced by the latter. Lyrically, in this mid-tempo ballad, Spears recalls a relationship she desires to correct, not quite understanding what went wrong as she comes to the realization that she was "born to make you happy." Despite the song's innocence and purity, the song original lyrics were too sexual for Britney when she was 16, making her uncomfortable to record it. She said, "this may be a little old for me. Because of the image thing, I don't want to go over the top."

The song is composed in the key of D Major, while Spears' vocal range in this song is over an octave from F₃-B₄. The b-side of the released CD single is listed as a "Bonus Remix"; however, it's the original 'demo' version of the track, which contains completely alternate vocals and it's more acoustic. This alternate recording, that shows off Spears' vocals, was recorded in March 1998, while the released version being re-recorded later in 1998. It also reached number one in Ireland and charted within the top ten in several other countries. The single sold over 3,673,000 copies worldwide in the year 2000.

Music video

The music video for "Born to Make You Happy" was directed by Billie Woodruff, who later worked with Spears in the music video for "Overprotected" and "Do Somethin'", in Los Angeles, California from October 24–25, 1999. The original concept was to portray Spears in a dream, lamenting over her ex-lover, by whom she was secretly pregnant with their child, but Jive immediately withdrew the idea once it was leaked to the public and received negative reception.

The music video was released in Europe on November 13, 1999. It begins with a shot of Britney sleeping. In her dream, she is wearing a shiny silver outfit and sitting in a blue and silver futuristic room with several different levels. Following this part of the video, Spears appears atop the apartment building where this room is found, performing a dance segment in a red top and black skirt. In another part of the dream, Spears, now wearing white clothes, is seen at her room, singing. The last part of the dream has her love interest come into her room to see her. The video concludes with the pair having a pillow fight which Spears wins. The radio edit of the song was used for the video, it shortens two instrumental bridges, one in the middle of the song, and the other one towards the end. The video was originally only aired outside the US and was only shown in the US at concerts during Britney's ...Baby One More Time Tour. The video eventually was shown in America a while after it came out.

Track listings

U.K. CD

# "Born to Make You Happy" (Radio Edit) — 3:35 # "Born to Make You Happy" (Bonus Remix) — 3:40 # "(You Drive Me) Crazy" (Jazzy Jim's Hip-Hop Mix) — 3:40

U.K. Cassette

# "Born to Make You Happy" (Radio Edit) — 3:35 # "Born to Make You Happy" (Bonus Remix) — 3:40 # "...Baby One More Time" (Answering Machine Message) — 0:21

European CD

# "Born to Make You Happy" (Radio Edit) — 3:35 # "Born to Make You Happy" (Bonus Remix) — 3:40 # "(You Drive Me) Crazy" (Jazzy Jim's Hip-Hop Mix) — 3:40 # "...Baby One More Time" (Answering Machine Message) — 0:21

The Singles Collection Boxset Single

# "Born to Make You Happy" (Radio Edit) — 3:35 # "Born to Make You Happy" (Bonus Remix) — 3:40

Charts and certifications

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Chart (1999/2000) !Peakposition |- |- |- |- |Europe (Music & Media) |align="center"|2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable" !Country (1999) !Position |- | Germany |align="center"|89 |- | Sweden |align="center"|78 |- !Country (2000) !Position |- | Belgium (Flanders) |align="center"|46 |- | Belgium (Wallonia) |align="center"|70 |- | France |align="center"|59 |- | Germany |align="center"|45 |- | Sweden |align="center"|38 |- | Switzerland |align="center"|23 |- | United Kingdom |align="center"|32 |- |}

Certifications

Credits and personnel

Written by Kristian Lundin and Andreas Carlsson.

Produced by Kristian Lundin.

Recorded and mixed at Cheiron Studios, Stockholm, Sweden.

Additional Recordings at Battery Studios, New York City.

Pro Tools Engineer at Battery Studios: Michael Tucker.

Assistant Engineer at Battery Studios: Reza Safina.

Keyboards and programming: Kristian Lundin.

Guitar: Esbjörn Öhrwall.

Background vocals: Andreas Carlsson and Nana Hedin.

References

External links

Britney Spears — official web site.

Britney Spears — official web site at Jive Records.

Category:Britney Spears songs Category:1999 singles Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Music videos directed by Bille Woodruff Category:Songs written by Andreas Carlsson Category:Songs written by Kristian Lundin