Britney Spears as a Songwriter, Composer, Lyricist (52+ songs)

[Joman82]

Britney as a songwriter is not something the we talk about much, and much less the general public. But in fact, Britney is a very good songwriter, composer and lyricist. Obviously is a gained skill, but it gets even better after every album is released. She started with her debut album writing a B-Side song for the project, “I’m So Curious” back in 1998/1999.

Because of this, I would like to shine a light to the singles and songs written by Britney Spears for her own recordings and albums (not for another artists).

 

This is the list of songs written by Britney Spears (yes, I was bored):

Album BS1: ‘…Baby One More Time’ (released in 1999).

1)      “I’m So Curious” (B-Side song with the single “Sometimes”), 1999.

 

Album BS2: ‘Oops!... I Did It Again’ (released in 2000).

2)      “Dear Dairy”, 2000.

 

Album BS3: Britney (released in 2001).  

3)      “Lonely”, 2001.

4)      “Anticipating”, 2001.

5)      “Cinderella”, 2001.

6)      “Let Me Be”, 2001.

7)      “That’s Where You Take Me”, 2001.

8)      “Before The Goodbye” (track from the Deluxe Version of the album), 2001.

 

Album BS4: ‘In The Zone’ (released in 2003).

9)      “Me Against The Music”, Britney Spears feat. Madonna, 2003.

10)   “Showdown”, 2003.

11)   “Early Mornin’”, 2003.

12)   “Touch of My Hand”, 2003.

13)   “The Hook Up”, 2003.

14)   “Shadow”, 2003.

15)   “Brave New Girl”, 2003.

16)   “Everytime”, 2003.

 

 

 

Album BS5: ‘Blackout’ (released in 2007).

17)   “Freakshow”, 2007.

18)   “Ooh Ooh Baby”, 2007.

 

Album BS6: ‘Circus’ (released in 2008).

19)   “Mmm Papi”, 2008.

20)   “Mannequin”, 2008.

21)   “My Baby”, 2008.

22)   “Rock Me In” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition of the album), 2008.

 

Album BS7: ‘Femme Fatale’ (released in 2011).

23)   “Scary” (bonus track in the Japanese Version of the album), 2011.

 

Album BS8: ‘Britney Jean’ (released in 2013).

24)   “Alien”, 2013.

25)   “Work *****”, 2013.

26)   “Perfume”, 2013.

27)   “It Should Be Easy”, Britney Spears feat. will.i.am, 2013.

28)   “Tik Tik Boom”, Britney Spears feat. T.I., 2013.

29)   “Body Ache”, 2013.

30)   “Til It’s Gone”, 2013.

31)   “Passenger”, 2013.

32)   “Chillin’ With You”, Britney Spears feat. Jamie Lynn, 2013.

33)   “Don’t Cry”, 2013.

34)   “Brightest Morning Star” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2013.

35)   “Hold on Tight” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2013.

36)   “Now That I Found You” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2013.

 

 

 

Album BS9: ‘Glory’ (released in 2016).

37)   “Invitation”, 2016.

38)   “Make Me…”, Britney Spears feat. G-Eazy, 2016.

39)   “Private Show”, 2016.

40)   “Clumsy”, 2016.

41)   “Just Like Me”, 2016.

42)   “What You Need”, 2016.

43)   “Better” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2016.

44)   “Coupure Électrique” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2016.

 

 

 

Other songs written by Britney from other albums:

45)   “My Only Wish (This Year)” (track in the album ‘Platinum Christmas’), 2000.

46)   “Don’t Hang Up” (track in the ‘In The Zone Bonus EP’), 2001.

47)   “(I've Just Begun) Having My Fun” (bonus track in the ‘Greatest Hits: My Prerogative’ CD), 2004.

48)   “Someday (I Will Understand)” (promotional single from ‘Britney & Kevin: Chaotic EP’), 2005.

49)   “Mona Lisa” (track in the ‘Britney & Kevin: Chaotic EP’), 2005.

50)   “And Then We Kissed (Junkie XL Remix)” (promotional single from ‘B in the Mix: The Remixes’), 2005.

51)   “Intimidated” (B-Side song with the single “I’m A Slave 4 U”), 2001. Released and Remastered in 2009 with the album ‘The Singles Collection’, 2009.

52)   “S&M Remix”, Rihanna feat. Britney Spears, 2011.

 

Here is a Playlist with all the songs written by Britney Spears 

 

[jordeezy river red]

Did she write "Let Go", "Every Day", "Conscious", "All That She Wants", "Baby Boy", "Rebellion", "Money. Love.  Happiness."

[Tear the floor up up]

And some of her best work tbh

[NewDisplayName]

S&M remix?? How?

Also as I remember  she took part  in writing lyrics of "Just like Me"

[redacted statement]

The "Basic Jingles" credits are a reach. Would she really write songs and then not even sing half of them. And the fact that she had never co-written every track on an album before, but then all of a sudden she's one of the main writers on every song. I find that really hard to believe. They probably faked them to make the whole "most personal album" marketing gimmick more believable. 

[Joman82]

7 minutes ago, NewDisplayName said:

S&M remix?? How?

Also as I remember  she took part  in writing lyrics of "Just like Me"

You are right. I ****ed up the titles. It's fixed.

[Alexa]

https://www.breatheheavy.com/exhale/index.php?/forums/topic/766647-britneys-confirmed-writing-credits 

I put this together last year too, if you want to include registered songs/unreleased 😊

[illuminatiney]

Queen of songwriting 👑👑👑👑 !!!!

[Itachi]

20 minutes ago, iAlwaysSingLive said:

The "Basic Jingles" credits are a reach. Would she really write songs and then not even sing half of them. And the fact that she had never co-written every track on an album before, but then all of a sudden she's one of the main writers on every song. I find that really hard to believe. They probably faked them to make the whole "most personal album" marketing gimmick more believable. 

it's kinda embarrassing tbh. after she was praised by Heather Bright when she worked for FF:

Anyway … here’s my thing … and I feel VERY passionate about this issue. Britney could have come to me, like all these other A-list artists, and said …

"Hey, you wanna be on my album? I’m gonna need writing credit for that song AND part of your publishing even though I didn’t write anything! And then I’m gonna go on tour and gross $150 million in ticket sales and not give you any of that, even though I’m performing your song!”

"I could rattle off a laundry list of artists who I’ve had that conversation with! And I’m on the other end like … “Oh okay … so you wanna **** me, but just with the tip?!” *Prince side eye* Britney’s one of the few artists I’ve worked with who didn’t try to take something that wasn’t hers. In my experience, from a business standpoint, her entire team is nothing less than a bonafide class act!"

full article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/songwriter-defends-britney-spears-174966

so maybe that's the reason why aside from WB, Perfume, and Alien, she never performed any other track from BJ despite "writing" these songs

[redacted statement]

5 minutes ago, Itachi said:

it's kinda embarrassing tbh. after she was praised by Heather Bright when she worked for FF:

Anyway … here’s my thing … and I feel VERY passionate about this issue. Britney could have come to me, like all these other A-list artists, and said …

"Hey, you wanna be on my album? I’m gonna need writing credit for that song AND part of your publishing even though I didn’t write anything! And then I’m gonna go on tour and gross $150 million in ticket sales and not give you any of that, even though I’m performing your song!”

"I could rattle off a laundry list of artists who I’ve had that conversation with! And I’m on the other end like … “Oh okay … so you wanna **** me, but just with the tip?!” *Prince side eye* Britney’s one of the few artists I’ve worked with who didn’t try to take something that wasn’t hers. In my experience, from a business standpoint, her entire team is nothing less than a bonafide class act!"

full article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/songwriter-defends-britney-spears-174966

so maybe that's the reason why aside from WB, Perfume, and Alien, she never performed any other track from BJ despite "writing" these songs

Wow, I've never heard of this before. That's so interesting. Thanks for sharing. 

[Itachi]

i feel like Britney has a natural skill to write ballads/midtempo songs, and this is highlighted in Everytime, Shadow, Someday, Better, Just Like Me. even the unreleased Little Me/Just Yesterday has great lyrics on it

[Joman82]

45 minutes ago, Alexa said:

https://www.breatheheavy.com/exhale/index.php?/forums/topic/766647-britneys-confirmed-writing-credits 

I put this together last year too, if you want to include registered songs/unreleased 😊

Wow, thanks for this. This list is great. I focused only on the official releases. 

[Louis-j]

She also wrote the rap of Everybody (Blackout) and the bridge of Don't Keep Me Waiting (Femme Fatale) but wasn't credited. 

And the Britney Jean credits are fake. I believe she didn't write on Passenger, Tik Tik Boom, Body Ache and Work *****.

[PokemonSpears]

1 hour ago, Tear the floor up up said:

And some of her best work tbh

[PokemonSpears]

1 hour ago, Joman82 said:

Album BS8: ‘Britney Jean’ (released in 2013).

24)   “Alien”, 2013.

25)   “Work *****”, 2013.

26)   “Perfume”, 2013.

27)   “It Should Be Easy”, Britney Spears feat. will.i.am, 2013.

28)   “Tik Tik Boom”, Britney Spears feat. T.I., 2013.

29)   “Body Ache”, 2013.

30)   “Til It’s Gone”, 2013.

31)   “Passenger”, 2013.

32)   “Chillin’ With You”, Britney Spears feat. Jamie Lynn, 2013.

33)   “Don’t Cry”, 2013.

34)   “Brightest Morning Star” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2013.

35)   “Hold on Tight” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2013.

36)   “Now That I Found You” (bonus track in the Deluxe Edition), 2013.

[Iconic 4 U]

I didn't know she wrote on Anticipating that makes me love it even more

[Arckangel]

@Itachi We cannot prove those are stolen credits. Any variation/addition in lyrics, any change in music may warrant a songwriting credit. The final Britney Jean versions often differ from their original demos in terms of lyrics or music. We weren't there during those sessions. Sebastian Ingrosso explained how he got a songwriting credit on Work **** for simply assisting w/ production (he did not write any lyrics nor melodies).

[PokemonSpears]

27 minutes ago, Louis_j said:

She also wrote the rap of Everybody (Blackout) and the bridge of Don't Keep Me Waiting (Femme Fatale) but wasn't credited. 

And the Britney Jean credits are fake. I believe she didn't write on Passenger, Tik Tik Boom, Body Ache and Work *****.

Myah confirmed Britney and someone else did the second verse of Body Ache (including the Breathe Heavy reference) 

[umr3000]

Great topic. First and foremost Britney is a singer and entertainer but I do love it when she gets more involved with the writing side of things. I’d like to see more of it in the future. 

[princessmimi]

Wow idk she wrote so many songs especially Britney, ITZ and Britney Jean.

Although it is weird how Britney hated Cinderella considering she wrote it