This Day in Pop: 'Sometimes' music video premieres in 1999 (May 06)

[PokemonSpears]

 

On May 06, 1999, Britney Spears released the music video for Sometimes, the second single off her debut album ...Baby One More Time, debuting on TRL. It was directed by Nigel ****, who had previously directed her first video ever in 1998 and it was shot at Paradise Cove in Malibu, California.

The video was supposed to be done earlier in the year: back in February, while she was rehearsing for it, she injured her knee, forcing the production of the video to be delayed, and she also had to reschedule several tv promo performances that were already planned in the following days. At first, she was supposed to only receive physical therapy to recover, but she ultimately went under a minor surgery. She said in a statement: "I want to thank my wonderful fans and all of the people who have offered their love and support during this time."

The concept of the video was changed from the originally reported by MTV: "The new clip will feature Spears on the porch of a beachfront home watching a group of kids having fun, prompting flashbacks about her former boyfriend." Instead, Britney starts the video by looking through a telescope that's pointing to the beach, where she gets to see her love interest (Chad Cole) playing with his dog.

Throughout the video we see Britney and her dancers on the Paradise Cove pier, wearing white outfits and performing the choreography done by Darren Henson; in addition, there's intercut scenes of her sitting near a car, in a balcony playing with a beach ball, in a lawn having a picnic, and some close-up shots under the pier and in front of a white wall, among others.

Towards the end of the video, Britney leaves behind her shyness and stops running and hiding to succumb to the arms of her loved one, and we see them together by the pier

In general, critics considered that this video portrayed Britney in a more pure, virginal image, as if trying to clean up her "****" persona from the BOMT music video.

Sometimes landed at #15 on TRL's Top 99 of 99, a countdown done at the end of the year. The music video reached 100M views on YouTube in February 2018, surpassing the 200M views by 2021.

 

On her video/DVD Time Out with Britney Spears, we see an interview of Britney describing the experience of recording the video, along with behind the scenes footage and more interviews on set.

 

 

In 2012, some more behind the scenes footage leaked, showing a longer cut of the choreography

 

 

Related:

 

[SloppyToppyGoddess]

Sometimes legacy:

Her dancer scratching her cootchie

and this

 

Also how gross is it that she was rubbing up on her cousin, who was the love interest in the video...

[DuranDuran]

I can't... She is just too cute!

[britney_rocks]

5 hours ago, SloppyToppyGoddess said:

 

 

Also how gross is it that she was rubbing up on her cousin, who was the love interest in the video...

I mean, can’t blame her. If my cousin was that gorgeous, I would be too 

[PokemonSpears]

5 hours ago, SloppyToppyGoddess said:

Also how gross is it that she was rubbing up on her cousin, who was the love interest in the video...

I don't think that was her cousin. Her cousin was the one from BOMT  

[Universal]

thank you for these awesome throwback posts, they make me so happy  

[PokemonSpears]

3 hours ago, Universal said:

thank you for these awesome throwback posts, they make me so happy  

they were born to make y'all happy  

[Isla]

Living for this wholesome content

[Marcanthony]

My fav music video.

So simple and calming

[Lunch Sveta]

This dancer wrote in her Instagram that during the shooting it was very cold and this gesture with her hand she made to straighten her jacket 

[Martian_M00d]

5 minutes ago, Lunch Sveta said:

This dancer wrote in her Instagram that during the shooting it was very cold and this gesture with her hand she made to straighten her jacket 

[Martian_M00d]

I'm sad she doesn't like that song. I know it's cheesy, but I think it's great haha 

[SloppyToppyGoddess]

6 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

I don't think that was her cousin. Her cousin was the one from BOMT  

Im almost certain she said this dude was her cousin as well as the guy in Baby.

[PokemonSpears]

10 minutes ago, SloppyToppyGoddess said:

Im almost certain she said this dude was her cousin as well as the guy in Baby.

well, if you watch the Making of, she introduces him as her **** hunk, so that would be weird

here they also mention him, just as a model 

 

interestingly, the cousin is also named Chad, Chad Spears

[Lil-Jay]

Wooow I love that video

 

But I have a couple of questions:

First, does the fact that the filming of the video was delayed mean that Sometimes should have been released EARLIER? Like in March or something? Because I always wondered why did they wait like 7 months to release 2nd single after BOMT💀

I know BOMT was mega ultra successful so they didn't have to rush anything but still...

 

And second, how did you know that video surpassed 100m views in February 2018? Is there a web page with all that statistics? Because I wanna see for other Britney videos please🙏🏻

@PokemonSpears

 

[PokemonSpears]

7 minutes ago, Lil-Jay said:

Wooow I love that video

 

But I have a couple of questions:

First, does the fact that the filming of the video was delayed mean that Sometimes should have been released EARLIER? Like in March or something? Because I always wondered why did they wait like 7 months to release 2nd single after BOMT💀

I know BOMT was mega ultra successful so they didn't have to rush anything but still...

 

And second, how did you know that video surpassed 100m views in February 2018? Is there a web page with all that statistics? Because I wanna see for other Britney videos please🙏🏻

@PokemonSpears

 

I didn't find any confirmations about the release date, but it makes sense that if she was rehearsing since February, it was gonna be released earlier. 

I don't have any statistics page for the views. I know there are some Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that keep track of it, but I don't know if they have everything together in like one database.

But for Sometimes, I found this thread:

 

[Modcl]

This video and song encapsulates the summer of 1999  so well  for me, as soon as that cheery - pop intro starts it takes me right back and gives me all the feels.. even if Britney doesnt like it, 13 year old me loved it, and I still do to this day. Also I loved her whole look in this video. 

[bitbitboi]

This is SUCH an important video for me as a fan... I was so shocked when I saw Britney for the first time in "...Baby", she was (and still is) so powerful and genuine in it. I remember thinking "WHO IS SHE, what is next, what else is there??" I couldn't even imagine what a second single could sound or look like. And then "Sometimes" appeared, and she was so wholesome there, you can tell that they were trying to soften her after all the controversy with "...Baby", but at the same time they just couldn't hide her incredible sensuality and confidence... I swear she took my virginity away with those videos. I knew what hormones were because of her hah! It's super s3xy and would make anyone slightly uncomfortable if it caught them off guard. Actually, I feel like the "Sometimes" video is even more representative of the whole lolita theme than "...Baby" is said to be. And I can honestly only name Janet Jackson when I think of another woman so sweet yet sure about herself and her s3xuality. It is not a common trait. But it's beautiful.

[bitbitboi]

18 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

 

I bet my right t*sticle they only used this take for this whole dancing segment. She.is.incredible. And the "new" choreo is super cute!

[bitbitboi]

18 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

It was directed by Nigel ****