2000 Britney Spears: Born To Make You Happy

After the 'I'm in charge' blast of '...Baby One More Time', 'Born To Make You Happy' makes for a more subdued Britney and one far less sure of herself. "I'm sitting here alone up in my room, and thinking about the times that we've been through"; Spears' kindergarten Kitt voice moans and groans its way through the lyric, but this is one squeaky wheel that's not getting the attention. "I really want to know what we did wrong" - Britney's at a loss as to why her man has gone, especially as she believes "I was born to make you happy", a subservience that doubtless pricked the ears of a million teenage boys who assumed she was singing directly to them while at the same time filling the heads of a million teenage girls with a rather skewed idea of sexual politics - there's little surprise in revealing 'Born To Make You Happy' was written by two blokes and, coupled with Britney's pouty pout earnestness, it adds up to a treacly pop ballad that re-enforces the notion of woman as a commodity. And yes, I know it may seem a bit harsh to get all Andrea Dworkin on the ass of a pop song sung by a former Mickey Mouse Club presenter, but ask yourself - do you know of any female artist who would have willingly penned then sung this song about themselves? And would you have any respect for them if they did? Maybe you would, and good luck to you, but I'm going to file this along side 'You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me' in the drawer marked 'ill advised' - no wonder she's cringing on the cover shot.