Sweetest Sin

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"Sweetest Sin"

Single by Jessica Simpson
from the album In This Skin
Released	2003
Format	CD Single
Genre	Pop
Length	3:03 [Single Version] 3:14 [Album Version]
Label	Columbia Records
Writer(s)	Diane Warren
Producer(s)	Ric Wake
Chart positions
#124 (US)
Jessica Simpson singles chronology
"A Little Bit" (2001)	"Sweetest Sin" (2003)	"With You" (2004)

"Sweetest Sin" is the first single from Jessica Simpson's 3rd album In This Skin. Released in 2003, the single failed to chart in the USA becoming Simpson's 2nd single not to do so. The song is noted for being the first single in which Simpson could express the feelings of making love (in song and in video) from first hand experience.

1 Song information
2 Music video
3 Chart performance
4 Charts

[edit] Song information

"Sweetest Sin" was written by Diane Warren and produced by Ric Wake."Sweetest Sin" marked the first single in which Simpson could understand what sex meant in her music, as the song was the first single she recorded after losing her virginity to Nick Lachey following their marriage. (It is commonly known that Miss Simpson had taken a vow to remain a virgin until marriage.) The song attracted minor controversy over its sexual intonation, but not to the degree of other Simpson singles. In her first sexually driven, yet sexually mature anthem dedicated to making love, Simpson speaks from personal experience as she accounts what she believes is the "sweetest sin". She then proceeds to sing, "Your skin upon my skin, would be the sweetest sin".

The recording process of "Sweetest Sin" was not without its problems and was documented in an episode of "Newlyweds". Simpson had originally recorded "Sweetest Sin" confidentially in a slightly remixed form and had announced she was pleased with its progress. However, her bosses at Columbia Records did not feel the same and she was later alerted that she made the song too "challenging"; in essence, they felt that potential listeners of the song would be turned off by singing they would not be able to duplicate. This was not well received by Simpson and she publicly broke down in tears when she received the news. Later on, after attending a wedding, she went to re-record her vocals. However, she brought along her husband, Nick Lachey, as she felt he was a good vocal producer. With Lachey's assistance, Simpson was able to find a performance for the version that was released.

[edit] Music video

As mentioned above, "Sweetest Sin" was the first song on which Simpson could express herself sexually from first hand experience. In a similar fashion, the video was also Simpson's first opportunity to express herself visually with first hand sexual experience. The action was even commented on by Simpson's father, Joe Simpson, on the set of the video, where he stated that they could now celebrate the fact that Simpson could "do it until she was blue in the face". This comment received some criticism as some felt that Joe Simpson should not be commenting on Jessica and Nick's sex life like that. This video was directed by Dean Paraskevopoulos.

The video starts off with overexposed black and white shots of Simpson dancing and looking at viewers provocatively. The video then cuts to Simpson swaying sexually on a beach, and embracing her husband, Nick Lachey, in a very sexual manner underneath a waterfall on the beach. Further scenes detailing this provocative journey can be seen as, Simpson lies on a bed by herself fantasizing about her husband in very provocative ways. The video continues with intercut footage of the previous scenes, until the final seconds of the song, when Simpson is joined by her husband, Lachey and they move sexually on their bed on the beach in a scene where it is implied that they are making love. The video then ends in a mysterious manner as Mr. Lachey disappears leaving Miss Simpson all alone, suggesting that it was all really a fantasy after all (supported by the lyrics that it "would" be the sweetest sin.)

The making of the video was not without complications. Although Simpson and Lachey present a sexual image in the song, the video was filmed in cold temperatures causing Lachey to publicly announce that it was one of the most difficult videos he had ever filmed. Lachey also seemed to express a resentment of sorts as the video was filmed around the same time frame as the first single off his solo debut album, "Shut Up". While Simpson, her family, and Lachey were watching a rough copy of "Sweetest Sin", Lachey became impressed with it, and asked how much it cost. Simpson commented that her budget had been around 172,000 dollars. This angered Lachey as his own music video had cost much less. Prompted by this, Lachey decided to reshoot his music video (although he still was given a much lower budget than Simpson).

[edit] Chart performance

As a lead single off of an album, it was important that "Sweetest Sin" succeed on the charts. Unfortunately for Simpson's sake, it did not, and instead became Simpson's second consecutive flop single worldwide following after the failure of "A Little Bit". A CD Single was even released causing the song to hit #6 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales, but in perspective, the singles market of the USA had been going downhill since 2001, so its sales points did not really help the song chart or even bubble under. The song's failure was especially bad news for Miss Simpson as Columbia Records was now considering dropping her from their label.