Anticipating

"Anticipating" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was released in France as the fourth single from her third studio album Britney. It was written by Spears while produced by Brian Kierulf and Josh Schwartz as a throwback to the disco era. Lyrically, it talks about friendship and camaradie between women. It was met with critical praise, with reviewers complimenting its empowering lyrics and comparing it to 1980s compositions of Madonna and Rick Astley. It achieved minor commercial success, peaking at number thirty-eight. "Anticipating" was performed in the Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001–2002), where Spears wore a patched denim skirt and danced in front of giant crayon drawings. The music video consisted of the performance from Live from Las Vegas.

Background and composition

"Anticipating" was written by Spears, Brian Kierulf and Josh Schwartz while produced by Kierulf and Schwartz. It was recorded at Rusk Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California, the DOJO in Jackson, New Jersey, Sound on Sound Studios and Battery Studios in New York City. It was also mixed at Battery Studios by Stephen George. Audio engineering was done by Aaron Kaplan, Rich Tapper, Jill Tengan and Charles McCrorey. Nile Rodgers played the guitar. Bass guitar and programming was done by Kierulf. Background vocals were provided by Spears and Jennifer Karr.^[1]

"Anticipating" is a song with a 1970s disco sound.^[2] According to the sheetmusic published at musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is composed in the key of F major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 112 beats per minute. Spears vocal range spans from F₃ to A₄. The song has a basic sequence of B♯(9)–C–Dm7–B♯(9) as its chord progression.^[3] Lyrically, it talks about friendship and camaradie between women.^[4]

Reception

Jane Stevenson of Jam! called "Anticipating" the strongest track in the album.^[5] Yale Daily News writer Catherine Halaby called it a "fun, cutesy disco ballad".^[6] Nikki Tranker of PopMatters said it "offers Britney’s fans something a little different with a simple tune beautifully underlined by a well-executed ‘70s disco sound".^[7] Jim Farber of the Daily News while reviewing the Dream Within a Dream Tour named it along with "Stronger", "[two] girl-power anthems".^[4] Katie Perone of the Loyola Greyhound said "[it] is a fun, bubbly song that probably would have had great success on Oops!".^[8] Barry Walters of Rolling Stone stated the song is "a euphoric Rick Astley flashback, [where] she emotes without framing her vocals in Nickelodeon-schooled theatricality".^[9] Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe compared it to early Madonna tracks such as "Holiday".^[10] In the album review, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly criticized "Anticipating" along with "Bombastic Love" for "[relying] on enervated formulas".^[11] On July 26, 2002, the song entered at number forty-six in the French Singles Chart. The following week, it peaked at number thirty-eight.^[12]

Promotion

The song was performed at the Dream Within a Dream Tour. The performance began with a video interlude of Spears talking to her dancers. She then appeared onstage, wearing a patched denim skirt. The set was made of giant coloring book drawings of houses and cars.^[13] After the second chorus, she invited the audience to sing along with her. At the end of the song, she briefly talked to the audience before taking off the skirt and top to perform "I'm a Slave 4 U".^[2] Shaheem Reid of MTV noted that during the opening night of the tour in Columbus, Ohio, "Britney must've forgotten that the disco-era throwback cut was brand spanking new, because she kept encouraging everyone to sing along to the chorus [...] Although the crowd clapped and bobbed to the beat, Britney had to go this one alone vocally".^[2] The music video, directed by Marty Callner, consisted of footage of the tour performance from Live from Las Vegas. Several effects were added, including a glittering ball and the name of the song appearing on the screen.^[14] The song was also promoted in a commercial Spears filmed for Toyota Vios.^[15]

Track listing

• CD Single^[16]

1. "Anticipating" – 3:16
2. "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (Metro Mix) – 5:25
3. "Overprotected" (Darkchild Remix) – 3:18

References