"Sometimes" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her first album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). Written by Jörgen Elofsson and produced by Elofsson, Per Magnusson and David Kreuger, the song was released as Spears' second single on April 6, 1999, by Jive Records. "Sometimes" is a bubblegum pop ballad that alludes to a relationship in which a shy girl asks her lover to take it slow. The song received generally favorable reviews from contemporary critics.
"Sometimes" attained worldwide success, peaking inside the top ten in multiple countries. In the United States, the song peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number one in Belgium (Flanders), Netherlands and New Zealand, while reaching number two in Australia. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number three, and is also Spears' third best-selling single in the country. An accompanying music video, directed by Nigel Dick, was shot at the Paradise Cove in Malibu, California. It portrays Spears watching her love interest from afar. Spears has performed "Sometimes" in four of her concert tours: the ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999), the (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour (2000), the Oops!... I Did It Again Tour (2000–01), and the Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001–02).
Background
Before recording her debut album ...Baby One More Time, Britney Spears had originally envisioned it in the style of "Sheryl Crow music, but younger [and] more adult contemporary". "Sometimes" was written by Jörgen Elofsson, and produced by Per Magnusson and David Kreuger. In an interview, Jive Records and Britney Spears A&R Steve Lunt said when the song was pitched, the lyrics were much more adult. Lunt gave the note that the song would be recorded by a teenager and therefore lyrics needed to be changed. Spears recorded the vocals for the song in May 1998, at Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. It was also mixed at Cheiron Studios by Martin. Esbjörn Öhrwall played the acoustic guitar, while bass guitar was done by Thomas Lindberg. Keyboards and programming was done by Kreuger, and additional keyboards by Magnusson. Background vocals were provided by Anders von Hoffsten. "Sometimes" was released as the second single from ...Baby One More Time on April 30, 1999.
Songwriting controversy
The song created controversy over the writing credits. Steve Wallace, an Indiana songwriter, claimed he wrote "Sometimes" in 1990, but did not copyright it until 2003, four years after Spears registered the song's copyright. Wallace claimed Spears confessed he wrote the song, by showing to the court a possible e-mail from the singer, which said, "I now know for a fact that you wrote ['Sometimes']. But there's nothing I can do about it. That's all I can say about it." The e-mail was considered fake and the lawsuit was dismissed on October 31, 2005, when Judge John D. Tinder ruled that the singer did not steal the song.