Mannequin

Album: Circus (2008)
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Songfacts®:

  • This feisty pop number, in which Britney transforms into a real-life Barbie doll, was co-penned by Spears herself. She also has co-writing credits on "Mmm Papi" and "My Baby" on Circus.
  • Sydney dancer Shannon Holtzapffel is Spears' dance partner in the song's music video.

Comments: 1

  • Pam from Naxxar, MaltaThis is, in my opinion, one of Britney's most underrated songs. It is often said that she has no lyrical depth or no musical range. However, what is also often overlooked, is that practically all her lyrics since 'Ooops I Did It Again' have been laced with a kind of desperate plea for attention.

    In this song, the loneliness is particularly poignant when one considers the trials she had just gotten through when writing this album and this specific lyrics:

    You can cry again
    My face like a mannequin

    You told me you're lonely
    Can't hear you, can't feel you
    I'm frozen in pose and there's no way to move me
    Watch me, dress me, can't impress me
    I'm not changing, I'm just

    She says she won't cry and that she doesn't care. If you interptet it as apathy then it is the most severe kind of loneliness. If you interpret it as rising above the opinions of others, then it has a very strong positive message. either way, this is a song that wreaks of self-preservation. 'Dress me' as usual heralds to the controlling image-makers.

    The 'Watch me' repetition is particularly melancholic to listen to in such a pop song.
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