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TL;DR:

  • Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” is a jokey song where a woman calls out a man for sleeping around.
  • It sounds like a song from the 1960s that almost has the opposite meaning.
  • Both of these songs reached No. 1 in the United States.

Britney Spears‘ “Womanizer” is a hit song from the 2000s that sounds almost futuristic. In addition, it also sounds like a famous song from the 1960s. Interestingly, a famous band combined the two hits.

Britney Spears’ ‘Womanizer’ sounds like The Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’

Part of what made “Womanizer” such a smash is its incredibly tight groove. The fact that the verses are so busy works in contrast to its chorus, which is one of the most repetitive hooks in the history of pop music.

Notably, those great verses nick their beat from The Turtles’ “Happy Together.” Sure, Spears’ song is a lot faster because it’s from a much more energetic era of pop music. But the influence is undeniable.

Britney Spears’ song is almost the lyrical opposite of The Turtles’ song

The similarity between “Happy Together” and “Womanizer” almost feels ironic. The former is a pretty simple love song. In fact, it’s a song about someone who can’t imagine loving someone besides his girlfriend. When so many pop songs are about casual sex, “Happy Together” stands out as a track about fidelity.

On the other hand, “Womanizer” is an entry in the great tradition of songs about women calling out men for cheating. Tracks like Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” and Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” all got to this subject matter first. Spears’ song is unique because it’s more tongue-in-cheek than most of its predecessors. “Womanizer” includes a lot of strange lyrical touches that add to its charm. Over the course of the song, Spears calls the man who burned her “daddy-o,” “superstar,” and “lollipop.”

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How ‘Happy Together’ and ‘Womanizer’ performed on the pop charts

“Happy Together” is probably The Turtles’ defining song. That track peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, becoming their sole No. 1 single. “Happy Together” remained on the chart for 15 weeks. The Turtles included “Happy Together” on the album Happy Together. That record reached No. 25 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 22 weeks.

“Womanizer” was a hit too. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one of its 23 weeks on the chart. The tune appeared on Spears’ album Circus. The album peaked at No. 1 for one of its 42 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Any discussion of these two songs wouldn’t be complete without mentioning The All-American Rejects’ cover of “Womanizer,” which incorporates bits of “Happy Together.” Comic pop-punk covers of top 40 hits are all too common, so at least The All-American Rejects tried to add some spice to their version of “Womanizer.”

“Happy Together” and “Womanizer” are both classic bubblegum pop tracks and one might not exist without the other.

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