"Kiss Me" is a song recorded by American pop rock bandSixpence None the Richer from their 1997 self-titled album. Released as a single in August 1998, the song was a worldwide success. It reached No. 4 on the UK and New Zealand singles charts as well as No. 1 on the Australian and Canadian singles chart, making it the group's highest-charting single worldwide. "Kiss Me" is also the group's best-selling single in the United States, peaking at No. 2 and spending 16 weeks in the top 10 and 35 weeks on the chart altogether. At the end of 1999, Billboard ranked the song as the sixth best-selling single of 1999. "Kiss Me" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Critical reception
Rick Anderson of AllMusic described the song as "an utterly irresistible slice of swoony guitar pop" adding that "is impossible to shake loose from the brain and could well turn out to be this generation's 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'".
Music videos
Sixpence None the Richer version
The original music video, also directed by album/single producer Steve Taylor, pays tribute to French filmmaker François Truffaut and his film Jules et Jim, made in black and white and recreating many of the classic scenes from the film. Two alternate versions of the video were also released later, which featured the band sitting on a park bench, performing and watching scenes from either She's All That or Dawson's Creek on a portable television or projected on an outdoor screen. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook appeared in the She's All That version of the video. The Dawson's Creek version of the video became VH1's number-one video for the entire month of May 1999.
's music video revolves around a large group of teenagers who construct a tree house out of mattresses, and throw a raucous garden party involving pillow fights and kissing, while the members of the band, along with the members of Paramore perform the song around them. While the bands perform, a young man, played by drummer Chase Dodds of the band Classic Addict, sets off on a mission to kiss as many girls as possible during the party, keeping a tally on his inner left forearm in black pen. After narrowly avoiding kissing a man, Chase attempts to kiss Paramore's lead singer, Hayley Williams, only to have her recognize the tally on his arm, and slap him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He is then set upon by all the girls he has kissed at the party, who then proceed to strip him of his shirt, and tie him to a nearby tree with duct tape. One of the girls tapes his mouth shut, before writing "kiss me" on his chest in black pen. The girls then rejoin the party, leaving Chase tied to the tree. In this version, to make it more suitable to be sung from a male point of view, the line "You'll wear those shoes and I will wear that dress" is changed to "I'll wear those shoes and you will wear that dress".
The song has been covered by Avril Lavigne, Katie Melua, UK R&B singer Nathan, Lava Lava on their album "Tour Demo", and New Found Glory on their album From the Screen to Your StereoPart II. The New Found Glory version has been released as a single with a music video. It has also been covered by Singaporean Olivia Ong on her album A Girl Meets Bossa Nova 2, and by American Jewel. A cover by Debbie Scott appeared in the game Pump It Up: Exceed. A cover of the song was put in the game Karaoke Revolution. The song was covered on the eighth series of The X Factor by Janet Devlin in Week 7.
In popular culture
Three months after the debut release of the single, The WB's popular teen dramaDawson's Creek played "Kiss Me" as background music in two of its episodes, "The Dance" and "The Perfect Wedding". The song was included on the first soundtrack on Songs from Dawson's Creek, released on April 27, 1999, which made No. 7 on the album charts. In January 1999, Miramax used "Kiss Me" as the main theme song of its teen romantic comedy filmShe's All That. The film's box office success helped "Kiss Me" to gain widespread mainstream attention and chart success. "Kiss Me" climbed to No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 list, and stayed in the Top 10 for 16 straight weeks. In Italy the film was retitled "Kiss Me". In June 1999, BBC Television in the United Kingdom used the song as a closing theme for the BBC One broadcast coverage of Prince Edward's royal wedding. The song was part of the official soundtrack for the 2001 comedy filmNot Another Teen Movie which used the song in a scene parodying a scene from She's All That. The song was also featured in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and in the episode "Simprovised" of Foxanimated seriesThe Simpsons. In an interview with Vogue, Taylor Swift said that "Kiss Me" was the very first song that she learned to play on guitar when she was 12 years old.
