Irresistible (song)
| "Irresistible" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Jessica Simpson | ||
| From the album Irresistible | ||
| Released | 2001 | |
| Format | 12" single | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 3:14 | |
| Label | Columbia Records | |
| Writers | Anders Bagge A. Brigissan Pamela Sheyne | |
| Producers | Anders Bagge A. Brigissan | |
| Chart positions | #15 US #11 UK #16 CAN #21 AUS | |
| Jessica Simpson single chronology | ||
| "I Think I'm in Love with You" (2000) | "Irresistible" (2001) | "A Little Bit" (2001) |
"Irresistible" is the first single from Jessica Simpson's second album, Irresistible. Released in 2001, the single reached fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Simpson's second top-twenty hit. The single also reached eleven in the united Kingdom. The single is best known for its music video, changing Simpson's once conservative virginal image to an overtly sexual image for the first time (which would be refined in the video for "Sweetest Sin").
"Irresistible" was written by Anders Bagge, A. Brigissan, and Pamela Sheyne, and produced by Bagge and Brigissan. In this upbeat pop-oriented lead single, Jessica breaks her once imposed Christian boundaries by using suggestive language in a single for the first time, as she questions her personal vows of celibacy when she meets a man she is very sexually attracted to. Simpson realizes she's supposed to wait (until marriage), as she sings: "But he's irresistible, up close and personal, now inescapable, I can hardly breathe".
Music video
Although her debut album had been a modest hit, her boss at Columbia Records, Tommy Mottola, was not pleased with the results. Although Simpson had been planned to be the next big pop superstar, she had failed to come close to the sales of her pop contemporaries, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. To increase sales, Mottola felt that Simpson needed a sexier image, and she was ordered to lose weight and appear in sexier clothes publicly and for her new music videos.
The first video in which she displayed her new sexier side was the one for "Irresistible". In this dark futuristic spy-like music video, Jessica can be seen in sexy and revealing clothes breaking into a top secret lab. Although her mission is apparently to compromise evidence in the lab, she doesn't quite reach her goal, but instead proceeds to perform a sexy dance.
Due to the breakthrough in sex appeal and the spy theme, the video is often compared to Mariah Carey's "Honey" (which also has a spy theme and featured Carey in sexy clothes for the first time in her career). A music video was also filmed for the So So Def remix of the song. Simpson is never seen with Lil' Bow Wow, as his shots were filmed separately. As Simpson was practically forced to wear sexy clothes for the video, she is not exactly fond of it. The video also shocked he heavy Christian fanbase, and as a result, she lost several once dedicated fans.
Chart performance
As the first single from Simpson's second album, there was pressure for this single in particular to do well, not only so that the album would succeed, but also to avoid the traditional "sophomore slump" that many artists have faced in the past. "Irresistible" did both, as it reached the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a top-five hit on both the Top 40 Tracks and Top 40 Mainstream. To appeal to Simpson's African-American R&B fanbase, the So So Def remix of "Irresistible" was created, but didn't really help the song in urban markets. Internationally it was received similarly, as the song reached the top twenty in both the U.K. and Canada.
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #15 |
| 2001 | U.S. Billboard Hot Singles Sales | #Failed to chart |
| 2001 | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | #13 |
| 2001 | U.S. Top 40 Tracks | #5 |
| 2001 | U.S. Top 40 Mainstream | #3 |
| 2001 | U.S. Rhythmic Top 40 | #12 |
| 2001 | Canadian Singles Chart | #16 |
| 2001 | UK Singles Chart | #11 |