Six times Britney Spears hinted at fragile mental state through songs before breakdown

Britney Spears finally explained the motive behind her infamous 2007 head shaving stunt in her new memoir The Woman in Me.

In front of 70 waiting photographers, the Toxic songstress gave herself a buzzcut shortly after leaving rehab, amidst her very public breakdown which led to her father Jamie Spears placing her under a conservatorship a year later. In the middle of divorcing her ex-husband Kevin Federline and fighting for custody of her sons Jayden and Sean, the pressure sadly proved too much for Brit.

Explaining the decision to shave her head, Britney wrote in her 2023 book: “I’d been eyeballed so much growing up. I’d been looked up and down, had people telling me what they thought of my body, since I was a teenager. Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back.”

READ MORE: Dolly Parton confesses she has a ‘spicy open marriage’ with husband of 56 years

READ MORE: Want more showbiz? Daily Star has just the thing for you!

Days after the incident, Britney was caught outside Kevin’s house, attacking a photographer’s car with an umbrella. But she later apologised in a rather bizarre way, writing on her website: “I apologise to the pap for a stunt that was done 4 months ago regarding an umbrella.

“I was preparing my character for a role in a movie where the husband never plays his part so they switch places accidentally. I take all my roles very seriously and got a little carried away. Unfortunately I didn’t get the part.”

After that, Britney was in and out of treatment. In her book, she claims her father secretly forced her into rehab in 2014, alleging her “horrible” father “threw her away” in a place with “crack and heroin addicts”.

But was Britney secretly hinting at her struggles in her songs all along? Daily Star breaks down the most tragic lyrics and performances looking back.

Lucky

Released in 2000, Britney’s track Lucky tells the story of a Hollywood actress – played by Brit herself in the music video – who is struggling with fame. Though she puts on a smiling performance for fans, the eponymous Lucky is struggling behind the scenes, crying herself to sleep when the paparazzi are all gone.

Rolling Stone branded the song “the first Spears video to focus on what would become a recurring theme: her conflicted relationship to fame”, while one Billboard staff writer said the tale “turned out to be less than pure fiction when the singer later went through personal problems in the very public eye”.

The track’s lyrics include the famous chorus: “She’s so lucky, she’s a star / But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking/ If there’s nothing missing in my life / Then why do these tears come at night?”

Everytime

One of Britney’s most iconic ballads, the Everytime music video was originally supposed to feature the star taking an overdose before being rushed to hospital, but the plans changed at the last minute. Instead, Britney dies in a bathtub with her hands covered in blood.

Britney eventually falls under the surface and is rushed to hospital by a boyfriend, before we see her astral projected self running around in a loose shirt while doctors try to save her. Thankfully, by the end of the video she’s been brought back to life in the tub – implying it could have all been a dream.

The video was apparently supposed to depict a “death by misadventure”, with Britney forced to issue a statement clearing up its suicidal themes. Her record label said at the time: “Britney Spears was uncomfortable with these treatments due to the potential for a fictional accidental occurrence to be misinterpreted as a suicide.

“Ms Spears revised the treatment to ensure the video for Everytime will not have a scene in it that could in any way be perceived as a reference to a suicide. She does not endorse suicide as a solution to any individual and fully recognises that people who go to this length need assistance and advice, and should contact their local suicide prevention organisation.”

But after the revelation of Britney’s abortion when she was just 19 years old and pregnant with Justin Timberlake’s child, fans think the lyrics have a hidden meaning, and could be about the loss of her baby. The 2002 hit features the lyrics: “I guess I need you, baby” and “every time I see you in my dreams / I see your face / You’re haunting me.”

She then asks: “What have I done?”, before the lyrics continue: “Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song’s my sorry.” The video also sees Britney witness a baby being born.

She admitted in her memoir: “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father. To this day, it’s one of the most agonising things I have ever experienced in my life.”

Overprotected

Though released six years before she entered her controversial conservatorship, Britney’s 2002 track Overprotected is speculated to be about her relationship with her parents. The track focuses on a girl who is literally overprotected and coddled by those around her.

Its lyrics include: “I need to make mistakes just to learn who I am / And I don’t wanna be so damn protected”, before she sings: “I’ll tell ’em what I like, what I want, and what I don’t / But every time I do, I stand corrected / Things that I’ve been told, I can’t believe what I hear about the world.”

Britney alleged that she was made to stay on birth control during her conservatorship, claiming: “I have an IUD inside of me right now, so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the IUD out, so I can start trying to have another baby, but this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have any more children.”

She further alleged in court: “All I remember is that I had to do what I was told. I was told I was fat every day, I had to go to the gym… I never remember feeling so demoralised… they made me feel like nothing and I went along with it because I was scared.”

Someday

In the tragic song Someday (I Will Understand), Britney begs “tell me somebody’s watching over me”, before she sings about what “God has done to me”. The chorus of the track says: “Someday I will understand / In God’s whole plan / And what he’s done to me.”

The track was written by Britney when she discovered she was pregnant with her second son, Sean Preston Federline, at the piano in her home. She explained that the song was “like a prophecy… when you’re pregnant, you’re empowered.”

Sadly, a custody battle was soon to follow, along with a devastating miscarriage after the removal of her IUD when she fell pregnant with her now ex-husband Sam Asghari’s baby.

I Wanna Go

Another track in which Britney raved about the expectations placed upon her after finding fame at such a young age, I Wanna Go sees her sing: “Lately I’ve been stuck imagining / What I wanna do and what I really think / Time to blow out / Be a little inappropriate.”

She admits feeling “shame” about “needing release uncontrollably”. Even the cover art hints at Britney’s dissatisfaction with her teen pop princess image, with her wearing a haunting version of Mickey Mouse on a crop top – a critique of her Mickey Mouse Club days in the 90s.

Even the music video shows Britney once again spiting the paparazzi after her 2007 head shave, with the track released two years later in 2009.

VMAs performance

The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards were a turning point for Britney, and gave fans a glimpse into the true emotions she was feeling behind the scenes. Set to perform Gimme More at the awards, Britney confessed she suffered a panic attack backstage and felt “dizzy” throughout.

She wrote in her memoir: “It was less than a year since I’d had my second baby in two years but everyone was acting like my not having six-pack abs was offensive. I couldn’t believe I was going to have to go out onstage feeling the way I felt.” Britney also ran into her ex Justin Timberlake backstage.

She added: “Later that night, the comedian Sarah Silverman came out onstage to roast me. She said that at age of twenty-five I’d done everything worthwhile in my life I’d ever do. She called my two babies ‘the most adorable mistakes you’ll ever see’.

For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.

“I didn’t hear that until later, though. At the time I was backstage sobbing hysterically,” Britney continued.

Throughout the performance, the Circus songstress was seen holding her arm to shield her eyes from the light, and at some points throughout the performance, stopped lip-syncing to her lyrics. She was compared to a “hostage” throughout the performance, with several celebrities including Rihanna laughing or looking baffled.

One source told Us Weekly of the performance: “She flipped out. She came running off the stage, yelling ‘Oh my God, I look like a fat pig! I looked like a fat pig!’ She was inconsolable.”

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

Follow Daily Star on Threads here.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk