“Toxic” (2003) falls within electro-pop and dance-pop. A catchy chorus, fast tempo, and pulsating beat characterize this genre. “Toxic” (2003) checks all of these boxes. The song is sung by Spears in the minor key. The fast tempo and thick texture, however, stop the song from having a sad tone as typically heard with records sung in the minor key. “Toxic” (2003) can also be characterized by its heavy instrumentation. Throughout the song, you can hear pulsating percussion, high pitch strings, a surf guitar, and a synthesizer.
The track starts with high pitch strings that elicit a feeling of suspense (Spears 2003, 00:00-00:12). Spears elongates her notes as she sings the verses creating an intimate feeling within the sound of the song. The high pitch strings return right before the pre-chorus, or hook, is sung. The lyrics of the hook, “Too high, can’t come down. Losing my head, spinnin’ ‘round and ‘round. Do you feel me now?” queue the listener into the tempting and charming theme of the song. Spears’ high-pitched voice during the hook mimics the angelic but dangerous sound of mythical sirens. The instrumental bridge from 02:22 to 2:37 contains contorted, warping sounds curated by the synthesizer on the track. At the beginning of the final renditions of the chorus, Auto-Tune is used to lengthen Spears’ vocals and raise them to a high enough pitch to achieve a robotic, wavy sound (Spears 2003, 02:37-02:43). The technology allows the producers to take Spears’ vocals and turn them into a distorted sound that elicits a feeling of being out of touch with reality and slipping away as you are overcome with the intoxication of your lover. The sound created by Auto-Tune helps hammer home the song’s theme of succumbing to temptation and charm.
The music video for “Toxic” (2003) can fall under many categories. The video could be considered a narrative, as it shows Spears in several different roles trying to seduce different male characters. However, the futuristic city she seems to be scheming in indicates that the music video fits into the artsy/surreal category to help queue the audience into the song’s meaning. The visual aid helps demonstrate how critics may have viewed the video as a form of unrealistic, exaggerated femininity. Spears’ first role in the video is as a flight attendant, a career stereotypically assigned to women. Suddenly, Spears is climbing buildings and ducking security laser beams as she tries to steal a secret toxic elixir. While taking on the more masculine role of a pseudo-spy, Spears is still dressed in an overt feminine leather bra as her high-pitch melodic voice rings in the background. The purpose of the visual aid is to help the audience see how Spears uses her seemingly innocent femininity to seduce the males in the video.