"Kiss Me" is the band's highest-charting single in the US, peaking at
No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the country's sixth-best-selling single of 1999. Worldwide, the song reached No. 1 on the
Australian and
Canadian charts as well as No. 4 on the
UK Singles Chart, entering the top 10 in 16 countries altogether. Three music videos were made for the song, with one paying tribute to French
romantic drama film Jules and Jim and two others featuring the band in the park, watching a portable television.
Background
"Kiss Me" originated as a draft of a song written in a Dutch motel.[6] Lead vocalist
Leigh Nash said the band had been in their rooms for about an hour when band member
Matt Slocum called to let her know that he had composed a new song. Nash went on to say, "We were on tour over there, and we had a show that night at Flevo Festival. We performed it that night! I went down into his room and learned it. It was an instant hit with fans, but it was still like a year and a half before we recorded it."[6]
The song has a more lighthearted, "poppier" sound compared to the band's prior work; thus, the band were reluctant to include it on their
self-titled third album until their producer persuaded them to reconsider.[6] Nash said early drafts of the song had "slightly edgier lyrics, with 'silver moon sparkling' originally written as 'cigarettes sparkling.'"[6]
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'".[9]Chuck Taylor and Deborah Evans Price of Billboard magazine compared the song to those recorded by
the Sundays.[1][2] Taylor called the song "admirably well-written" and "brightly produced", further comparing the track to
10,000 Maniacs.[2] British music columnist
James Masterton also compared "Kiss Me" to the works of the Sundays, referring to the song as a cross with a mellow
Cranberries song, and called it a "wonderful tapestry of jangling guitars".[10] Jim Kerr of Radio & Records magazine wrote that the song is an "amazing piece of alterna-pop" reminiscent of the Sundays.[11]Larry Flick of Billboard described "Kiss Me" as a "refreshing summertime tune" with "airy" production and "romantic" imagery.[12]Daily Record said it is an "excellent pop song".[13]
Chart performance
"Kiss Me" debuted on the US BillboardHot 100 at number 90 on the issue of November 28, 1998, but it fell out of the top 100 the following week.[14] On February 13, 1999, it re-entered the listing at number 91,[15] then took another 11 weeks to reach its peak of number two on May 1, where it stayed for a single week.[16] It stayed in the top 100 for 33 weeks,[17] ending 1999 as the United States' sixth-most-successful song of the year.[18] The single additionally peaked atop the BillboardMainstream Top 40 chart and reached number two on the
Adult Contemporary and
Adult Top 40 charts.[19][20][21] In Canada, "Kiss Me" debuted at number 45 on the RPM Top Singles chart on March 22 and rose to number one on May 10,[22][23] becoming Canada's 11th-best-performing hit of 1999.[24] It topped the RPM Adult Contemporary chart as well.[25]
The track reached number one in Australia, where it stayed for three weeks in June 1999 following a four-week climb up the
ARIA Singles Chart.[26] It appeared at number 19 on the Australian year-end chart of 1999.[27] In New Zealand, "Kiss Me" debuted at number 16 in May and rose to its peak of number four on July 18,[28] spending 15 weeks in the top 50 and ending the year at number 44 on the
RIANZ year-end chart.[29] The song became a hit in several European countries, reaching the top 10 in Austria,
Flanders, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.[26][30][31][32][33][34] It peaked within the top 20 in Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and
Wallonia, attaining a peak of number 15 on the
Eurochart Hot 100.[35][36][26][37] In France, it rose to number 32 in September 1999.[38] "Kiss Me" has earned several
certifications, receiving a double-platinum award in the UK and US,[39][40] a platinum disc in Australia,[41] and gold discs in Belgium and New Zealand.[42][43]
Music videos
Sixpence None the Richer version
The original
music video, directed by producer
Steve Taylor and filmed in Paris, France, 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.[44] 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.[45] The Dawson's Creek version of the video became
VH1's number-one video for the entire month of May 1999.[46]
New Found Glory version
The music video for
New Found Glory's cover version 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 (whom he mistakes for a girl because of his long hair), 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 ink. The girls then rejoin the party, leaving Chase tied to the tree.[47]
Legacy
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.[48]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
As a solo artist, Nash recorded a cover of the song for her 2018 EP and sings it as part of her live sets.[6] The song has been covered by
Avril Lavigne,[88] UK R&B singer
Nathan, Lava Lava on their album Tour Demo, and
New Found Glory on their album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II. The New Found Glory version has been released as a single with a music video.[47] "Kiss Me" has also been covered by Singaporean
Olivia Ong on her album A Girl Meets Bossa Nova 2.[89] 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 season of The X Factor UK by
Janet Devlin in Week 7. In 2019,
SZA performed a cover version as part of her set at the III Points Festival.[90] In August 2021,
Cyn recorded a cover version of the song for the soundtrack to the
Netflix film, He's All That.[91]
^Kiss Me (UK CD single liner notes). Sixpence None the Richer.
Elektra Records, Squint Entertainment. 1999. E3750CD.{{
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link)
^Kiss Me (UK cassette single sleeve). Sixpence None the Richer. Elektra Records, Squint Entertainment. 1999. E3750C.{{
cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
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^Kiss Me (Japanese CD single liner notes). Sixpence None the Richer.
EastWest Records Japan, Squint Entertainment. 2000. AMCY-7123.{{
cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)