text: ( you drive me ) crazy " ( you drive me ) crazy " is a song recorded by american singer britney spears for her debut studio album , ... baby one more time ( 1999 ) . written and produced by max martin , per magnusson and david kreuger , with additional writing by jörgen elofsson and remix by martin and rami yacoub , it was released as the album 's third single on august 23 , 1999 , by jive records . it was remixed for the soundtrack of drive me crazy . " ( you drive me ) crazy " is a pop song . the song garnered positive reviews from music critics , some of whom praised its simple formula and noted similarities to spears ' debut single , " ... baby one more time " . " ( you drive me ) crazy " was a commercial success , and peaked inside the top ten on the singles charts of seventeen countries . in the united kingdom , it became spears ' third consecutive single to peak inside the top five , while it reached number 10 in the united states ' billboard hot 100 , and peaked at number one in belgium ( wallonia ) . an accompanying music video , directed by nigel dick , and portrayed spears as a waitress of a dance club , and performed a highly choreographed dance routine with the other waitresses . the video premiered on mtv 's making the video special , and featured cameo appearances of actors melissa joan hart and adrian grenier . as part of promotion for the song , spears performed the song at the 1999 mtv europe music awards and 1999 billboard music awards . it has also been included on five of her concert tours . background before recording her debut album , spears had originally envisioned it in style of " sheryl crow music , but younger [ and ] more adult contemporary " . however , the singer agreed with her label 's appointment of producers , who had the objective to target a teenage audience at the time . she flew to cheiron studios in stockholm , sweden , where half of the album was recorded from march to april 1998 , with producers max martin , denniz pop and rami yacoub , among others . " ( you drive me ) crazy " was written by jörgen elofsson , while song production and additional songwriting was done by martin , per magnusson and david kreuger . spears recorded the vocals for the song in march 1998 , at cheiron studios in stockholm , sweden . it was also mixed at cheiron studios by martin . esbjörn öhrwall and johan carlberg played the guitar , while bass guitar was done by thomas lindberg . keyboards and programming was done by kreuger , and additional keyboards by magnusson . background vocals were provided by jeanette , martin , yacoub and the , formed by nyström , jeanette stenhammar , johanna stenhammar , charlotte björkman and therese . in may 1999 , martin and spears went to the battery studios in new york city , new york , to re - record the vocals of the track , due to the fact that a remixed version called " the stop ! remix " was going to be included on the original motion picture soundtrack of the film drive me crazy ( 1999 ) . " ( you drive me ) crazy " was released as a remix package as the third single from ... baby one more time on august 23 , 1999 . composition " ( you drive me ) crazy " is a pop song . the song 's composition follows a simple formula and infuses edgy synthesized instruments , including a recurring cowbell , and having a roughly similar sound to spears ' debut single " ... baby one more time " ( 1999 ) . according to the sheet music published at musicnotes.com by universal music publishing group , " ( you drive me ) crazy " is composed in the key of c minor and runs through a moderately slow dance beat infused metronome of 92 beats per minute . spears ' vocals were deemed as heavily processed when compared to the ones of her previous single , " sometimes " . her vocal range spans over an octave , from the low - key of g3 to the high - note of d ♭ 5 . the song 's primary chord progression is cm – a ♭ -g ( vi - iv - iii ) , with a few deviations . critical reception the song garnered positive reviews from music critics . kyle anderson for mtv considered " ( you drive me ) crazy " as " a similar - sounding anthem [ to ' ... baby one more time ' ] with some streamlined rock guitar taking center stage ( there 's even a solo ) . it 's catchy enough . " spence d. of ign considered " ( you drive me ) crazy " a " [ max ] martin 's glossy grown - up pop " song , while caryn ganz of rolling stone called " ( you drive me ) crazy " a " further hit " from ... baby one more time , along with " from the bottom of my broken heart " and " sometimes " . music critic walt mueller wrote " when spears starts to sing on this one , she sounds a lot like janet jackson . " christy lemire of the associated press noted that the song and " stronger " are " so lamely feel - good " tracks that they " could have been the theme song to a ' karate kid ' sequel . " evan sawdey of popmatters called it a " lightly dorky " song , and stephen thomas erlewine of allmusic deemed it as a " fluffy dance - pop at its best . " in a list compiled by sara anderson of aol radio , " ( you drive me ) crazy " was ranked ninth in a list of spears ' best songs . during the 2001 bmi pop awards , " ( you drive me ) crazy " was honored with the award of most performed bmi song . chart performance " ( you drive me ) crazy " was a commercial success . the song peaked at number two on the european hot 100 singles , being held off the top spot by r. kelly 's " if i could turn back the hands of time " . in the united kingdom , it was spears ' third consecutive single to reach a top five position . the track debuted and peaked at number five on the chart issue dated october 2 , 1999 , and stayed on the chart for a total of eleven weeks . it was eventually certified silver by the british phonographic industry ( bpi ) , for shipments over 200 , 000 units . according to the official charts company , " ( you drive me ) crazy " is spears ' seventh best - selling single in the united kingdom , with sales over 275 , 000 physical units . the song peaked at number two in france and number four in germany , being certified gold in both countries for shipping over 250 , 000 units . it also peaked at number one in belgium ( wallonia ) , finishing the year of 1999 as the 17th best - selling single . " ( you drive me ) crazy " was also able to peak inside the top five in belgium ( flanders ) , finland , ireland , netherlands , norway , sweden , and switzerland , while reaching top ten positions in denmark and italy . later in 2012 , the song managed to peak at number 65 in czech republic due to high airplay . in the united states , " ( you drive me ) crazy " peaked at number ten on billboard hot 100 on the chart issue dated november 13 , 1999 , and became spears ' second single to peak inside the top ten in the country . on the same week , it peaked at number four on the pop songs component chart . on the chart compiled by rpm magazine , the song peaked at number three in canada . however , on the canadian hot 100 compiled by nielsen soundscan , it peaked at number 13 . the latter revealed that " ( you drive me ) crazy " was the 44th best - selling single of 1999 in the country . the track peaked at number five in new zealand , but failed to reach the top ten in australia , where it peaked at number 12 on the chart issue dated november 12 , 1999 . however , the single was later certified platinum by the australian recording industry association ( aria ) , and was one of the best - selling singles of 2000 in the country . " ( you drive me ) crazy " performed poorly in japan , where it peaked at number 80 , and stayed on the chart for two weeks only . despite the low sales , it is spears ' 12th best - selling cd release in the country . music video the song 's accompanying music video was directed by nigel dick . spears conceptualized the video 's treatment , and explained during an interview with mtv in 1999 that " it would be cool to be in a club , and we 're dorky waitresses , and we break out and start dancing . " at the time , spears expected that the video would take her " to the next level " . to promote the film drive me crazy , actors adrian grenier and melissa joan hart were invited to make cameo appearances in the video , since the song had been included on the film 's soundtrack , however , grenier did not want to participate . dick commented on the issue , saying , " i was given instructions to ring him up and make sure he appeared in the video . i said , ' you know what , adrian , i just think it would be great for your career , and britney 's a great girl and she 's fun to work with . ' eventually he came around . " dick also revealed that he was impressed by the singer 's work ethic , adding that she " came to the set completely rehearsed . " the music video premiered on mtv 's making the video special that aired on july 18 , 1999 . the video opens with spears as a waitress of a dance club . she then goes with other waitresses to their dressing room , where they finish their make - up and change costumes . spears , now wearing a green sparkly outfit , goes through the corridor to the dance floor with her friends , and starts to perform a high profile choreography , including a chair dance sequence referencing janet jackson 's " miss you much " video , which spears also referenced in live performances of the song on the " crazy 2k tour " . scenes of spears singing in front of a shining orange sign with the word " " are also seen throughout the video . on august 24 , 1999 , the music video debuted at number four on total request live . it is the longest running by a female artist on trl , staying on the top ten for seventy - three days . the video was nominated on the category of best dance video on the 2000 mtv video music awards ; it lost , however , to jennifer lopez 's " waiting for tonight " ( 1999 ) . an alternate footage of the video can be found on the dvd of spears first compilation album greatest hits : my prerogative ( 2004 ) . jennifer vineyard of mtv commented , " the alternate audio gives the feel of spears singing the song as a round , where the beat is in sync but one layer of her vocals is just slightly ahead of the other . " live performances and covers as part of promotion for " ( you drive me ) crazy " ' s release as a single , spears performed it at the 1999 mtv europe music awards and at the 1999 billboard music awards . it was also performed on five concert tours , the first being the ... baby one more time tour ( 1999 ) . the show began with a dance introduction by spears ' dancers among smoke effects . she appeared shortly after at the top of the staircase wearing a hot pink vinyl tube top and white vinyl pants with pink knee patches . during the 2000 leg of the tour , entitled crazy 2k tour , spears changed the opening sequence of the show ; the show started with a skit in which the dancers came out of lockers and stayed in the stage until a bell rang . they all sat until a female teacher voice started calling their names . after the teacher called spears , she emerged at the top of the staircase in a cloud of smoke , wearing a top and white stretch pants , to perform a short dance mix of " ... baby one more time " . she then entered one of the lockers and appeared in another one on the opposite side of the stage to perform " ( you drive me ) crazy " , which included a chair dance sequence referencing janet jackson 's " miss you much " music video that ended with spears saying " is that the end ? " , quoting jackson 's phrase from the video . the song was once again performed in a dance - oriented form on the oops ! ... i did it again world tour ( 2000 ) , while in 2001 's dream within a dream tour , the performance featured spears being captured by her dancers . " ( you drive me ) crazy " was also performed on the onyx hotel tour ( 2004 ) . for the tour , the song was remixed with elements of latin percussion . " crazy " would not be performed by spears for another nine years until it was included on the setlist of her las vegas residency show britney : piece of me . in 2003 , american musician richard cheese covered " ( you drive me ) crazy " and included it on his album . american pop band selena gomez & the scene performed a homage to spears during their 2011 we own the night tour . they performed " ( you drive me ) crazy " along with a medley of hits that included " ... baby one more time " , " oops ! ... i did it again " , " i 'm a slave 4 u " , " toxic " and " hold it against me " , mixed similar to the chris cox megamix included in greatest hits : my prerogative . in the 2012 glee episode " britney 2 . 0 " , the characters of marley rose and jake puckerman performed a medley of the track with aerosmith 's " crazy " ( 1993 ) . track listings credits and personnel credits for " ( you drive me ) crazy " are taken from the single 's liner notes . technical recorded and mixed at cheiron studios in stockholm , sweden . additional recording at battery studios in new york city , new york . personnel charts certifications release history