About the Song:
The alternative-rock band Sixpence None the Richer formed in Texas in 1992. The band took its name from a phrase in a C.S. Lewis book. TB Singer Leigh Nash teamed up with guitarist/songwriter Matt Slocum and bassist T.J. Behling to record a demo and eventually the album The Fatherless and the Widow, released by R.E.X. Records in 1994. They released aother album, This Beautiful Mess, in 1995. By this time, they had expanded to a quintet. They gained a wider audience with 1997’s self-titled album released by Squint Entertainment when the single “Kiss Me” became a hit.
The album had been out seven months when “Kiss Me” was finally released as a single. It didn’t hit the Billboard Hot 100 until November, peaking at #90 and falling out the next week. However, the song gained attention as the theme song of the teen romantic comedy She’s All That, released in January 1999, and again from an appearance on the April 1999 soundtrack for TV’s Dawson’s Creek. It eventually reached #2 in May 1999.
The song has been compared to the Sundays, Cranberries, and 10,000 Maniacs. It was written by Slocum, the band’s chief songwriter, in a Dutch motel while the band was on tour. Nash said, “We performed it that night…It was an instant hit with fans, but it was still like a year and a half before we recorded it.” WK It had a “more lighthearted, poppier sound compared to the band’s prior work.” WK They were reluctant to include it on the album until persuaded otherwise by their producer. WK
Music historian Steve Sullivan said, “This absolultely delightful midtempo pop ballad is a celebration of new love so giddy that it sweeps the listener up in its happiness, and possesses a timeless quality that’s rare in contemporary pop.” SS It is “proof that a winning melody will always come through.” TB “Kiss Me” was “a breath of fresh air in the nu-metal-plagued music scene of 1999.” TB Allmusic.com’s Rick Anderson called it “an utterly irresistible slice of swoony guitar pop…[that] could be this generation’s ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand.’” AM
“Kiss Me” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
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First posted 2/1/2025.
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