"Billy S." is a song by Canadian musician Skye Sweetnam. It was released as her debut major label single in 2003. "Billy S." reached number 15 on the Canadian Singles Chart and also charted in France and the Flanders region of Belgium. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the movie How to Deal.[1]

"Billy S."
Single by Skye Sweetnam
from the album How to Deal
B-side"Wild World"
ReleasedMay 19, 2003
Length2:15
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)
  • Skye Sweetnam
  • James Robertson
Producer(s)
  • James Robertson
  • Skye Sweetnam
Skye Sweetnam singles chronology
"Billy S."
(2003)
"Tangled Up in Me"
(2004)

Song information

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The song's title, "Billy S." stands for Billy Shakespeare, a reference to William Shakespeare, whom Skye refers to throughout the song. The song contains numerous Shakespeare references including Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Malvolio from Twelfth Night and the phrase "To be, or not to be" from Hamlet, which is changed to "To skip or not to skip, that is the question". Sweetnam thought that the title "Billy Shakespeare" was too long, and decided to shorten it.

Music video

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The music video for "Billy S.", filmed in Southern California, features Skye Sweetnam recording herself singing into a handheld camera. The video then goes on to show Sweetnam editing the video on a computer. The video also features scenes from the movie How to Deal. Skye is also shown, while making her video, gathering a group of people for the purpose of throwing a party and ultimately skipping school, walking triumphantly past the (school) bus.

The video for "Billy S." received regular airplay on MuchMusic and YTV.

Track listings

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Canadian CD single[2]

  1. "Billy S."
  2. "Wild World"

European CD single[3]

  1. "Billy S."
  2. "Tidal Wave"

French DVD single[4]

  1. "Billy S."
  2. "Tidal Wave"
  3. "Billy S." (video)

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Billy S."
Chart (2003–2005) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[5] 3
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[6] 15
France (SNEP)[7] 92

Release history

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Release dates and formats for "Tangled Up in Me"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States May 19, 2003 Contemporary hit radio Capitol [8]
July 22, 2003 CD single [9]
Germany November 24, 2003 EMI [10]

References

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  1. ^ "Original Soundtrack – How to Deal". AllMusic. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Billy S. (Canadian CD single liner notes). Skye Sweetnam. Capitol Records. 2003. 724355337923.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Billy S. (European CD single liner notes). Skye Sweetnam. Capitol Records. 2003. 7243 5533792 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ Billy S. (French DVD single liner notes). Skye Sweetnam. Capitol Records. 2003. 7 24359 900919 6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ "Skye Sweetnam – Billy S." (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Canadian Digital Song Sales". Billboard. September 27, 2003. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  7. ^ "Skye Sweetnam – Billy S." (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "R&R's Going For Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. 2003-05-16. p. 28.
  9. ^ "Billy S". Amazon.
  10. ^ "Billy S". Amazon Germany.