2002 (song)

"2002" is a song by English singer Anne-Marie. She co-wrote the song with Ed Sheeran, Julia Michaels, Benny Blanco and its producer Steve Mac. It was released on April 20 2018 as the sixth single from Anne-Marie's debut studio album Speak Your Mind.

Theme
Anne-Marie reminisces about falling in love as an 11-year-old and all the songs that soundtracked that romance.

Background
"2002" is a love ballad about a childhood romance of Anne-Marie's that took place in the titular year. She wrote the song with Ed Sheeran, Benny Blanco, Julia Michaels and Steve Mac. She was not initially planning to release "2002" as a single, but finally caved in after constant pestering from Sheeran on Instagram to bring it out.

The beginning of the song's chorus, "Oops, I got 99 problems singing 'bye, bye, bye' / Hold up, if you wanna go and take a ride with me / Better hit me, baby, one more time", references six songs released between 1998 and 2004: "...Baby One More Time", "Oops!... I Did It Again", "99 Problems", "Bye Bye Bye", "The Next Episode" and "Ride wit Me". In an interview with Polish music magazine luvPOP, Anne-Marie explained the song: "It is all about that year, when I was that age just listening to that music that I loved at that time. You know, Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott. All of these songs...Yeah, it just takes me back to that time." In a March 2017 interview, she mentioned Alanis Morissette as a big influence on her while growing up.