You know it: there are certain songs that anyone can passionately sing along to on the dance floor or at karaoke, but it’s best not to ask what they mean. That’s what teenagers do with the English-language songs of their pop idols, and it’s not uncommon for adults too. Sometimes it’s because of the foreign language skills, sometimes because of a lack of interest – and sometimes because the song just doesn’t make sense.
Just like “I Want It That Way”, the mega hit by the Backstreet Boys. Everyone knows it, most of them can copy it. But with a synopsis of the lyrics, it becomes difficult. Sure, it’s somehow about love that shouldn’t be, but at the latest the chorus becomes very confusing: “I never wanna hear you say / I want it that way.” It’s not really clear what the person in the song is saying against, and what it’s about, i.e. what this it is. The Backstreet Boys even openly admitted this themselves.
On various occasions in the past, members of the band have commented that the lyrics don’t really mean anything. “The song doesn’t make any sense,” AJ admitted during an appearance on a US television show in 2020. Ultimately, however, it was fully intentional that this should be the case.
The lyrics are by Max Martin. He is Swede and meanwhile an institution in the pop business. He has mega hits like “It’s My Life” (Bon Jovi), “I Kissed A Girl” (Katy Perry), “Shake It Off” (Taylor Swift) or “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, which according to Billboard Biggest hit of all-time, Martin was relatively new to the US at the time and his English was still developing, but that didn’t stop him from writing seven of the twelve songs on Backstreet Boys’ 1999 album Millennium. All singles from this record are from his pen.
However, at least “I Want It That Way” showed that the language of the text wasn’t really mature. The members of the boy band didn’t even notice it when they first heard it. “It’s funny, but we all thought the lyrics were okay,” Nick Carter later said. But their record boss was bothered by the confused text and let the band record a new version. It said in the refrain: “I love it when I hear you say, I want it that way” – the exact opposite of the original in terms of content.
You can still listen to the alternative version on Youtube here. But only insiders know this – in the end the record company decided on Martin’s version. The lyrics might seem rather erratic, but that was accepted because the lyrics seemed to fit the melody better. And that is still the decisive criterion for a pop song. “Sometimes you overthink things,” explained Kevin Richardson in an interview with the band with The Huffington Post. “Sometimes you just have to do what feels right.” There are many songs that don’t make much sense, the singer said: “But they feel good when you sing them along.”
With their gut feeling, Max Martin, the band and the record company were spot on. “I Want It That Way” became a mega hit, the biggest in the band’s history: It reached number one in the single charts in numerous countries – including Germany – and more than seven million copies were sold. Just don’t listen too closely.
Sources: “L.A. Weekly” / USA Today / “Huffington Post”
