In the 31st edition of FIERCE Pop + Rock ๐ฅ๐ค, we highlight โI Want It That Wayโ performed by Backstreet Boys.
Bring on the bold, FIERCE tracks! FIERCE Pop + Rock ๐ฅ๐ค provides background information and insight into pop, rock, and metal songs that raise eyebrows and stir the pot.ย Featured records can be classic or brand new. In the 31st edition of FIERCE Pop + Rock ๐ฅ๐ค (2023), we explore ๐ต โI Want It That Wayโ performed by ๐ Backstreet Boys.
โYou are my fire / The one desire / Believe when I say / I want it that way.โ WOO! Ah, those ๐ Backstreet Boys were one of the biggest boy bands in the late 1990s. Bubblegum pop was all the rage, and BSB exemplified it, particularly on the ๐ฟ Millennium (1999) highlight at hand, ๐ต โI Want It That Wayโ.ย This record is pop schmaltz at its best, with many characterizing or decoding the want โ the desire โ in NSFW ways.ย Do you think โI Want It That Way,โ which spent 31 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at no. 6, is really about anal sex? Kat George of Bustle seems to think so, citing the lyrics, โBut we are two worlds apart / Canโt reach to your heart / When you say / That I want it that wayโ:
โ[It] might sound like some emo Romeo and Juliet melodrama to some people, but what it really sounds like to most of us is that someone doesn’t want to put it in the stinker after they were asked politely.โ
Oh, snap ๐ซฐ! Perhaps if โI Want It That Wayโ were officially about pulling up to the bumper, it would be hella fierce.ย Ultimately, however, the fierceness of โI Want It That Wayโ relies on puppy dog love from good looking young men, haha.ย โAm I your fire? / Your one desireโฆโ ย Well nowโฆ To be fair, the songwriting (๐ผ โ Andreas Carlsson and Max Martin) is sus.ย The verses, in particularly, are odd.
Perhaps thatโs why the outlandish assertion that this song is about anal is worth talking about ๐คฃ. Ultimately, the tunefulness of the melody, and a catchy chorus helped make ๐ต โI Want It That Wayโ a 1990s classic.ย It was nominated for three Grammys (including Song of The Year), so, confusing, questionable lyrics or not, The Backstreet Boys and their songwriters ๐ต โMust Be Doinโ Somethinโ Rightโ, ๐ Billy Currington ๐!
๐ Backstreet Boys โข ๐ฟ Millennium โข ๐ท Zomba โข ๐ 1999
Backstreet Boys, I Want It That Way: FIERCE Pop + Rock ๐ฅ๐ค No. 31 (2023) [๐ท: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Amr Osman, Deiby Tum Tum, Harry Shelton, Jerome Abel, Pavel Danilyuk, RDNE Stock project, Vishnu R Nair from Pexels]
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Incredible Songs: 1990s, Vol. 2 | Playlist ๐ง · July 19, 2023 at 12:00 am
[…] rage, and BSB exemplified it, particularly on the ๐ฟ Millennium (1999) highlight at hand, ๐ต โI Want It That Wayโ.ย This record is pop schmaltz at its best, with many characterizing or decoding the want โ the […]
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