Margazine

Still a hit after all these years

As I wrote this, I Want it that way is about to hit 1 Billion views on Youtube over 22 years after its release on April 12, 1999, and 12 years after being posted on Youtube in 2009. Most people think it hardly makes sense. TOme though there is a coherent theme of the boyfriend trying to convince his girlfriend not to dump him. However, it is written in more straightforward vocabulary. And Yes, I understand that I Want it that way part is a little vague, especially after the second verse, which is the first in question form. It is like you said that to me but are you sure? Any rational guy would not want that uncertainty. ( And yes, the Backstreet have sung many songs since on that topic) I think the simplicity was part of its enduring appeal at proves that you don’t always need the sophisticated language to have a hit song. I have heard so. You can also make up for the lack of polish in other ways, such as structure.

Simple ain’t Stupid

Co-writer Andreas Carlsson talked about the inspiration for “I Want that Way” with the Washington Post in 2019. The song started with a couple of lines, including the famous Swedish poetry style. And this is where I differ from member Kevin Richardson, who called his English at the time was rusty. I think he was capable of writing songs in English, but it was not as colloquially at the time. He might have relied more on Swedish structure as he was unfamiliar with the English writing style or even vernacular.

But at the same time, the average native speaker is not that sophisticated either. We prefer to understand and use words, although we are told to vary our vocabulary. As the old saying if you can express it simply, it is much better. I have heard more fluent songs that were just as open to interpretation as I Want It That Way, and I have also heard songs that just repeat one or two lines. At least with I Want it That Way. We have a few lyrics and changes of the point of view-sort of I don’t believe the average fan’s age had anything to do with it because there were previous songs that talked about the ups and downs of love with much more detail.

Native English speakers, for example, face the dilemma of simplifying our language for non-natives since so many are learning. That, of course, is so unfamiliar to us. So I understand how coming up with equally simple but different verse would have been hard whether I was writing in a second language or even trying to write in a simpler version of my own,

Why Did They Want I Want it That Way?

In the same article, Carlsson ultimately attributed the single’s success to luck, saying that in all his years of songwriting, it is impossible to predict a potential hit while in the writing prof. On the surface, I would agree with that because human behavior it is hard to predict. By the time Millennium came out in the US, The Backstreet Boys had released five successful singles from the US Debut. The US debut single Quit Playing Games was the highest-charting single in the US but never had that same appeal popularly or critically. Critics often touched on the melody with the soft guitars and the Backstreet Boys’ harmony as the main reason. Perhaps this was proof that lyrics themselves were more throwaway, at least to them. In the same Washing Post article, Carlsson also threw out the idea that it was also the way the song’s melody made the fans feel instead of just lyrics.

If you are familiar with the I Want It That Way’s backstory, you know that the record company got Mutt Lange to write a more fluent version called No Goodbyes. But given how simple I Want in that way is, why did the guys unanimously choose it over the more fluent version. I believe the guys knew their fanbase well. Most of their fans come from Non-English speaking countries or areas where knowledge of English was meager to non-existent, and the song was something they could even follow or even pretend to follow at least.

For Native English speakers, the simplicity just made it memorable What Martin and Carsslon may have lacked in precision they made up for in structure. Soundfly’s free lesson on songwriting mentioned that song used repetition of rhyming as wells words to make it more interesting The chorus amounts to a call and return. These features are perhaps what makes these lines very memorable. This is probably why these parts of the song have ended up in various pop culture references. Simplicity and repetition are not necessarily bad things, especially when used in varied ways, as the article states.

Over to you fans, and especially if you are not a Backstreet Boys fan, if I want it that way is your favorite song, tell me why. And if you are a foreign speaker of English, did I hit on the reason why you like the song?

Related

Guest Post on BSBFangirls.com breaks the meaning down. The author agrees that the song makes sense.

More Backstreet Boys song and album profiles

A Backstreet Boys song that made a difference. – Margazine

Backstreet Boys This Is Us… Let the World Know – Margazine

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