Highlights
- “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys is a nostalgic ’90s hit that transcended its target audience and became recognizable to almost anyone.
- Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson collaborated on the lyrics of the song, with Martin providing the catchy hook and Carlsson helping with the lyrics and bridge.
- The meaning behind the song remains ambiguous, and even the band members admit that it doesn’t make sense. However, its vagueness contributed to its success and helped the Backstreet Boys become one of the most successful boy bands in history.
“I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys is the type of song that— every time it comes on— feels like you’ve dug up a time capsule of ’90s nostalgia. The song was released in April 1999 as the lead single from their third studio album, Millennium and is arguably the boy band’s most recognized hit. The single was a smash among its target audience which was— though not limited to, primarily tween girls. And of course it was: the mid-tempo ballad was deliciously emotive and melodically seductive— the perfect formula to reel in swoons from the boy band’s female fan base.
Though the song was intended to reel in teeny-bopper girls, it transcended that confine, becoming a hit that almost anyone could recognize once the intro—with its distinct guitar arpeggiation—blares through the speaker. Karaoke machines around the world have beckoned participants to passionately belt out the song’s saccharine lyrics, but one thing remains true: “I Want It That Way” is probably the most lyrically ambiguous song the boy band has released. What’s more is that the boy band has admitted that the song really doesn’t make any sense, and it’s got fans dialing back to review the lyrics, only to realize that they have no idea what the meaning behind the iconic song is either.
Who Wrote The Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way”?
So, who wrote the lyrics to the sonic juggernaut that was “I Want It That Way”? Max Martin, the Swedish singer, songwriter and producer, was the one who first came up with the idea for the song. Martin had already been working on the song when, one fortuitous night, the producer shared a cab with singer-songwriter Andreas Carlsson.
“One night when we were leaving the studios, Max said he was going to the southern part of town so we decided to share a cab,” Carlsson recalls. “I was like, ‘Where are you going?’ and he said ‘Sodermalm.’ And I said, ‘That’s funny — I live in that part of town, too.’ I gave him the street and he was like, ‘That’s funny — I live on that street, too.’”
After the pair swapped addresses, they realized that they had unknowingly been living door-to-door. From there, they began working on the music together. One day, Martin had come over to Carlsson’s place with the beginnings of what was “I Want It That Way”. A day Carlsson’s recalls as a lucky day, because of the song’s eventual success.
“He had the, ‘You are my fire, the one desire’ [hook], and he said, ‘Can you work on this?’” Carlsson recalls. “He mainly wanted my help with lyrics, so I wrote some lyrics, then we wrote a bridge for it and bounced ideas back and forth on melodies. He had a lot of the skeleton for the chorus and the melody of the verse, but he would always come over to get my take on concepts and lyrics and I would take over and work on it then go back to him. It was a collaboration.”.
The Other Version Of The Backstreet Boys Song “I Want It That Way”
Once the Backstreet Boys and the record label had heard the finished product of “I Want It That Way” they had agreed it was a hit. However, the label was skeptical that Martin and Carlsson’s original lyrics were a tad too abstract— enter: mega-producer Matt Lunge. The label had flown Lunge in from Switzerland to re-work the lyrics for the boy band. The version of “I Want It That Way” Lunge produced was entirely different from the version we know now. It is known by fans as “No Goodbyes”.
Fans of BSB know that the first verse to the mega-hit begin with the boy band singing, “You are my fire / My one desire / Believe when I say / That I want it that way. But we are two worlds apart / Can’t reach to your heart / When you say / I want it that way.”. But in Lunge’s version, the lyrics were modified, instead, to say, “I’m yours completely/ I feel so deeply/ You’re my first thought everyday/ And I want it that way/ My life is for you/ And I adore you/ I love you more everyday/ And I want it that way.”
Lunge’s version also included a modified chorus which replaces “tell me why” with “no goodbyes” and then “no more lies”. While the ambiguity surrounding the original lyrics was somewhat corrected with Lunge’s touch, it would be Martin and Carlsson’s version that the band would eventually opt for—and, with good reason. Without it, the Backstreet Boys would have risked being one of the most successful boy bands to date.
What Is The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” Really About?
Singers usually draw on the backstory behind the lyrics to connect with their audience— and that’s just what the Backstreet Boys have done with “I Want It That Way”. But perhaps what makes them so talented is that they’re able to put so much emotion behind the song when, in truth, they’re not entirely sure what “I Want It That Way” is about.
The boy band appeared on “Watch What Happens Live” in 2020 with host Andy Cohen. During a segment of the show in which people call in with questions, one fan asked, “In your song ‘I Want It That Way,’ why do you sing ‘I never want to hear you say/ I want it that way’? What way do you not want it to be?”.
The band members laughed, and Cohen agreed the fan had asked a “good question.” AJ McLean had an immediate response: “The song makes no sense.”
He added, “There was a completely different version of the song that actually made sense, and thankfully we decided to go back to the one that didn’t make sense. I don’t think this song would’ve been as big as it was had it made sense.”.
In 2018, Chrissy Teigen tweeted a few of the lyrics to Backstreet Boys’ 1999 hit, “I Want It That Way,” questioning the meaning behind the beloved song. “I never wanna hear you say, ‘I want it that way’ cause i want it that way.’ He doesn’t wanna hear it because he is the one that wants it that way? He wants to be the one to say it? Also what is ‘it’?” model asked the Twitterverse.
The boy band’s Twitter account responded tweeting, “Don’t wanna hear you say that you want heartaches and mistakes… or to be 2 worlds apart. We don’t want you to want “it” that way – that’s the way we want it… for you to not want it that way.”
When talking to ET, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough offered even more insight into “I Want It That Way.”
“It means whatever each individual’s interpretation is, is what it means,” McLean explained. “Chrissy is obviously a really big, big fan and we love you! Thanks for so much love and support. But you know, it’s one of those songs that doesn’t have to mean anything! It just doesn’t! It just works.”
Carter echoed those sentiments, calling the song a “riddle,” while Richardson explained, “It means something different to everyone.”
For his part, Dorough thought the song had a clear message. “It’s what she wants from her husband every night. That’s what she wants,” he explained.
“Some of the greatest songs mean nothing! It happens,” Littrell, noted.
How Much Money The Backstreet Boys Made From “I Want It That Way”
The Backstreet Boys’ nonchalant attitude toward the vagueness behind the meaning of “I Want It That Way” starts to make sense when we realize that it was an integral ingredient behind their commercial success, helping the single’s parent album Millenium sell over 30 million copies. In fact, it could be the reason why altogether—to the dismay of N’SYNC fans— they sold more records than the rival boy band.
The song was their first #1 single in the UK. It went on to sell 423,000 copies by the end of 1999, finishing as the UK’s 35th best-selling single that year. It’s total UK chart sales to date stand at 1.38 million, including 100 million streams since 2014.
Backstreet Boys have an amazing combined net worth of $200 million, and are one of the most successful boys bands to date, having sold over 100 million records worldwide and won numerous awards for their music. So, even if their most iconic song doesn’t make sense, it’s safe to say that it didn’t stop them from achieving renowned success.
Source: NewsFinale
