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I Want it That Way
Backstreet Boys
1999

When this whole project was conjured up, back in the salad days of good ‘ol September 2022, I told the group I was with that I Want It That Way was a top 10 song. There was a lot of polite laughter (the kind you get when people think you are either joking or crazy). I don’t think they thought I was serious. 

Oh I’m serious. And I’m not ashamed to say it, this song is just a total banger. And I’m not alone in that view, I might add!  (Just look up the critical reception section on Wiki for a taste.) It has over a BILLION views on YouTube - numbers don’t lie!  I think it’s a two-way tie between this and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the definitive song of the 90s, depending on your taste. I just happen to love both. 

But that’s just a summary of why everyone else loves this song. I love it because the melodies and harmonies are perfection in a pop song. And it’s just so ridiculously catchy that you just can’t help sing along when it comes on (of course it’s catchy, it’s a Max Martin song.) Yes, there is a heavy dose of pre-9/11 nostalgia here, but this is legitimately just a great song!  Hard to believe this one, which seemed to be on TRL every day for a year, turns 25 years old in April. 🤯 

I think the best way to capture how we should all generally feel about I Want It That Way is best demonstrated in one of the greatest sitcom scenes ever written, this opening scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Enjoy, y’all. 

Other Songs Considered:
I said I loved this song, not the band. Don’t be crazy.