Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’ is over a decade old, yet it remains one of pop music’s all-time greats and has helped keep the group in the public consciousness.
But after a period of listening to ‘I Want It That Way’ on repeat and thinking way too much about the song – not on purpose – I’ve come to one realisation: the lyrics don’t really make sense.
Now ‘I Want It That Way’ is far from the first massively-popular song that’s hidden secret messages, had incorrect lyrics or outright trolled you under your nose, but this one sort of slipped under everyone’s attention because, well, it’s catchy. Let’s dig into the lyrical nonsense of Backstreet Boys’ biggest hit, shall we?
Firstly we got “You are my fire/The one desire/Believe when I say/I want it that way,” which is pretty unambiguous and is cool so far. Next we have “But we are two worlds apart/Can’t reach to your heart/When you say that/I want it that way,” which is diving into muddier territory. Does the guy want them to be two worlds apart or is it the girl who is suggesting that? Or is the girl saying she wants to break up?
Finally, we get to the chorus and that is just a confusing mess when you break it down: “Ain’t nothin’ but a heartache/Tell me why/Ain’t nothin’ but a mistake/Tell me why/I never want to hear you say/I want it that way.”
What exactly do the Backstreet Boys mean by “that?” Why do the sentiments go in the opposite direction of the previous verse? Chrissy Teigen summed it up best as to why these lyrics are so confusing:
While the Backstreet Boys themselves have said that the meaning to ‘I Want It That Way’ is whatever you want it to be, the actual reason is almost as weird as the song’s lyrics themselves.
When the song was first written in the 90s by Andreas Carlsson and Swedish songwriter Max Martin (who’s responsible for other big hits like ‘…Baby One More Time’), Martin barely spoke any English hence why the lyrics don’t grammatically make sense. But that’s only part of the story.
Apparently the Backstreet Boys recorded an alternative version of ‘I Want It That Way’ with lyrics that weren’t pure nonsense. However, the group thought that the original version with jibberish was better because the rhyming scheme and just the general vibe fit the song far better, so they went with their gut.
Comparing the alternative version of ‘I Want It That Way’ to the final version, it seems like the Backstreet Boys were right in their decision to go with the nonsensical lyrics. The grammatically correct version is good but it’s missing that something.
So in short, the lyrics to Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’ make no sense is because the songwriter’s grasp of English at the time wasn’t great, and the group thought the nonsensical sentences fit the song’s beat and gave off far better vibe.
Perhaps Backstreet Boys’ biggest hit was destined to never make sense and now I feel sort of ridiculous doing a deep dive into the lyrics of a decade-old song that doesn’t really need such an analysis. Ain’t nothing but a mistake indeed.
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