Chords for "I Want It That Way" MAKES NO SENSE (and it's perfect)

For years and years, the world of music has brought many questions that have continually stumped listeners.
If it wasn't shaggy, then who was it?
Was Vanessa Carlton's piano slash car street legal?
And what in God's name does this line from The Killers mean?
Today we will embark on a journey to uncover the meaning behind one of music history's greatest pop songs,
the 1999 Backstreet Boys masterpiece that is,
I Want It That Way.
This legendary group should need no introduction, but we'll skim through one pretty quickly.
Nick, Howie, Brian, AJ, and Kevin are arguably the definitive boy band.
Commercially, none of the others even come close.
They're one of the best-selling acts in music history,
in the same ballpark as The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Prince, David Bowie,
and more recently, Britney Spears, Coldplay, and Nicki Minaj.
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, eight Grammy nominations, countless huge tracks,
they're a big deal.
And in my eyes, the one song that really comes to mind when I hear the Backstreet Boys is
I Want It That Way off of their album Millennium,
and wow, that cover is iconic.
So this song has been the topic of critical and internet discussion for decades
because the lyrics don't make sense.
It's a beloved 10 out of 10 insanely catchy pop anthem, yes,
but nobody knows what this song is actually about.
After this intro from [A] AJ,
🎵Yeah🎵
we get these lyrics from Brian.
[Ab] You are my fire, the one desire, believe me when I say I want it that way.
Okay, starting off, I think we're good so far.
Brian is talking to his lover.
She is his fire, she's the only person he desires,
and with believe me when I say I want it that way,
it's fair to assume that he's saying,
I'm being completely open and transparent here,
me loving you is the only way that I want things to be.
But next we have Nick chiming in and singing,
but we are two worlds apart, can't reach to your heart,
when you say that I want it that [D] way.
🎵I am [Ab] love🎵
I'm just gonna go ahead and say that in this song,
everyone in the group is sort of collectively talking to one metaphorical lover.
Like when Brian and Nick are both saying you,
they're not referencing their own romances because that would be too confusing.
Let's say that it's all about the idea of a relationship,
and the Backstreet Boys are one superhuman being.
P.S. I'm gonna need a picture of somebody to act as that metaphorical lover to try and explain these lyrics.
[N] I googled who was a hot woman in the 90s,
and we're going with Marge Simpson because Maxim is absolutely unhinged I guess.
So with that being said, in Nick's first two lines, I'm right there with him.
Brian explained that she's the only girl that he wants,
and he wouldn't want to have it any other way.
Nick starts saying, but the two of them are not emotionally in the same place,
and he can't really get through to her [Ab] right now.
At first, everything seemed idealistic and perfect,
but now we know that there are some problems in the relationship.
This makes sense in the context of the song, correct?
But then we get an M.
Night Shyamalan twist when we learn that
Nick can't reach to her heart when she says that I want it that way.
_ Huh.
There are a ton of problems in these lines,
and it will keep you confused for the remainder of the song if you're actually paying attention to the words.
Try and stay with me here because this is gonna get rough.
One of my main things [Abm] is like, in this part of the song,
who is the one saying I want it that way?
Can Nick not reach to her heart when she's literally the one that is now saying I want it that way?
She's just stealing that phrase that Brian said before?
And if Marge is saying I want it that way,
is she talking about the same that way that Brian was talking about before?
If so, that shouldn't be a problem because that [Eb] was all good stuff.
Or is Marge now saying I want it that way to being two worlds apart?
Because then, yeah, Nick definitely would not be able to reach her heart that way.
What a weird thing to want within a relationship.
Or, in these lines, can Nick not reach to her heart when she's accusing Nick of saying that he wants it that way?
That Nick is the I in that line.
Grammatically, I think this makes more sense,
but it makes way less sense for the meaning of the song.
Why would Nick be struggling with the fact that Marge is saying that he wanted it that way?
Brian literally said it four lines ago.
Is Nick claiming that the Backstreet Boys never wanted it that way?
Are you gaslighting Marge Simpson right now?
And then, if it is Marge saying that Nick wanted it that way,
we run into the same problem from before.
Is this that way the same as the other that way?
Or is this that way that knew that way about being two worlds apart?
What am I doing right now?
What is this video?
And things don't get any more helpful when we get to the chorus.
Nick singing the classic Tell Me Why and the boys responding with Ain't Nothing But a Heartache.
That's not an answer to why.
And neither is Ain't Nothing But a Mistake.
And of course, we circle back to I never wanna hear you say I want it that way.
We don't know what that means.
AJ and Brian come in with verse two,
and at this point, the song starts to play out like a sick joke.
Am I your fire?
You're one desire.
Yes, I know it's too late.
P.S. Absolutely historic [A] vocal run right here.
♪ [Gbm] SILO!
♪
Again, these lines are coherent.
They tell a story.
But there always has to be that return to this mysterious hidden phrase of
but I want it that way.
Trust me.
Listen to this song in full and line by line,
try to get a hold of [Abm] what's going on.
It'll be hard not to lose yourself in how fun the actual melodies are,
but if you're sitting there going,
okay, what are you guys trying to tell me?
It's like some next-level deadpan humor.
They're so close to making sense,
but they always duck away from it last second.
It's ridiculous.
This aspect gets hammered home even more with the bridge,
and it seems like they're in on the joke and they're messing with us.
Kevin and AJ continue the pattern.
Now I can see that we're falling apart from the way that it used to be.
Yeah.
No matter the distance, I want you to know that deep down inside of me,
at this point in the song, I am begging for answers,
waiting for that moment of clarity,
but then there's this familiar reprise [N] of
you are my fire, the one desire,
you are, you are, you are, you are,
and now I'm on the edge of my seat,
and basically, this happens.
High five!
For the remainder of the song,
no explanation, no justification,
no accommodating acknowledgement that these five men
have been leading us on for three and a half minutes straight,
just me getting slapped in the face over and over again
with the discombobulating giant hand that is
I Want It That Way.
And this song was huge.
It was a massive hit.
Everybody loved it.
It earned them three Grammy nominations,
and P.S.,. the hilarious green screen airport-themed music video won them a VMA, too. And there's no part of me that has a problem with any of that. The track is hypnotic. I'd call it one of the best sing-along songs ever made. There's a key change in here that deserves a Pulitzer Prize, but when you take a single, minute glance at these lyrics, you will be in a world of confusion. So why? Why is the song like this, and do we have any answers? First off, the Backstreet Boys themselves have said time and time again that their biggest hit doesn't make an ounce of sense. So let's go directly to the source and check in with the songwriters, Andreas Karlsson and Max Martin. Most of you have probably heard of this guy. He's a Swedish producer [Abm] and songwriter, and to name just a few of the songs he's written, Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry, Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd, Can't Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake, and an unbelievable 18 other Billboard number one songs. But when Mr. Martin started working with the Backstreet Boys in the late 90s, they [E] were coming to him in Sweden, [N] and he just didn't really have his English skills down at the time. And that's seriously the reason why the song doesn't make sense. But something incredible that I never knew until I was researching for this video, there's a version of I Want It That Way that does make sense. After they recorded the original, they loved it, it sounded great and everything, but once the track started getting previewed for the label, that's when the questions started to get asked. What does I Want It That Way mean? Why does it seem like half the time you do want it that way and sometimes you don't? Why is some kid eventually gonna make a video about this song and talk about Marge Simpson? Yada yada yada. So the boys, Max and Andreas, went back to the drawing board, wrote new lyrics that completely and utterly made sense, and put it over the same instrumental. This alternative version of the song is called No Goodbyes, and it goes like this. I'm yours completely. I feel so deeply. You're my first thought every day, and I want it that way. Isn't this insane? You can actually comprehend what's going on. Every aspect of the song is 100% transparent now. You know what way they want it, you know exactly who's saying it, even with the big build-up at the end, we're always on the same page. But you know why you've never heard that version? Because it's not as catchy. They went back and played it for the label, for test audiences, and everybody preferred the original. It's the perfect testament to the fact that a lot of the time in music, it really doesn't matter what's going on, it just has to sound good. Sure, it's the absolute definition of something being vapid. I don't know what's worse, you not even knowing what's going on in a song, or you knowing what's going on and just not caring. But hey, it doesn't matter because_ I want it that way. _ _ Thank you so much for watching that video. I like sort of just losing my mind every few months and just doing a bunch of goofy stuff, so hope you enjoyed it. I recently put out some new merch, I'm really proud of it, so check that out, the link's down below. If you want to support the channel, feel free to like, comment, and subscribe. You can follow me on social media at RenshawHS. You can buy that merch, support my Patreon, and thank you again. I'll see you soon. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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