The Backstreet Boys during The Backstreet Boys in London - February 1, 1996 in London. Photo / Getty
The Backstreet Boys during The Backstreet Boys in London - February 1, 1996 in London. Photo / Getty
For nearly two decades, the Backstreet Boys' hit song I Want It That Way has inspired millions of listeners to sing along — even though most would admit they have no idea what the words they're singing actually mean according to DailyMail.
The lyrics to the 1999 single are certainly confusing: What, exactly, is the 'that way' that the boys are referring to?
But while the boyband has spent nearly 20 years refusing to clear things up, this week they finally offered up an explanation for the words to the song after being prompted by a tweet from Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy complained about the lyrics in a tweet on June 1, which has gone on to earn 56,000 likes.
L-R (back) AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, (front) Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough of American boy band the Backstreet Boys pose for a group studio portrait c 1998 in London. Photo / Getty
'"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"?' she wrote.
'It seems they both want it the same way but are fighting over who gets to say they want it that way,' she added.
Hours later, the official Twitter account for the Backstreet Boys responded, offering a breakdown of the lyrics.
'Don't wanna hear you say that you want heartaches and mistakes... or to be 2 worlds apart,' the account tweeted. '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.'
'Dear Chrissy, fans and media have been asking for years but YOU...you have gotten it out of them. You should win a Nobel Peace Prize for this (or something like that),' wrote one.
'What kind of voodoo magic does she have that she got the answer?!' wrote another.
While BSB did finally clear up the confusion with the explanation, though, the reasoning they gave may not actually have been the original intent of the lyrics.
In fact, the men have admitted in the past that the words don't actually make any sense.
In a 2016 interview with the Huffington Post, several of the band members acknowledged that there was some internal dialogue about the lyrics before the song was released.
Singers AJ McLean, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys perform. Photo / Getty
Written by hit-maker Max Martin, the song was very catchy — even if the words, strictly speaking, were gibberish.
'Well it's funny, we actually were OK with the lyrics when we heard it first,' Nick Carter said.
But the president of JIVE Records, which was releasing their album, noticed that the words didn't add up, and had some A&R people change the lyrics.
'To make the song make more sense,' Kevin Richardson said.
Producers were hired to redo the song, and BSB even recorded a version with different words
The Backstreet Boys were releasing the album with JIVE and so the label having a problem with the nonsense lyrics could have derailed the single.
According to LA Weekly, part of the new song went: 'No goodbyes (ain't nothing but a heartache) / No more lies (ain't nothing but a mistake) / That is why / I love it when I hear you say, / "I want it that way."'
However, when BSB heard the new version, they decided it didn't have the same ring as the original, messed-up lyrics and all.
'So, there was another version of the song out there and then we listened to it back. Then, we as a group voted on it and said, "No,"' Carter said.
So how did the nonsensical lyrics make it to recording in the first place? Max Martin was responsible for a long list of hits — including Britney Spear's Hit Me Baby One More Time (which also has some strange lyrics).
But Martin, who is Swedish, didn't have a great grasp on English — hence lyrics that didn't make sense.
Martin also wrote NSYNC's Tearin' Up My Heart, Robyn's Show Me Love, Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone, Katy Perry's Hot 'N Cold, and Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble.
