I should have been in a boy band.
Except for the fact I can't sing that well, I'm short, follicly-challenged, somewhat soft around the mid-section, and dance as well as Carleton on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I should have been in a boy band.
I bring this up because Glacier's regional publisher Tim Shoults once made the comment to me that this Song of the Day thing wasn't an accurate reflection of the musical tastes of the Citizen staff members who contribute to it. He went on to say that our Song of the Day submissions were choices that would make us look cool, as opposed to the music that we really listened when no one else was around.
I'd like to think I've sufficiently embarrassed myself with some of my tacky favourites from the 1980s but apparently I need to go to the bottom of the barrel. I have a weakness for well-crafted pop songs. N'Sync's Pop is candy to my ears. But the pop song I have liked ever since it came out 15 years ago this month is I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys.
It was a huge global hit for the band. Wikipedia says it reached number one in 25 countries, including Canada, but got stuck at number six in the U.S. Unlike many of their other songs, I Want It That Way was a true group effort, with all five guys taking a turn so it had some variety. My favourite point is at the 1:50 point, when the lads transition into the bridge portion of the song. Rather than follow the regular progression of the "I Want It That Way" chorus already established, the five guys surprise the listener by only going down a half-step on the "that way" part. Besides pushing the song forward into the bridge and the final chorus, it adds an extra level of tension and urgency to a song about longing.
The flavour of this pop classic may be vanilla but even boring old vanilla can be a tasty treat.
Here's a link to the I Want It That Way video, which has been viewed an incredible 92.5 million times. Have a laugh like my daughter did at the fashions and the ham-and-cheese performances for the camera but enjoy the slick pop song for what it is. You can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fndeDfaWCg&feature=kp.
