Presenting another song on the countdown that’s ALL feeling. Ok, also harmonies and beautiful young men, but mostly feeling. The first time I’d ever heard I Want It That Way was, obviously, in the height of their control over the airwaves, but it wasn’t then that I fell. It was when I saw the video and watched as the crowds lost their shit the way young women in the sixties did with the Beatles. There’s something mesmerizing about that kind of crowd capturing. I’d already had a history with the Backstreet Boys, loving As Long As You Love Me (see my first year’s countdown entry, day 24) but this song just causes me to sway. There’s something very sincere about this boy band’s approach to singing; no matter how calculated and produced their sound is, the voices of Brian and AJ and Nick are really magical. Hey, I wish I could sing like any one of these guys, because I would sing the shit out of this song if I could. Because I want it that way.
From the historical writing archive. Original date: December 18, 2018. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.
