“I Want It That Way” was the lead single from the Backstreet Boys‘ third studio album and only peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100, but it’s most memorable for lyrics that don’t make any sense.
The confusion over the lyrics has spurred a lot of discussion online over the years and all focuses in on the chorus:
Tell me why
I never want to hear you say
I want it that way
Even BSB member Kevin Richardson admitted that “ultimately the song really doesn’t really make much sense.” It seems as though most of the confusion was Max Martin’s fault. Martin co-wrote the song alongside Andreas Carlsson. “His English has gotten much better, but at the time…” Richardson told LA Weekly in 2011.
The Huffington Post recently caught up with BSB members Richardson, Nick Carter, and A.J. McLean to clarify the lyrical confusion.
“Well it’s funny, we actually were OK with the lyrics when we heard it first,” Carter told HuffPost. “And then the president of JIVE records at that time―I mean he’s a genius―but he and some of the A&R people wanted to change the lyrics.” Richardson added: “To make the song make more sense.”
“We hired some really well known producers at the time to redo the song,” Carter said “So, there was another version of the song out there.“ That alternate version did make its way around and can be heard below:
Rather than the repeated cry “tell my why,” the alternate version goes:
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
But Carter explained that the group preferred the original, lyrically confusing version we all know today: “We as a group voted on it and said no.”
Read all of the lyrics to the original “I Want It That Way” on Genius now.
