Songoftheday 2/24/22 - Life goes on as it never ends, eyes of stone observe the trends...

 

 

"Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" - Backstreet Boys

from the album Millennium (1999)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (three weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: 19

 

Today's song comes from the Backstreet Boys, whose album Millennium had scored a top ten pop hit in America in the summer of 1999 with "I Want It That Way", but stumbled a little in the States but still made the top-40 with the followup "Larger Than Life". For their third release, the boyband went back to what works the best for them, the ballad. In this case, it's the "breakup" track "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely", written by Swedish producer Max Martin along with British songwriter Herbie Crichlow. However, it seems like it was completely written by someone with English as a second language, as the phrases are very clunky and weirdly phrased, not least the title. I mean, why is it phrased as a request? Why would you want your ex to do that? And the "tell me why I can't be there where you are" line, dude, that's what breaking up is. Musically and harmonically, they're spot on, but lyrically its just crooning to have the girls swoon. The video for the song, though, at least gives a bit of gravitas, starting with a memorial to their late producer Denniz Pop. And all five have good vocal interplay, and even "Posh Backstreet Spice" Kevin gets a verse...

 

"Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" returned the Backstreet Boys to the Hot 100 pop top ten in March of 2000. The song spent a week at #2 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, lingering on there for over a year, while making it to #15 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format list and #8 on the Rhythmic airplay tally. Internationally, the single went to #1 in Canada and Romania, and reached the top ten in the Netherlands (#2), Sweden (#2), Switzerland (#2), New Zealand (#2), the UK (#3), Germany (#3), Norway (#3), Finland (#3), Italy (#4), Spain (#4), Belgium (#4F/#14W), Hungary (#4), Ireland (#5), Denmark (#6), Austria (#8), and Iceland (#8). At the Grammy Awards in 2001, "Show Me..." was nominated for Best Duo/Group Pop Performance, up against fellow boy-banders *NSYNC, but both lost to grandfathers Steely Dan for their "Cousin Dupree" (oofdah). Both the Boys and the album will be back to the series.

 

(5/10)

 

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Here's the Boys on tour behind the album in 2000... ("Do you want to party? Here's this sad song?" ROFL)

Next up, fast forwarding to a concert in 2020...

 

 and finally, an acoustic take in 2016...

Up tomorrow: A country music legend asks your opinion.