"I Want It That Way" is a song by American vocal group Backstreet Boys. It was released on April 12, 1999, as the lead single from their third studio album, Millennium. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, while Martin and Kristian Lundin produced it. The pop ballad tells of a romantic relationship strained by matters of emotional or physical distance.
Critically, the song was met with positive reception, with many critics commending its catchiness, also calling it the pop ballad of the year. The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song and Record of the Year, and has been included in lists by Blender, MTV, Rolling Stone and VH1. In 2021, "I Want It That Way" was placed at number 240 on the revised list of Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"I Want It That Way" is the Backstreet Boys' signature song, and commercially it reached the number-one spot in more than 25 countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight non-consecutive weeks, while it topped the Adult and Mainstream Top 40 charts.
The song has been widely covered and parodied by a range of artists, including other boy bands such as JLS and One Direction, while its music video, directed by Wayne Isham, received famous parodies, including Blink-182 in their music video for "All the Small Things", Big Time Rush in their music videos for "Like Nobody's Around" and "Worldwide", and The Wanted in their video for "Walks Like Rihanna". The original music video received four VMA nominations, winning Viewer's Choice. It became the group's first music video to surpass one billion views on YouTube in 2021.
Background and history
After the success of their first two albums, Backstreet Boys (1996) and Backstreet's Back (1997), the band recorded their third studio album, during 1998 and 1999. When the members of the Backstreet Boys came to Stockholm in November 1998 for a two-week recording engagement, they were eventually presented the demo of "I Want It That Way", which at the time only consisted of the main chorus. Upon leaving Sweden on November 16 for a November 17 Oprah taping, vocals for the song had been completed in two days.
Originally, "Larger Than Life" was intended to be the lead single, following the similar formula of their first two albums, having an upbeat lead single. However, after hearing the final version of "I Want It That Way", the group wanted to move in a more mature direction, by utilizing a mid-tempo track as the lead single. Zomba Recording executives had to be convinced to approve of the song as the first single, due to them citing that the group could "alienate fans" with a mid-tempo song that had vague lyrical meaning. In the end, press information in the form of snippets was authorized for release to radio stations in March 1999, to precede the song's release to radio in April.
Censorship
On August 19, 2011, China's Ministry of Culture released a list of 100 songs, including the then twelve-year-old "I Want It That Way", that were required to be removed from the Internet. This purge came about because the Ministry claimed that these songs had been released without first being subjected to a mandatory screening process conducted by Ministry officials as per official government policy. Media sites were given until September 15 to delete the named songs or face unspecified penalties. The Chinese government claims that such measures are necessary for national security purposes.
Writing and inspiration
"I Want It That Way" was written by Andreas Carlsson and Max Martin, while Martin and Kristian Lundin produced the track. The acoustic-guitar arpeggio riff, which forms the song's intro and reiterates throughout the verses, was written at the very end of the recording sessions and was, according to Carlsson, inspired by "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica.
The song is written in the key of A major. At approximately the 2 minute, 25 seconds point of the song, the key modulates to B major. Their vocals span from E3 to B4. An alternate version of the song with different lyrics was written and recorded by the band in January 1999. The version was included in some early demo presses of the album. In the alternate version, the song has the opposite message ("I love it when I hear you say, I want it that way"). The alternative lyrics were written by Martin and Carlsson in collaboration with Mutt Lange.