Boy bands often have a reputation for being sicky-sweet when it comes to songwriting. Many boy band songs are trademarked by irresistibly catchy melodies, backed by lyrics that encourage arena-sized sing-alongs. This is true for the five songs outlined below that demonstrate just how colorful boy band songs can be across generations.
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1. Your love is like a river/Peaceful and deep/Your soul is like a secret/That I never could keep/When I look into your eyes/I know that it’s true/God must have spent/A little more time on you (“God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You” by *NSYNC)
*NSYNC delivered a strong power ballad with “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You.” The tender-hearted lyrics provide a potent visual in comparing a woman’s love to a peaceful and deep river and her soul to a secret that can’t be hidden. Released as a single off *NSYNC’s self-titled debut album in 1998, “God” marked their first entry on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart where it peaked at No. 2, and was their highest charting single at the time on the Pop Airplay chart, reaching No. 5.
The song proved to have crossover appeal when country group Alabama surprisingly covered it in 1999, with background harmonies by the famous boy band. Alabama’s version hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
2. Mama, mama, you’re the queen of my heart/Your love is like tears from the stars/Mama, I just want you to know, lovin’ you is like food to my soul (“A Song for Mama” by Boyz II Men)
Boyz II Men shared a heartfelt tribute to their mothers with this opening track off the 1997 soundtrack album for the film, Soul Food. Written and produced solely by hit producer Babyface, the song is a tender tribute to the women who shaped the singers into the men they are today. The lines above are some of the standouts in the imagery-driven song that topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
3. ‘Cause I’m in the stars tonight/So watch me bring the fire and set the night alight/Shining through the city with a little funk and soul/So I’ma light it up like dynamite (“Dynamite” by BTS)
There’s a colorful nature to BTS songs, and “Dynamite” is one of many examples of that. The lyrics above best represent that as they set the darkness of night ablaze with their bright spirits. Songwriters David Stewart and Jessica Agombar seamlessly blend funk, soul and bubblegum pop to make an undeniably catchy track that exploded across the globe. “Dynamite” hit No. 1 in both BTS’ native South Korea and the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100.
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4. So many words for the broken heart/It’s hard to see in a crimson love/So hard to breathe/Walk with me, and maybe/Nights of light so soon become/Wild and free I could feel the sun (“Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” by Backstreet Boys)
“Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” is one of the hits synonymous with the Backstreet Boys. From envisioning love as the color red to the darkness of night being lit up by the feeling of being wild and free, the lyrics certainly pack an image-based punch. “Lonely” was a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
5. When you go and I’m alone / You live in my imagination / The summertime, butterflies / All belong to your creation / I love you, it’s all I do, I love you (“Olivia” by One Direction)
One Direction packs a sicky sweet punch with this set of lyrics off this deep cut from their 2015 album, Made in the A.M. Co-written by Harry Styles, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan, this acoustic pop track leans on vivid imagery to tell its story. With images of summertime and butterflies and a woman named Olivia making space for herself in the singer’s imagination, the song uses sweet images to get its point across.
“Olivia” also makes a clever nod to “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which features such lyrics as, Come with me and you’ll be/In a world of pure imagination/Take a look and you’ll see into your imagination/We’ll begin with a spin/Traveling in the world of my creation.
Photo by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
