Are you sitting down? Good because I’m about to break some news that will crush your soul.
You’ve been singing “MMMBop” by Hanson wrong for almost two decades.
“People can’t sing the chorus right,” Isaac Hanson told New York magazine’s Vulture column during an interview with his brothers Taylor and Zac. “Most of the time they syncopate it wrong.”
Okay, so this isn’t exactly breaking news. Literally no one at your elementary school actually knew the words to “MMMBop.” Everyone just talked gibberish for three and a half minutes just like they did for the Macarena.
Next thing you know they’re going to tell us that the lyrics to that song “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” aren’t “I’m blue da ba dee da ba die. If I was green I would die.” Psh.
For the record, the correct lyrics are:
“MMMBop, Ba Dupa Dop
Ba Du Bop, Ba Dupa Dop
Ba Du Bop, Ba Dupa Dop
Ba Du, Yeah”
I kind of like my version better than this Teletubbies talk (have I made enough ’90s references yet? Do you feel like you’re back in 1997?).
Here’s one revelation from the Hanson brothers: the song isn’t exactly a happy-go-lucky tune like we all think. In fact, it was recorded much slower before producers got their hands on it after the band was signed. Listen to the original version below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-QR54xjn8o&w=656&h=369]
“It does tap into a theme we’ve continued to have, which is to interweave relatively serious thoughts — the verses, you know, ‘You have so many relationships in this life / Only one or two will last / You go through so much pain and strife / You turn your back and they’re gone so fast.’ It’s not exactly sunshine and rainbows,” said Taylor.
“We used to always tease that we write happy sad songs,” said Isaac.
“Hopefully over time, the staying power of that song is about the fact that it’s more than it looks like at first glance,” said Taylor. “That hook is what gets you in, but what’s below that is what keeps you there.”
Sure, Hanson. Sure.
Anyway, the bros do have an idea on who would do an awesome 2016 cover of their 1997 hit: Bruno Mars!
I can definitely see it. And a “Pop Goes ’90s” album is far overdue.
