FEATURE:
Too Good to Be Forgotten: Tracks that Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure
Hanson - MMMBop
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MAYBE this will not turn into…
a regular feature, but there are songs that some people might consider guilty pleasures and, for that reason, they do not get much play on radio. Others might feel that the song is a bit out of step with modern sounds, so you do not hear much about it. To be fair, I think Hanson’s MMMBop captured a sound that we do need more of today! I was thirteen when the song came out in 1997 and, as a high school student, music was more than just something that was on in the background. To me, it was a way of life, a conversational centrepiece, and a way of making life a lot easier. In 1997, there were a few reasons why Hanson’s MMMBop hit me quite hard – and many people I knew. Look at the best albums of that year, and Hanson sound unlike anything really! We has Radiohead (OK Computer), Björk (Homogenic) and The Chemical Brothers (Dig Your Own Hole) putting out these albums that were a little darker and moodier than what was in the mainstream; Britpop was sort of declining and Oasis’ Be Here Now, whilst it received a rapturous reception when it was released, in hindsight, was not their greatest moment. In terms of U.K. singles, there was some Pop in the mix – the Spice Girls, Lisa Stansfield and The Cardigans all had singles out -, but it was clear that there was a change in the air. From the euphoria of late-1980s and early-1990s Dance and Rave to the Britpop movement, a noticeable transformation was a occurring. Because of that, I think I clung onto Hanson, as it was a sort of American injection of Britpop, at a time in my life when I still needed that uplift and optimism.
Politically, Labour came to power and there was optimism about the future, but it seemed that artists were reacting against Britpop and, as such, we did not see as many joyous anthems as we did between, say, 1991 and 1996. Taken from their excellent Middle of Nowhere (1997) album, MMMBop was written by band members, Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, Zac Hanson…and that is pretty impressive in itself! Normally, when you have a Pop group that young – they were teens when that album came out –, there are other writers and producers crammed together who are charged with coming up with a hit. On Middle of Nowhere, that does happen on most of the tracks, but it is normally one or two writers on each song, rather than the horde you see on so many albums to this day! The Dust Brothers’ production turned MMMBop from a song that started out a lot softer and slower, and it was transformed into a Sunshine Pop monster! The song was nominated for two gongs at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, and it is the band's most successful single to date. MMMBop was a major success worldwide, reaching number-one in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States – it hit the top spot in twelve countries altogether! Whilst their album contained few songs as strong and catchy as MMMBop, they had Where’s the Love, another hugely catchy track, and Thinking of You.
I think Middle of Nowhere is one of the more underrated albums of the 1990s, and a big part of its success is MMMBop. Even though some polls have placed the songs in their top-hundred tracks of the 1990s, I think MMMBop gets sneered at by some, whilst one hardly hears it on the airwaves! That is a shame. In an August 2004 interview with Songfacts, Zac Hanson explained the song's origins:
“That song started out really as the background part for another song. We were making our first independent album and we were trying to come up with a background part. We started singing a slightly different incarnation of what is now the chorus of "MMMbop." That sort of stuck in our heads and never really worked as a background part, and over a couple of years, that piece really has stuck in our heads and we really crafted the rest of the song - the verses and bridge and so on.
What that song talks about is, you've got to hold on to the things that really matter. MMMbop represents a frame of time or the futility of life. Things are going to be gone, whether it's your age and your youth, or maybe the money you have, or whatever it is, and all that's going to be left are the people you've nurtured and have really built to be your backbone and your support system.
They [the lyrics] weren't inspired by one artist in particular. The first music that we got into was '50s and '60s music. If anything, "MMMbop" was inspired by The Beach Boys and vocal groups of that era - using your voice as almost a doo-wop kind of thing. It was something we almost stumbled upon [3]“
I do think MMMBop is a Pop classic, and it is far more substantial than many people think. One hears the title’s word repeated and feels that it means nothing; they hear the sunny chorus and dismiss it as a sugary Pop song. Right from the first verse, the then-teen Hanson brothers were penning lyrics about love, ageing and the uncertainty of life with a lot of maturity and insight – “You have so many relationships in this life/Only one or two will last/You go through all the pain and strife/Then you turn your back and they're gone so fast”. The lyrics are delivered quite fast, so it can be hard deciphering a few of them – it makes me think that MMMBop would make a very interesting ballad! There is that contrast between the deeper and more image-provoking verses, and the chorus itself: an explosion of singalong bliss that, twenty-three years after its release, still sound so fresh and essential! A lot of Pop from the 1990s hasn’t dated that well and, to be frank, I can listen to the songs a few times and not need another look in for a while! I can spin MMMBop over and over, as it never outstays its welcome. That alluring and insatiable chorus keeps you coming back in; the nuanced and interesting lyrics mean the song demands repeated listens.
Consider lines like “Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose/You can plant any one of those/Keep planting to find out which one grows/It's a secret no one knows”, and those are lyrics that puts one in a very philosophical mood! Not to hark back to their age, but those are some big and moving words from teenagers! I wonder, if MMMBop came out in 1994 or 1995, it would have been considered a sort of U.S. Britpop challenger!? The song got a lot of praise upon its release, but not many people I know look back on 1997 and rank MMMBop alongside the best music of the year. One cannot help get drawn to the song, and its video goes a long way to adding charm! The boys are seen in a variety of locations, just having fun and embracing the brevity of youth – we see them roller-skating, at a payphone, and even on The Moon! The pairing of that smile-inducing video and a song that is sunny and mature makes MMMBop a treasure. It is seen as a guilty pleasure by some, and others just ignore it as a minor track from the 1990s. It is so much more than that! Have a listen to it now, and I guarantee the song will put you in a better mood and, to boot, it will stick in your head for ages! The album, Middle of Nowhere, was an accomplished debut, and I like the fact that Hanson have performed MMMBop since then. It is a song that they feel very proud of, even if it is a little strange seeing the grown-up brothers singing this song that one associates with youthfulness and a past time! The mighty MMMBop deserves more love and reinvestigation as it is a…
BEAUTIFUL song that I can’t get enough of.