It’s February. Considered a month of love because…Valentine’s day.
I haven’t done a song post gushing about how much I love a song in awhile. And I toyed with what one I wanted to do. And this is more about a song on heartbreak. But heartbreak still involves love, am I right? Right? Fine, maybe I’ll have to do another soon. But I’ve wanted to talk about this song. It’s my favorite song the Boys have EVER done. But with good reason I think. Honestly I always liked this song but I fell in love with it after seeing it on my Backstreet Boys – A Night Out VHS tape. Which I still have in a crate after I re-bought it on on DVD. The performance is stripped down and beautiful, like the song itself.
It’s a shame that this song only exists on the NON-US version of the “Backstreet’s Back” album. Here in the US we got the combination of that album and the Red Album to form the US debut album. Because it took a long time for America to catch on to the epic creation that is the Backstreet Boys. I’m digressing here but I could rant for ages about the gorgeous songs casual fans don’t realize exist because they did that weird Greatest Hits esque version of an album for a debut here. Like this song, or Like A Child. It’s a freaking music tragedy.
I’ve always loved this song. Brian and AJ simply soar on it and the harmonies are sublime. Funny thing is, this was my favorite song long before I learned this was one of Nick’s favorites. The song speaks for itself, honestly. And when they brought it back for the NKOTBSB tour, I was shocked. Thrilled beyond belief, but shocked. Because it’s an odd choice in the fact that NKOTBSB was very much an American event overall (due to NKOTB being mainly a US act), and most Americans wouldn’t know it.
And the fact they kept it after Kevin came back for In A World Like This? SO THRILLED.
Suffice to say I was heartbroken when they did not, in fact keep it for the Vegas residency. But this is the kind of the song that stands the test of time. There’s nothing about 10,000 Promises that screams 90s trends. It doesn’t sound dated to this day. And mind you, this song is twenty years old! (Crazy right?) It’s simply a song that in the end, haunts you. It’s sad and heartbreaking and yet the vocals keep you listening to it’s beauty. Songs like this were why you could tell the difference between Backstreet, NSYNC, 98 Degrees, and other groups. Other groups didn’t HAVE songs like this.
This was the kind of thing that set them apart then, and still does today.
The Dark Side 