Song Spotlight – I’ll Leave A Light On, Backstreet Boys

Lord am I behind on writing non-DWTS related posts. Sorry about that! To be fair between Nick and AJ they’ve got us quite busy and I mean, kudos to them for trying to save 2020. Especially if I’m right about Nick. But one night I was bored on Twitter as I get sometimes and I thought I’d ask y’all about songs you feel are underappreciated. You guys responded in full force of course, which is something I always love about this fandom when I’m in the mood to spark a discussion. But shockingly no one named one of my all time, favorite songs – Light On. I was blown because it’s just such a solid song! But then I saw a tweet from a fan saying they’d never even heard of it.

Never. Even. Heard. Of. It.

I was not okay. Not even close. I realized this deserved a post.

Pronto.

This song is one of the many hidden gems of the Backstreet Boys. It’s also a reminder that releasing various bonus tracks in different countries is a freaking crime against humanity. Because basically unless you’re a hard core fan like me, or possibly partly crazy, you miss out on great songs. It happened to Song For The Unloved and history repeated itself with Light On. Don’t even get me started on Do You Remember. This song came from the In A World Like This era, where they recorded tons of songs and we even got previews of songs they never finished, thanks to the BSB documentary. (Which is why the fandom will never let ‘Spotlight’ rest in peace.) So why do fans not know if it’s existence? Well because of region centric bonus songs.

I swear Japan gets the best damn bonus tracks. Because of course that’s where this song made the album. Japan and only Japan. The rest of the world got songs like In Your Arms, the personal travesty that is Hot Hot Hot or Take Care which the latter definitely is amazing. But it also got to be more well known thanks to it’s usage during the documentary. How Hot Hot Hot became the easier to access bonus track over Light On is beyond me. Love the Boys, but come on. The quality difference between the two songs is staggering. No offense to any Backstreet Boy if they happen upon this. Doubtful but you know, just in case. The internet is weird. (It also wouldn’t be the first time.)

The reason why I feel this song deserves more recognition is the fact it’s so uplifting. It starts off with a huge focus on their harmony together. That’s the immediate thing that will grab your attention, is all five boys singing beautifully together right at the start. It doesn’t immediately start into a solo or anything. Once it does, it’s Nick who goes first. But it’s got that almost old school alternating harmonies during the chorus where it reminds me a lot of their older songs. I’m no music expert, so don’t expect the technical term from me. But it’s beautiful. It’s about a relationship, of course. Wanting them back and leaving the light on in case they want to come back. The lyrics are solid even if the story of the song has been done many times before. It’s the way the vocals come together and the melody that makes this so special.

It’s a song you can sing along to at the top of your lungs in the car. It’s a song that will make you smile whenever it comes on. And in a year like this one, wouldn’t you say that’s more important now than ever? Not to mention, this song was written by the Boys themselves. Two of them, anyway. Nick and Kevin helped pen this along with Dan Mukala (who has written several BSB hits, including Incomplete) and Jess Cates who also helped pen Incomplete. That’s one nice thing sometimes about working with repeated producers and songwriters, they know damn well how to cater to your talent. And that’s what they do here.

When Nick, Brian, Kevin, AJ and Howie sing together, they create something magical.

And this song is the perfect example.