The Most Common 51吃瓜s In Every Boy Band Song

Ah, boy bands. Their sweet crooning makes girls go gaga. They set the soundtrack for the romantic ups and downs of countless聽tweens and teens 鈥� whether those loves are real or only lived out in dreams.

While boy bands obviously have a lot in common (yes, they鈥檙e composed of all boys), their songs have plenty in common as well: the recurring words in their titles and lyrics.听

As you probably know, we鈥檙e not talking about too many sesquipedalian terms here. Instead, most are short and sweet and make for a catchy beat.

Let us take you on a stroll down memory lane with eight words you heard frequently if you spent (or is that spend?) much of your time listening to boy band music.

girl

Oh, girl, boy bands are singing directly to your heart.

O-Town belted out tunes like 鈥淪hy Girl鈥� and plain old 鈥淕irl,鈥� while back in the ’80s New Kids on the Block sang 鈥淧lease Don鈥檛 Go Girl.鈥� To be fair, there aren鈥檛 a whole lot of good synonyms for . We can鈥檛 imagine too many great lyrics peppered with young woman, lassie, damsel … or even聽person. (“Candy Person” by New Edition,聽anyone?)

The word girl appears in English around聽1250鈥�1300. And, back then, there were girls galore. That鈥檚 because the word聽girl (written in such forms as gurle, grile, and gerle) simply meant “child, young person,” regardless of gender.

want

A short word that packs a lot of emotion is want, which is woven throughout many boy band songs. In fact, it鈥檚 such an emotive word, at least one band incorporated it into their name: British boy band The Wanted. Of course, the Backstreet Boys sang 鈥淚 Want It That Way,鈥� while NSYNC hit the charts with 鈥淚 Want You Back.鈥澛�

Want appeared in English around 1150鈥�1200. It comes from the Middle English word聽wante, which is derived from the Old Norse word vanta (鈥渢o lack鈥�).听

love

Of course, love is a prevailing theme in boy band songs. What fan hasn鈥檛 dreamed of a handsome troubadour with dreamy good looks crooning amorous feelings just for them?聽

Love isn鈥檛 always true love, however. Just ask South Korean septet BTS, who sing about 鈥淔ake Love.鈥� New Edition’s Heart Break聽asked “If It Isn’t Love.” Hanson searched for love in 鈥淲here鈥檚 the Love,鈥� while O-Town belted out 鈥淎ll for Love.鈥澛�

Love is as old as time, and the word itself can indeed be found before the year 900.

you

Pronouns like you take a starring role in boy band songs. And it makes sense. Not only is it one of our oldest words in English (appearing before the year 900!), but pronouns also make a song more universal. Their use makes it easier to imagine the boys are singing directly to us. 鈥淚鈥檓 Glad You Came鈥� by The Wanted just wouldn鈥檛 be the same if it was 鈥淚鈥檓 Glad Karen Came,鈥� right?聽

A whole slew of other pronouns pop up, too鈥攏amely me and I,聽 as well as cozier ones like we and us.听

The Backstreet Boys sing 鈥淎s Long as You Love Me,鈥� and Westlife sings 鈥淵ou Raise Me Up.鈥� Fans of a certain age may recall Menudo singing “When I Dance With You.” One Direction had a hit titled 鈥淵ou & I,鈥� while 2gether put them all, well, together with their song titled 鈥淯 + Me=Us (Calculus).鈥� C’mon, you know you remember that one.

heart

Matters of the heart are the hot topic in the best boy band songs, and we鈥檙e not talking cardiology here. It’s all about winning hearts, breaking hearts, and hearts that beat uncontrollably.

The Backstreet Boys promised 鈥淚鈥檒l Never Break Your Heart,鈥� NSYNC delivered 鈥淭earin鈥� Up My Heart,鈥� and 5 Seconds of Summers served up 鈥淛et Black Heart.鈥� That’s a lot of heart.

This word is another that entered the English language before the year 900.

beautiful

As they say, flattery will get you everywhere, and who doesn鈥檛 want to be told they鈥檙e beautiful? 鈥淲hat Makes You Beautiful鈥� by One Direction is a classic. O-Town’s lyric 鈥�So I’ll try and find a melody as beautiful as you,鈥� appears in their song 鈥淭he Painter.” Those are only two from countless of examples.

The word beauty dates back to the 1200s. While there are plenty of good synonyms for used in boy band songs, like gorgeous and pretty, we鈥檇 really like to hear more words like pulchritudinous in their lyrics. It just seems right.

promise

Promises, promises. Boy band songs are filled with them.

From NSYNC鈥檚 song 鈥淭his I Promise You鈥� to the Backstreet Boys鈥� hits 鈥�I Promise You (With Everything I Am)” and 鈥�10,000 Promises,鈥� boy bands make pledges aplenty. How many they keep is another story.听

Defined as 鈥�a declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc., by one,鈥� promise dates back to the 1300s.

goodbye

All good things must come to an end, which is why goodbye and the abbreviated version bye is often included in boy band songs. From NSYNC鈥檚鈥淏ye, Bye, Bye鈥� to Boyz II Men鈥檚 catchy 鈥淚t鈥檚 So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,鈥� farewell is a frequent theme.听聽

This interjection goodbye appeared around聽1565鈥�75. It’s a contraction of the phrase 鈥淕od be with ye.鈥�

Now if you don’t have at least one of these songs stuck in your head for the rest of the day, you really can’t call yourself a true fan of these classic boy bands, can you? Bye, bye, bye!