There Are Alternate Lyrics To 'I Want It That Way' And It Changes Everything

You are my fire, the one desire.

These seven words are able to immediately spark a song in your head faster than almost any other. If you were around in the 90s, then you know every word to this Backstreet Boys classic, even though half of them don't make any sense.

We never really understood it when we tried to figure it out in the 90s, but it was still one of the greatest Backstreet Boys songs of all time. Now when you look back, it is easy to see that it's probably about a breakup. He wants it that way, while their partner wants it that way. Get it? Well, it wasn't always this way.

The Backstreet Boys hit may not make a lot of sense, but that's because it never really was meant to. Songwriter Max Martin, was just learning English at the time of writing the hit, and even he admits that it's a lot of jibberish.

"When Max came up with the original idea for the song, it already had the line 'you are my fire, the one desire'. We tried a million different variations on the second verse, and finally we had to go back to what was sounding so great, 'you are my fire, the one desire'. And then we changed it to 'am I your fire, your one desire', which made absolutely no sense in combination with the chorus, but everybody loved it!" Cowritter of the song, Andreas Carlsson said.

But even though they admit that the song doesn't make a lot of sense, there is a second version of the song out there that is even weirder than this one. The alternate version has a completely different set of lyrics and it's enough to confuse any 90s kid.

The alternate lyrics don't even feel like they fit, they seem like there are almost too many words squished into the phrases!

I'm yours completely,
I feel so deeply,
You're my first thought everyday,
And I want it that way,

My life is for you,
And I adore you,
And I love you more, everyday,
And I want it that way,

Chorus: No goodbyes,
Ain't nothin' but a heartache,
No more lies,
Ain't nothin' but a mistake
That is why,
I love it when I hear you say,
I want it that way

My heart is on fire,
Such a strong desire,
Yes I know it's too late
But I want it that way

I gave you my heart,
Baby right from the start,
And that's the way it will always be, yeah
No matter the distance,
I want you to know,
That deep down inside of me,

You are my fire,
The one desire,
You are, you are, you are, you are,
Don't wanna hear you say,

Ain't nothin' but a heartache,
Ain't nothin' but a mistake,
I love it when I hear you say,
I want it that way

These alternate lyrics don't even have the 'tell me whys'! It's so weird! The version we all know feels like it's the boys who hurt their girlfriends, but this alternate sounds as though they were the ones who were hurt and just don't care because obviously she is their desire.

The fact is, the real version is better. Even though they recorded both, the one that we know and love is WAY better than this weird alternate reality version. But just in case you don't believe us, here's the alternate version.

What do you think? Do you want it that way?