Day 27 -- A Song You Discovered After Everyone Else
"It's Gonna Be Me" -- NSYNC, No Strings Attached (2000)
I used to be quite contrary towards popular music. "If it's not at least twenty-five years old, it's not worth my time" was my mantra. As a child, I felt superior because I listened to music the great folks at VH1 deemed "the best" (aka The Beatles), while my peers listened to disposable pop that had no lasting legacy (aka boy bands).
I guess I was a proto-hipster. Oh, the shame!
By the time all the boy bands had broken up and ventured into solo work, I decided that it was safe enough to give that era of pop a deeper listen. Also, no one could accuse me of being mainstream by then. And lo and behold, that is some really catchy music! One of my favorites of this era is NSYNC's only number one hit "It's Gonna Be Me".
The song is about a guy trying to convince a jaded girl that when she is ready to love again, he is going to be the one for her. This sounds like a nice enough premise, but Justin Timberlake's performance is so insistent and smug that it's off-putting. He's a little too Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, if you know what I mean. But no one ever listened to this music for the lyrics. It was all about production and vocal harmony (and meticulous choreography, pleather pants, and frosted tips in the music videos). More often than not, it's the melody that draws me to a song. That is the case with "It's Gonna Be Me".
It's ironic. I avoided boy bands because I didn't want to be like everyone else and now I lament the fact that I can't fully participate in 90s nostalgia with everyone else. Oh well. C'est la vie.
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