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Are the Backstreet Boys Responsible for Moral Decline? PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Michael Salsbury   
Wednesday, 01 June 2005

This morning, my wife turned on the radio to listen to music while she got ready for work, as she always does.  Her station played "As Long As You Love Me" by the Backstreet Boys.  Because I think that group is completely lame and uninteresting, I've never really paid attention to their songs before.  For some reason, I did today.  I never realized how pathetic and disturbing the lyrics are.  Allow me to explain...

I was a computer geek, going back to high school.  I was also a teenager, and very much wanted to be in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.  It always frustrated me in those days that the girls I was most interested in tended to be involved with abusive guys.  These guys told their girlfriends (who, for the record, were quite intelligent, attractive, and nice) that they were ugly, fat, stupid, and thoroughly undesirable.  Sadly, the girls believed them.  As a result, they would cling desperately to these jerks, who treated them like they were disposable and useless.  They were afraid to leave the guys for fear that they'd be forever alone.  I never really understood that mindset, though looking at the lyrics to this Backstreet Boys song, I'm starting to see it.

In fact, as I read over the lyrics to that song, it strikes me that this one song outlines a personal belief system that practically guarantees a person the kind of love life that will prepare them for multiple experiences on The Jerry Springer Show.  To show you what I mean, below are the lines to "As Long As You Love Me" followed by my own take on just how each line could make you a candidate for one of those sleazy talk shows...

Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine

Translation: I need someone really bad… Are you really bad?
I'm leavin' my life in your handsAfter all, a perfect stranger is the best person to make life or death decisions for me.
People say I'm crazy and that I am blindDo you think they're trying to tell me something?
Risking it all in a glanceSee, I can't be blind… I'm able to "glance"…
And how you got me blind is still a mysteryTo me, anyway… Everyone else says it's because I'm desperate and in denial.
I can't get you out of my headMy psychiatrist used the phrase "unhealthy obsession"… but what does SHE know?
Don't care what is written in your historyA person's criminal record never says anything nice about them, anyway…
As long as you're here with meSay, don't you have a job? You're always here.
I don't care who you areThe neighbors say there's a registered sex offender on our street now.
Where you're fromI met you in detox.
What you did…to your last three wives and their children...
As long as you love meIt IS me you love, right, and not my spotless credit report and five-figure savings account?
Who you areYou know, there was a guy on America's Most Wanted who looked just like you…
Where you're fromSo where DO you go when you leave the house for a week or two every month?
Don't care what you didI'm sure I deserved that broken arm, which is healing nicely anyway.
As long as you love meYou do, don't you?  Those others are just friends, right?
Every little thing that you have said and doneCalling me fat, stupid, and ugly makes me just love you more…
Feels like it's deep within mei.e., I believed you. I'm fat, stupid, ugly, and oh so lucky to have you to remind me.
Doesn't really matter if you're on the runAfter all, the criminal life is glamorous and exciting…
It seems like we're meant to beYou've convinced me that no one else wants me. Not that you let me talk to anyone else anyway.
I don't care who you are (who you are)…or the fact that you have several drivers licenses in different names and a passport from Iraq.
Where you're from (where you're from)...or the illegitimate children you have scattered around the country.
What you didLike the time you pawned all my jewelry to buy a guitar and amplifier…
As long as you love me (I don't know)At least I think you do. You never actually say it.
Who you are (who you are)Why did that woman at the mall have a picture of you with her kids?
Where you're from (where you're from)…or which cult you're part of…
Don't care what you didFor example, robbing that liquor store the other night…
As long as you love me (yeah)…or at least come by when you need something.
I've tried to hide it so that no one knows…that you beat me whenever I talk to anyone else…
But I guess it shows…I guess make-up can't hide a black eye…
When you look into my eyes…with that expression of homicidal rage and jealousy.
What you did and where you're comin from…a drug deal in Columbia…
I don't care, as long as you love me, baby…or is that "keep making babies"?…
I don't care who you are (who you are)…or why you get calls from overseas and leave the house in a hurry...
Where you're from (where you're from)Why can't you speak English?  I thought you were from Cleveland...
What you didWho set up a meth lab in my basement?
As long as you love me (as long as you love me)…and my girlfriends while I'm out earning our only income…
Who you are (who you are)We've been together 5 years. How come I still don't know your last name?
Where you're from (where you're from)You sure do have a lot of stories about prison riots…
Don't care what you did (yeah)…or why you have an electronic band around your ankle...
As long as you love me (as long as you love me)…and your other two wives…
Who you are (who you are)…or "were" before the sex change...
Where you're fromJust out of curiousity, which planet did you say that was?
What you didKeeping your mummified mother in the attic is just soooo sentimental and sweet...
As long as you love me…though that doesn't explain why I found you and the guys naked in the hot tub.
Who you are (who you are)Your name is "Ted", isn't it? I can never remember the next morning...
Where you're from (where you're from)…and why you stood in the bushes outside my bedroom window every night before we dated.
As long as you love meWhat's this invitation from the Jerry Springer Show doing in my mail?
Who you are…Uncle Steve…
As long as you love meHandcuffs + hot wax = Love… Right?
What you did (I don't care)…or the fact that I'm your alibi for July 17-31, 1998...
As long as you love me...since you won't let me see my friends anymore.


Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 June 2005 )
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