Refine Me

Last night, right after our SFC Metro Manila Leader’s Assembly, my SFC friends and I headed over to Eastwood to eat something because none of us had dinner before the awesome praisefest we just got from (more to that asometime this week :D). We went off to Somethin’ Fishy to take advantage of the eat-all-you-can breakfast.

Sometime in the middle of the meal, we heard familiar music playing: All I Have to Give by none other than the Backstreet Boys. That got me smiling, reminding me of all those teenybopper years where I was on fangirl mode over them. BSB was the first band I actually loved (and yes, I had a the biggest crush on Nick Carter), the first time I started to listen to the radio and tuned in to MTV. I kept vigil over my favorite radio station (Kool 106 — I’m such a jologs :p) to see if their songs were in their daily countdown. I rejoiced whenever any BSB song was number 1 in MTV’s Asia Hitlist. I kept a notebook of their lyrics, kept a folder of their magazine and newspaper articles. I even wrote some stories about them, where my main character is Brian’s cousin and they were always in my stories - haha! Because of them, I wanted to visit Orlando, Florida. I even have a VCD of their Germany concert, got it as a Christmas gift years ago! One word: FANGIRL! The only thing I kind of regret that I wasn’t able to do was watch their comeback concert here last year. :( Anyway, a few days ago, I rode a jeep home and that jeep was playing a CD of Backstreet’s Back and I had to laugh because I still know the lyrics of the songs after all these years. That’s how much I listened to their casette tapes back then. :P

But I digress. Back at Somethin’ Fishy, we noticed the song and I was surprised to find out that some of my male SFC friends were closet BSB/Boyband fans too! We started singing with the songs, and then talking about the different boybands we know of: N Sync, Boyzone, Westlife, A1, O-Town, Plus One, 5ive, 98 Degrees, even Aaron Carter and The Moffatts! I started spouting out random Backstreet Boys facts that I have collected throughout my fandom years, surprised to know that I still know them. :P

Because of all the boyband discussion last night, I recovered my BSB mp3s and loaded them into my iPod. Believe it or not, I missed listening to it! I used to listen to their tapes every single day and I was always on the lookout on MTV to catch all their videos. I swear, so much memories! Look:

I Want It That Way. Don’t tell me you never watched this, or even heard the song. :P

The last song we got to hear last night was Quit Playin’ Games and while we were singing that I realized how good it felt to sing these kinds of songs. I don’t know, maybe it’s because it was a big part of my growing up years that somehow their songs, no matter how shallow or old-fashioned they are now in my generation, brought me comfort. Or maybe it’s because I never lost the “fan love” I had for them as I grew up; it only toned down. But yes, I will admit it here that I am a BSB Fan. :P No hiding that!

Oh, and did you know that Brian Littrell a.k.a. B-Rok released a solo Christian album? He did, and it’s a great one, although if you are a Backstreet Boys fan like me, you would sometimes mistake some of his songs as a BSB song since it sounds a lot like one. But it’s a great album. I’ve always loved Brian’s singing voice, even if I crushed on Nick. :P

I leave you with one of my favorite songs by the Backstreet Boys from their Backstreet’s Back album. This song is one of their hidden “gems”, a lovely song entitled That’s What She Said. :)

Sorry, not for download, just stream. Lyrics are here. :)

How about you? Come on, I know you passed through a boyband stage, or maybe even a girlband stage. Admit it!