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Deep down everyone loves “MMMBop”, Hanson’s mega-hit that turned 20 years old today. But according to the brothers themselves, no one on Earth can sing it correctly. In an interview with Vulture about the song’s creation and legacy Isaac, Taylor and Zac (didn’t even need to look, my Hanson fandom ran deep as a wee child) explained how everyone gets the song wrong.
“Have you heard any good covers of it over the years?
T.H.: I gotta be honest: No.I.H.: You know why? People can’t sing the chorus right. Most of the time they syncopate it wrong.
Z.H.: I think ‘MMMBop’ probably needs a really good cover …
T.H.: Someone needs to either make it totally their own in a genuinely unique way, or it needs to be a band that has a sensibility for old R&B.”
The noted craft beer brewers add that Fitz & the Tantrums could probably knock out a good cover and that Bruno Mars is the best choice.
“He’d probably find a way to kill it,” Isaac said.
Perhaps the most interesting part is that “MMMBop” originally sounded way different than the record-scratch-y, world-dominating single we all have stuck in our heads right now. Here’s the track that turns 20 today:
And here, of course, is the Dust Brothers version from Middle Of Nowhere.
Pay close attention to that syncopation, y’all.