Entertainment

*NSYNC Songs You Loved As A Tween

by Kristie Rohwedder

Whether it be a Total Request Live hit or an album deep cut, listening to a song from *NSYNC's catalog in 2016 is like taking a ride with a space cowboy back to The Early Aughts Pop Era; whenever I hear the boy band's delightfully turn-of-the-millennium sound, I am teleported to a time before the quintet of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass went on "hiatus." Remember when we thought the post-Celebrity "break" was truly a break? Were we ever so young?

I've carefully selected 19 *NSYNC tunes that will most certainly take you back to your childhood (or tweendom) (or teendom) (or however-old-you-were-in-the-late-‘90s-and-early-'00s-dom). These tracks will transport you to a time when the air was thick with Juice Bar Cotton Candy Refreshee Spray. To a time when the beverages hailed from a mythical land called Fruitopia. To a time when we listened to music not via streaming services we downloaded off of the World Wide Web (our dialup connections shudder at the thought), but through the portable compact disc players we purchased at electronic superstores like Incredible Universe and Best Buy. I recommend that you buckle your ears' seatbelts.

Are you ready? Are you sure? Because yes, yes, yes, here we go. These *NSYNC songs will forever have the flow.

1. “Here We Go”

(…Bet you didn’t see that one coming!)

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Yes, yes, yes, here we go/*NSYNC has got the flow”

2. “Just Got Paid”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Money, money, money, money.”

3. “Gone”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: "Time is passing so slowly now/[Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock]/Guess that's my life without you (guess that's my life without you)"

4. “I Want You Back”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “You’re all I ever wanted/You’re all I ever needed/So tell me what to do now/‘Cause I-I-I-I-I-I want you back”

5. “It Makes Me Ill”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “He’s not the type you said you liked/His style’s wack, his clothes are bad/Come on, girl, let him go/I want you back”

6. “Thinking Of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Whyyyyyyyy didn’t I know it (How much I loved you baby)?/Whyyyyyyy couldn’t I show it (If I had only told you)/When I had the chance/Oh, I had the chance”

7. “It’s Gonna Be Me”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “There’ll come a day/When I’ll be the one, you’ll see/It’s gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna/It’s gonna be me”

8. “Pop”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Tired of feelin’ all around me animosity”

9. “Tearin’ Up My Heart”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “No matter what I do I feel the pain/With or without you”

10. “Music of the Heart” Feat. Gloria Estefan

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “You taught me to run/You taught me to fly/Helped me to free the me inside”

11. “Celebrity”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “If I didn’t have cheese like every day/Would you still want to be with me?”

12. “(God Must’ve Spent) A Little More Time On You”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “On you/On you, on you, on you, you/On you, on you, on you, you/On you, on you on you you/On you, on you, on you, you”

13. “Bye Bye Bye”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Bye byeeeeeeee, baaaaabyyyyyyy”

14. “The Game Is Over”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “‘Cause you tried to play both sides/You got caught up in your lies/And now you’re running/You’re running out of time”

15. “Space Cowboy (Yippie-Yi-Yay)” Feat. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay/Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo”

16. “For The Girl Who Has Everything"

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Girl, you need to understand/Your heart is safe within my hands/And I promise I'll never break it"

17. “Trashin’ the Camp” Feat. Phil Collins

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Do bop she doo”

18. “This I Promise You”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Over and over I fall (over and over I fall)/When I hear you call/Without youuuuuuu in my life, baby/I just wouldn’t be living at all”

And before we call it a day, here’s one for the realest of the real *NSYNC fans:

19. “Somewhere, Someday”

One Of The Many Lyrics You Still Can’t Resist Scream-Singing: “Somewhere/Somewhere there’s a field and a river/Somewhere/You can let your soul run free/Someday/Someday let me be the giver/Let me bring you peace”

Hey, what's more late '90s tween than an *NSYNC song that was recorded for the Pokémon: The First Movie soundtrack? (You know, besides a Cucumber Melon-scented Kooshling covered in roll-on body glitter.)