How The Beach Boys Inspired Hanson’s ‘MMMBop’
TL;DR:
- The Beach Boys inspired Hanson’s “MMMBop” after Hanson members stumbled upon Beach Boys songs.
- Hanson’s Zac Hanson explained the meaning of the track.
- Hanson’s “MMMBop” became a massive hit in the United States that the band never equaled.
The Beach Boys managed to influence some of the music of the 1990s. For example, Hanson’s “MMMBop” was partly influenced by The Beach Boys. A member of Hanson explained how “MMMBop” came together.
Hanson’s ‘MMMBop’ was inspired by The Beach Boys but not The Grateful Dead
During a 2004 interview with Songfacts, Hanson member Zac Hanson discussed whether there was some truth to the rumor that The Grateful Dead inspired “MMMBop.” He said that was not the case.
Subsequently, Zac why his band wrote the lyrics of “MMMBop.” “They weren’t inspired by one artist in particular,” he said. “The first music that we got into was ’50s and ’60s music. If anything, ‘MMMBop’ was inspired by The Beach Boys and vocal groups of that era — using your voice as almost a doo-wop kind of thing. It was something we almost stumbled upon.”
The song was originally part of a different track before it became its on thing
Zac explained how the song came together. “That song started out really as the background part for another song,” he recalled. “We were making our first independent album and we were trying to come up with a background part.
“We started singing a slightly different incarnation of what is now the chorus of ‘MMMBop,'” he added. “That sort of stuck in our heads and never really worked as a background part, and over a couple of years, that piece really has stuck in our heads and we really crafted the rest of the song — the verses and bridge and so on.”
Zac said the song was about how everything in life fades away, and how family and “support systems” are what truly matter. That’s a pretty mature meaning for a song for a teen pop song with a lot of nonsensical lyrics! The members of Hanson did not expect “MMMBop” to be hugely successful. Subsequently, it helped the band secure a record deal.
How Hanson’s ‘MMMBop’ and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States
Hanson’s “MMMBop” became a huge hit in the United States. The tune reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, becoming the band’s only No. 1 single. “MMMBop” lasted on the chart for 22 weeks. It was Hanson’s only top-10 single besides “I Will Come to You,” which reached No. 9. “MMMBop” remains one of the most widely-remembered songs of the 1990s.
Hanson’s “MMMBop” appeared on the album Middle of Nowhere. The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for a total of 58 weeks. The band never reached an album as successful as Middle of Nowhere.
Hanson’s “MMMBop” is one of the most famous bubblegum pop songs of all time and it wouldn’t be the same without The Beach Boys.
