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Backstreet Boys - Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely

Music Video | USA | 1999
ArtistBackstreet Boys
SongShow Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely
AlbumMillenium, The Hits Chapter One
DirectorStuart Gosling
GenreBallad
IntroNo
OutroNo
Production CompanyImage Dynamic Pictures
Full StoryEach band member is shown seperately in a lonely situation. In the end they meet and sing the chorus.
Sound MixStereo
Technical Specificationscolour - format unknown
Release date

Wiki

Synopsis

The video follows each Backstreet Boy through a separate vision of grief and isolation. Brian Littrell watches doctors attempt to save him in a hospital, while A.J. McLean rides a bus haunted by the image of a lost girlfriend. Kevin Richardson watches home movies of his late father, Nick Carter saves a woman from an oncoming bus, and Howie Dorough waits for a woman who disappears before reaching him. Eventually, the five reunite and leave the bleak city behind, walking toward a brightly colored field.

Factoids & Trivia

  • The video was filmed in Los Angeles on December 11-12, 1999, shortly after the 1999 Billboard Music Awards. It premiered on New Year's Eve 1999.
  • Several storylines draw directly from the group's personal experiences. Brian Littrell's hospital scenes refer to the open-heart surgery he underwent to correct a congenital heart defect.
  • Howie Dorough's vision of the woman in red was created as a tribute to his sister Caroline, who died from lupus. Kevin Richardson's old film footage represents memories of his late father, Jerald.
  • A.J. McLean's bus is marked "Denniz Street." The detail honors Swedish producer Denniz Pop, an important figure in the group's early career who died in 1998. The bus driver was also styled to resemble him.
  • McLean's storyline was connected to the loss of a close friend in a car accident, while Nick Carter's near-collision sequence was inspired by an incident involving a fan.
  • Brian later explained that he was initially concerned about depicting his surgery too graphically. The sequence was intended to share a real life experience without making the imagery unnecessarily difficult for his family to watch.
  • The mostly monochrome cinematography, selective use of red, and final transition into full color give the video the visual language of a dark memory moving toward release.

Lyrics

Show me the meaning of being lonely
So many words for the broken heart
It's hard to see in a crimson love
So hard to breathe
Walk with me, and maybe
Nights of light so soon become
Wild and free I could feel the sun
Your every wish will be done
They tell me

[Chorus:]
Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
...
© Backstreet Boys - Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely. This is an excerpt, provided as citation under fair-use.
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