Pub Choir, a traveling experience that brings strangers together to drink, sing, and be merry, celebrated an evening for the history books on January 30, 2019. On that night, 1,500 tipsy people came together to belt out their best version of the Backstreet Boy's immortal tune "I Want It That Way".
Fortunately, the whole song was captured on video for posterity's sake:
1500 strangers sing "I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys)youtu.be
One has to admit, the three-part harmonies on display in the video aren't that bad at all for a group that's already thrown back more than a couple drinks.
Twitter was beyond inspired by the Backstreet cover.
Pub Choir's website description sums up their heartwarming philosophy pretty well:
"Pack yourself into a pub with hundreds of strangers, learn a song in 3 part harmony in 90 minutes, perform it twice, and if the publishing Gods are smiling: have it immortalized in video forever. No audition, no solos, no commitments, no sheet music, NO WORRIES. Music belongs to everybody. So grab a beer, relax, and simply open your sound hole (your mouth, FYI). It's rowdy, wholesome, and so much damn fun."
"Drunken choir" might be our new favorite kind of cover! Pub Choir posts a video of almost all of their evenings online and they're all priceless.
Pub Choir #11 - ZOMBIE (the Cranberries)www.youtube.com
Pub Choir sings Save Tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry (cover)www.youtube.com
Pub Choir Africa - Totowww.youtube.com
PubChoir #2 - Teenage Dirtbag, Wheatuswww.youtube.com
It's not surprising the Backstreet Boys cover has gained such attention, however. There are enough "I Want It That Way" covers on YouTube to form their own subgenre:
I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys (AHMIR R&B Cover)www.youtube.com
I Want It That Way But It's 24 Nickelodeon Impressionswww.youtube.com
I Want it That Way (cover video)youtu.be
Social media wanted to participate in a pub choir ASAP!
The world may not be in the best of shape right now, but maybe the answer is simpler than we thought:
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC