I ADMIT IT!

Having a little sister who leaves mix CD's inside the six-disc player of the car (that you are borrowing from her full time) can come in handy every now and then.

Like tonight, for example.


I've decided that if I ever do make that CD called "I Admit It! The 90's," the title track will come from this band.
"Mmmbop! Dip-bee-dop, bop dewww wop, A DIBBY DOP BAH DEWWWW WOP, dip bee dop, bah DEWWWW! Yayee yeahhh.....!"

That was me driving home from John's apartment tonight. By myself, but jammin. I was singing loud, too.

And you know why? Because I'm able to take a deep breath and say it:

I like the song "Mmmbop" by Hanson.

Try it with me now.

I like the song "Mmmbop" by Hanson.

Exhale aaaand ...

Savasana.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Like a 50-pound weight being removed from your chest, isn't it?

I liked "Mmmbop" back in the day; I like it now. But like coming out of the closet for professional athletes to this day, confessing to a secret love for that song in a middle school environment was something you just didn't do.

That's why I'm trying to make "I Admit It! The 90's" -- a mega disc (though I'm open to multi-disc, if I get enough email suggestions) comprising (or is it "comprised of?") all of those songs that you internally tapped your foot to in your youth, all the while maintaining a shell of disinterest so as to appear cool.

"I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan, any song by No Doubt, any song by the Dixie Chicks, "Swallowed" by Bush, "Always be my Baby" by Mariah Carey (*huge example*), "Just the Two of Us" by Will Smith, any song by Trisha Yearwood (I'm from the South) and many, many more.

Let me reiterate: I'm open to email suggestions, because I'm serious about making this disc.

But I mean, I'm pretty flexible about it, too. It doesn't have to be just 90's. We've gotta make some space for my all time "I ADMIT IT!" favorite, after all.

"I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!!"

Tom Kuklinski turned me onto it my fourth year at Virginia and it was a regular on my iPod rotation my entire trip. It's amazing how easy it is to get people to open up about these types of things when you take the first step.

You: "All right, I admit it! I LOVE NATASHA BEDINGFIELD. 'THEEEEEESE WORDS ARE MY OWN, FROM MY HEART....(random noise, a singing mumble).... I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOUUUU!'"

Other dude: "Yeah man, I totally love Bryan Adams!"

You: "Uhhhh.... yeah man. Cool." (raised eyebrows)

For example, Pigneri:

This was on Memorial Day weekend, when the Pig schooled me in Dance, Dance Revolution, Natasha Bedingfield style.

Or was it that new Maroon 5 song? The one I heard on Mary's mix CD and liked, but had to ask her first, "Is it considered socially acceptable for guys to like this song? Because I do. Is that okay?"

I admit it!


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This is just an aside, but I couldn't stop thinking about this while I was jamming to "Mmmbop."

You know the older brother? Here, we'll have another look because it's ten times funnier when you have a visual of this guy.


It's the tallest one that I'm talking about (obviously). What must it have been like for that one? The middle child -- the star; the band, essentially -- was chillin'. The youngest brother -- the lucky to be there character -- was chillin'. The only one that could have/should have had a complex was the oldest brother.

"Oh, you play in a band with your two little brothers, only 50 percent of whom have pubes?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds good man."

It's like, look at him. He clearly was the guy who, in 8th grade, had the badass 6th grade brother that consistently embarrassed him in the ladies/sports categories. Did he resent the Silverchair-guy wannabe lead singer's fame?

It'd be hard for me to believe otherwise. I took the liberty of tracking down some of the lyrics to "Mmmbop" just to find out what those words actually were that kept making me crack up in the car as I listened to Hanson in my driveway. Not the main words, but the ones in the background -- the ones from the oldest brother.

No you can't 'cause you don't know
Can you tell me? oh
You say you can but you don't know
Can you tell me? oh
(Which flower's going to grow?)
No you can't 'cause you don't know
Can you tell me? oh
(If it's going to be a daisy or a rose?)
You say you can but you don't know
Can you tell me? oh
(which flower's going to grow?)

The bold represents the extent of the older brother's singing career.

(I am assuming; I've never heard any other Hanson songs. Have you?)

It really is a sad story when you think about the older brother's situation. It's like, his midde brother owns him.

I wonder if older brother Hanson ever says "I admit it!"