Busted and Hanson – MMMBop 2.0 (Single) | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

Independent

Release Date: May 26th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Busted and Hanson– Mmmbop 2.0 (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

MMMBop 2.0

Hanson was a boyband turned alternative rock band who originated in the 1990’s, consisting of Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson. With the group still active today (with the same line-up), Hanson has been known for their smash hits like “If Only”, “Where’s The Love?”, “I Will Come To You”, “Penny & Me”, “Give A Little”, “Thinking Of You”, “Great Divide”, “Go”, “Against The World”, “I Was Born”, “Only Love”, and “Get The Girl Back”, to name a few. My brother Jon even blogged about their influence, while also reviewing their albums Against The World and Red Green Blue. And so, if you want to know more about all things Hanson, you can just read about it in the aforementioned 3 articles.

But well and truly, first and foremost Hanson are most known for their debut single “MMMBop”, released in 1997. It’s a seemingly nonsensical song when you think about it, partly because these guys were young children when they sung it. They mumbled their words (no one thought much of it because they thought it was ‘cute’) and “MMMBop” became known as that catchy song without much lyrical substance to it. The band has since released ‘sped up’ and ‘slowed down’ versions of “MMMBop”, but fast forward to this year (just a few days ago to be exact!), and here we are with Hanson actually re-recording this iconic and legendary hit with punk band Busted. I’m not familiar at all with Busted (I don’t intend to be!), but I do love “MMMBop” for the general poppy-ness and the musical catchiness as a song. And so, I checked out the new re-recording. Boy, am I blown away- first at the epic-ness of the version, but also of the ingenious of the song in general, simply because it is lyrically strong and full of wisdom beyond the years of the brothers at the time. First of all, this song rules, no matter what the version. The original rendition was super radio friendly and like a Disney pop tune; and this rendition and collaboration is like a pop/punk guitar-based track. Musically, both versions are engaging. But when you consider that these guys were 10-16 years old when the song released, and all three of them wrote the song with no other co-writers, then one read through the lyrics will astound you.

You have so many relationships in this life
Only one or two will last
You go through all the pain and strife
Then you turn your back and they’re gone so fast
Oh yeah
And they’re gone so fast, yeah
Oh, so hold on the ones who really care
In the end they’ll be the only ones there
And when you get old and start losing your hair
Can you tell me who will still care?
Can you tell me who will still care?
Oh care

Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du, oh yeah
Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba du dop
Ba du bop, ba du dop
Ba du, yeah

Said oh yeah
In an mmmbop they’re gone
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose
You can plant any one of those
Keep planting to find out which one grows
It’s a secret no one knows
It’s a secret no one knows
Oh, no one knows,

Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du, oh yeah
Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba du dop
Ba du bop, ba du dop

Can you tell me? Oh
No, you can’t ’cause you don’t know
Can you tell me?
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? (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?)
No, you can’t ’cause you don’t know
Can you tell me?
You say you can but you don’t know
Oh oh
You say you can but you don’t know
You don’t know, you don’t know, oh

Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Oh yeah
Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba du dop
Ba du bop, ba du dop
Yeah

Think about it. These guys were 11, 14 and 16. And they were writing about the complexities of life, the fragility of friendships (you only have a few friends in this life, and when you get old, not many friends will stick by you!), the mortality of life, the reality of getting older, and the reality of not knowing the future (doing something you love as a job and not knowing ‘which seed grows’, as mentioned in the second verse!). Kids probably shouldn’t be thinking about these things when they’re that age. Yet here we are with one of the most important songs of the 90’s. This song is heavy stuff and Taylor, Zac and Isaac were doing it with ease. Some guys just have the knack for song writing and singing, and Hanson has that knack. They’re that once in a generation band, and so if you haven’t heard them before, then you need to jump on that bandwagon! And so, with not much more needed to write about this sibling trio (I won’t comment about Busted because I don’t know them, and it’s not their song!); I’ll just say stream this song once, then twice, then several more times! Nothing more to it. Except to dive deep into the discography of Hanson for good measure. Well done guys, I can’t wait to hear what’s in store for you next!

It’s been a thrill to reimagine ‘MMMBop’ with Busted and to see how a song with such history comes to life in a new way. This is a true fusion of HANSON and Busted, we can’t wait to share it.

It’s not just about having hits or having the words ‘sold out’ beside every show, it’s about the years committed to something you really care about, and the fact that we’ve really been able to connect with people in a way that’s meaningful to us and hopefully to others as well.

When “MMMBop” first broke, and we had suddenly gone from literally a garage band to playing arenas, I remember just genuine excitement, genuine adrenaline that was rushed into your system as you’re suddenly standing in front of 30,000 people in Australia or in a shopping mall in front of 10,000 screaming people. But even at that moment, I remember, having watched The Jackson Five, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, the rock’n’roll artists that were our heroes, thinking to myself ‘this is something like what we’ve observed ourselves as fans, this must be similar to what those people must have felt’.