MMMBop was how long ago? The earworm of a song was released 20 years ago but the band Hanson has been around officially for 25 years.
As part of their 25th Anniversary, HANSON created the "I Was Born" video to commemorate 25 years of living out their dreams. The cast features 11 of the band's 12 children.
It's a song we wanted to share with you here on Instinct. Could this even be a new Pride song? Have a listen and a look and you decide.
No, it's no Gaga's 'Born This Way,' but does it have to be? A song doesn't need to be in your face about sexuality or mention non-binary, non-heterogeneitous activities to be a song we can embrace as a pride anthem or even a life anthem.
My first watch and listen through, I was finding myself feeling happy and glad they made a great song like this. Then, when whomever was editing this decided to thrown in a prism, I was like OOOOHHHH!!! Yes, I saw something shiny and went all gay and even more happy.
No, this is most likely not an attempt to say, hey Gaga, here's our version, or if some or all of our 11 or 12 children are part of the LGBT community, we'll be okay with it.
But how do the Hansons stand in regard to the LGBT community? Back in 2007, Zac Hanson answered these questions from the Advocate:
Queer director Gus Van Sant shot the video for 1998's "Weird", a song you guys co-penned with gay songwriter-producer Desmond Child.
We chose to work with Gus because he's an incredibly talented director. I don't know if many people know this about Gus, but he's also an incredibly talented musician. He played a Woody Guthrie song with us once. I have this record [Gus] did called 18 Songs About Golf.
You guys come from a religious background. Did Gus and Desmond influence your personal views toward gays and sexuality?
My feeling toward gays is always just… everybody chooses. People's sexuality and how they live their lives-they have to decide, and it's not for me to tell them or not to. I don't walk to the marching orders or anything like that.
The song "Yearbook" is about someone upset over missing a guy named Johnny. Was this meant to be ambiguous? And more important, is Johnny hot?
Probably. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much controversy over where he is. I love that song because there are so many takes on what that would be. Maybe it's a gay song.
The band is the subject of a lot of online fan fiction, most of which imagines all or one of you, especially Taylor, as gay.
That's one end of the spectrum, and the other end is people sending you death threats. I would go with fan fiction any day. And Taylor has that thing about him-and hopefully, he'll forgive me for saying this in an interview-he's just a good-looking pretty boy.
They seem pretty okay with us and we're pretty okay with them, too, and their new song.
Awwww fuck it. Here's the song that made them famous.
