MMMBop

This article is about the song; for the album, see MMMBop (album).

"MMMBop"
Song

"MMMBop" is a song written and performed by the American pop rock band Hanson from their 1997 debut album Middle of Nowhere. "MMMBop" was one of the biggest debut singles of all time; it reached number one in 27 countries, including the United States, the UK, Germany and Australia; in the UK, the song sold 710,000 copies and stayed at number one for 3 weeks. It was voted the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, while also topping critics' polls from such media as Rolling Stone, Spin, and VH1. "MMMBop" was nominated for two Grammys at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in February 1998. It was the band's only semi-successful single to date.

Music Video

A music video was released to promote the single.

Background

The song originally appeared on the album MMMBop (released in 1996) as a ballad, but was reworked as an upbeat pop track by hit producers The Dust Brothers. The song's lyrics talk about the transient and unpredictable nature of friendship, referring to how friendships come and go in an "MMMBop", meaning a short period of time. The song therefore urges listeners to "hold on to the ones who really care. In the end they'll be the only ones there".

Like many songs that achieved extreme popularity, this song has experienced somewhat of a backlash against its once ubiquitous airplay. Delone Catholic High School in McSherrystown, Pennsylvania, for example, held a student-created fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina called "Stop the Bop." The school played the song before classes begin in the morning, and between each period over the school PA system. The playing of this song was only stopped when the school raised $3,000 for hurricane relief and the school thereby "stopped the bop." [1] After the fundraising had concluded, Hanson responded by matching the students' donation as well as sending a copy of their 2004 album Underneath for every student in the school. [2]

As the song began to become 'infamous' due to its massive overplay, the Hanson boys were in a skit on Saturday Night Live where they were trapped in an elevator whilst the elevator music was stuck playing MMMBop over and over. At the end of the skit, the boys finally escaped from the elevator alive, but with Isaac & Zac having gone completely mental, though Taylor remained just normal.

Track listing

All songs written by Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, and Zac Hanson.

1. "Mmmbop (Album Version)" – 4:01
2. "Mmmbop (Dust Brothers Mix)" – 4:29
3. "Mmmbop (Hex Mix)" – 3:26
4. "Mmmbop (Single Version)" – 4:01

Chart positions

This table shows the peak positions reached on the singles chart in the given countries, by the single. Where known, the weeks at number 1 has also been shown in superscript.

Chart (1997)	Position
Australia	1
Austria	1
Belgium (Flanders)	1
Belgium (Wallonia)	4
Germany	1
Finland	4
France	4
Ireland	1
Netherlands	2
New Zealand	1
Norway	2
Sweden	1
Switzerland	1
UK	1
USA	1