Kids were in the car with me the other day when “MMMBop” by Hanson came on the … well, on the “oldies station” I guess is the best way to describe it. But if you’re of a certain age, you hear “MMMBop,” and — despite your musical bona fides, be they thrash metal or Adele, power punk or ska, jam bands or country twang — you can’t help but bop along. It’s infectious. And that chorus! “MMMBop, bop-bop-doo-wop,” or whatever. Good luck not singing it. Except … it’s hard to sing. As in, kind of unintelligible. But it doesn’t matter. It’s bubble gum pop. The lyrics don’t matter. Especially because the song was written by Hanson — three brothers — and the oldest was 17 when they released the song, which means he was like 16 when he wrote it along with 14 and 11-year-old brother. Yep. Who cares about the lyrics. (I’m foreshadowing.) Because yeah, I Googled the lyrics and holy crap, this stupid little song, written by teenagers, that everyone claims to hate … well, it speaks to me. And not teenage me, or 20-something me. It speaks to me as 52-year-old me, the same me that is on the downward slope of life. (I mean, I doubt I’m living to 105, you know?) But the flippin’ lyrics — again, written by children — floored me. Like, “reexamine my life” floored me. Like, it was somehow written in 1997 by teenagers but meant for 50-something schmucks like myself. It starts with a punch to the face. 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 Holy shizz, right? Bet you didn’t realize those were the lyrics. Pretty dark eh? Well, it gets darker. 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? From there, there is a lot of “mmmbopping,” and a verse about planting seeds to see which ones will grow, with the knowledge you can never know which ones will thrive. Hence, keep planting. Hence, keep making relationships and nurture them. And keep nurturing them. This hits me. Bigly. I remember as a kid, high school, my son’s age, I was relatively popular. A lot of friends. And my mother told me to cherish them, but … to also realize how fleeting it all is. She said, as an adult, if you can fill up a hand with people who care deeply about you (not including your kids) then you’re doing great. I thought that was hogwash. A hand? I could fill up my hands and feet, and yours. Today? Well, there’s my wife, and … you have so many relationships in this life. Only one or two will last. Hanson! Sheesh. These kids — and make no mistake, they were kids — created this seemingly saccharine song (that hit number 1 in like a dozen countries) and it’s universally seen as a disposable junk and … and oops. The song has massive depth, and is meaningless to its intended audience of teenyboppers. Listening to it as an adult in his 50s … like taking an ice bath. A shocker. Who knew. MMMBop, amirite?