Weird

We all feel a little bit weird sometimes. That's the message in this song, where the three Hanson brothers let us know that different is good. With their clean-cut look and wardrobes that could have been assembled from any mall in America, they certainly could fit in most places, but then again, they were all home-schooled and became global superstars by the time they were teenagers - not your typical adolescence.

Hanson wrote this song with Desmond Child, one of several top songwriters brought in to work on Middle Of Nowhere, their first album with Mercury Records. They signed to the label after releasing an independent album in 1996 that included "MMMbop," which Mercury had them re-record for their first single. It exceeded all expectations, going to #1 in 27 countries. "Weird" was their fourth single from the album, but it wasn't issued until 1998, about 8 months after "MMMbop" saturated the airwaves. By this time, Hanson had worn out their welcome on radio and MTV, and the song didn't chart in America.

At the 2008 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction, Desmond Child was one of those who were inducted. When pressed, the writer of Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" revealed that his favorite of all the numbers he'd ever penned was "a song I wrote with Hanson called 'Weird,' because it's about being different, and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!"