Ever since 1996, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie D., and A.J. McLean have been stealing the hearts of adolescents, teenagers and grown women alike. In fact, just this morning I saw a clip on Facebook of the BSB performing at the iHeart Festival recently with comments from fans who have been there since the beginning, still proud and supporting fifteen years later. Heck, who else helps me stay calm when I'm buried in homework? As a little blast from the past during this time full of holiday spirit (remember ‘Christmas Time’ anyone?), here’s a countdown of the Backstreet Boys songs most likely to still be stuck in your head and why.

9. If You Want It To be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy)

This tune was what had every teenage girl jumping off the edges of their seats when it hit the charts in 1997. Just the seductive vocals in this song alone is enough to get anyone singing along, but the catchy pentameter of rhymes made it all that easier to keep on loop in your head. This song was probably one of the most ‘scandalous’ songs a young girl heard in 1997 that her parents knew about it, and I’m sure it made her want to get a little crazy. After all, “if you want it to be wild, gotta know just who to dial, baby.”

8. Shape Of My Heart

In 2000, this apology track hit the air waves with the soulful voices are our very own Backstreet Boys behind it. This song portrays what almost every girl wants to hear after an argument with a lover or partner, and the admittance of guilt and wrong doing throughout the song will make you hold your head a little higher with the idea of being right, and then tear right at your heart strings with the plea of letting you see the shape of his heart.

7. Larger Than Life

This song from 1999 is the one that really got me hooked on The Backstreet Boys. You can even ask my mom how excited I got when it came on in the car. This fan-dedicated tribute song was a very sweet gesture with a catchy, futuristic vibe in the music that you couldn’t help but at least tap your foot to. The music video made it even better with real concert footage and fans screaming and dancing along. It was truly Larger Than Life.

6. Get Down

A single of their 1996 debut album, Get Down is a pure dance and party song, simple as that. The beat, the lyrics, everything about it just screams “dance!” And what type of song gets stuck in your head easier than one that makes you want to dance? I bet as soon as you read the subheading, “You’re the one for me, you’re my ecstasy, you’re the one I need” started blaring in your head.

5. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)

Even though it was released four years prior to Shape of My Heart, in my head, this seems like a companion piece. Instead of an apology, it’s a plea to stop playing these games and stop sneaking around. Be faithful. The music, while still somehow managing to be upbeat, sounds so sad, and just imprints the message that the lyrics are saying.

4. Straight Through My Heart

This song shot out into the world like a bullet in 2009 (she what my cheesy self did there?). The song is extremely catchy, and it is one that I find popping into my head at the most random of times, even more so when I couldn’t figure out that they were singing “she aimed and she shot me” for the longest time. This is one that’s sure not to stop bleeding into your thoughts.

3. Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely

This is the song that seems to be there when you don’t know who else to call, a song that’s there when you’re grieving in some way, whether it be a death or a relationship loss or anything in between. 1999 heard this tune first, and it perfectly captures the essence of what thoughts race through our heads in moments of weakness and grief, and leaves us confused. The feeling of being lonely is all too prominent today and that is why this song finds its way into our heads more than others. Hey, at least this thought has some pretty sweet voices connected to it,

2. As Long As You Love Me

One of the sweetest love songs to hit the radio came out in 1997, and is still played all over the world today. Other than being a love song, it could be an anthem for loving someone who they truly are. Not for what they did, where they are from, what they’ve been in the past. Just who they are right now, as long as they are loved back as well.

1. I Want It That Way

Do I even have to explain this one? From 1999, this just may be the most famous song from The Backstreet Boys. 17 years later, it is still on every playlist, sung at every talent show and lip sync contest, played on every radio station. I Want It That Way is the definition of a song being on loop in your head, of a song being pure perfection, and a song for the ages that is right for every generation and time. “Ain’t nothing but a heartache, ain’t nothing but a mistake.”

Looks like these boys really are our fire with all these catchy songs. Now, go grab your iPod and go through your playlist, because after this, I know you have every one of these in your head. Have fun listening!