O-Town's "Liquid Dreams" Is Forever A Classic

Like a Razor scooter scooting away into the sunset, the years keep on rolling by: 15 years ago, the Lou Pearlman-assembled pop quintet of Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Jacob Underwood, Trevor Penick, and Dan Miller dropped their debut album. On Jan. 23, 2001, Making the Band alumni O-Town released O-Town. In honor of this milestone, why don’t we cannonball into the body of pop music water that is the song “Liquid Dreams,” aka my favorite O-Town song of all time? (Sorry, “All Or Nothing,” but “Liquid Dreams” will forever hold the morpharotic key to my heart.)

The group’s first single was unleashed on the world in December of 2000, and the record went on to be a commercial hit, a Top 40 radio favorite, and a boy band classic. To celebrateO-Town's 15th birthday, here are some very important "Liquid Dreams" deets, GIFs, and videos:

1. The Song Is Not About Going For A Swim In A Dream

“Liquid Dreams” is an ode to an imaginary woman who is the product of Frankensteining a bunch of A-list female celebrities together…and wet dreams. In a 2014 interview with Cosmo UK, O-Towner Jacob Underwood said this about the meaning of the song:

No, it's about nocturnal emissions, to be honest. It was a cheeky way for Clive Davis to pick a song and, in the mix of a lot of boybands and a lot of glossed over pop tracks, he thought this way a way for us to make our mark separate: we were a lot more dirty, a lot more edgy than the others.

Yep. Yep yep yep. For the last 15 years, we've been rocking to a tune about nocturnal emissions.

2. The Track Gives Shout-Outs To A Dozen Famous Ladies

All of Destiny’s Child! Madonna! Janet Jackson! Angelina Jolie! Cindy Crawford! Tyra Banks! Salma Hayek! Halle Berry! Jennifer! Wait. Jennifer who? Is it Lopez? Aniston? Love Hewitt? The mystery will gnaw at me until the end of time!

3. This Record Introduced The World To The Word "Morpharotic"

Here's the Urban Dictionary definition of this O-Town original:

Apparently, this is a type of girl who may appear in a dream. A girl who is a mix of many different supermodel and singer types. For instance, some dream about about a girl who's a mix of Destiny's Child, just a little touch of Madonna's wild style, with Janet Jackson's smile. Lastly, throw in a body like "Jennifer's"; that's a morpharotic dream from a magazine.

Your move, Merriam-Webster.

4. A Chipmunksified Cover Of "Liquid Dreams" Exists

G'bless.

5. "Liquid Dreams" Was Allegedly J Records' Last Big Budget Music Video

When O-Town appeared on Lea Palmieri’s Talkin’ TRL Podcast last year, the group shared this deet about their first vid:

We had a friend of ours who still works with Clive Davis told us that we were the last video [the label] spent a million dollars on for “Liquid Dreams” … After that, because TRL went down, and YouTube and everything came out, the cost of videos, they weren’t competing, they weren’t getting that prime spot every day for that hour, so the budgets go down to $50,000 for major artists now.

*Sigh.* The end of an era.

6. In The Music Video, The Boy Band May Or May Not Be Dancing Inside A Bellybutton

I'm 99.999999% sure that's what's happening.

7. And They May Or May Not Also Wind Up In A Gel Aquarium Tunnel

Or maybe it's more along the lines of Secret World of Alex Mack goo?

8. Oh, But The Dancing In This Video? Forever Iconic

Never forget.

9. And Don't Even Get Me Started On The Stunning Wardrobe

Especially those sunglasses. Those sunglasses are not too loud, but they definitely make a statement.

10. O-Town's Acapella Rendition Of "Liquid Dreams" Is Not To Be Denied

What this version lacks in danceability it makes up for in sweet harmonies.

11. And Finally, Here Is The Lower Back Tattoo To End All Lower Back Tattoos

Is this specific to "Liquid Dreams"? Nope. But guess what? I don't care. It is a crucial moment in O-Town history that should be revisited as often as possible. This fan is a true hero.

What a morpharotic classic for the ages.

Images: O TownVEVO/YouTube (4); Kristie Rohwedder/Bustle (4)