The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History: Song #450…Sucker by The Jonas Brothers (KTOM)

This list of songs is inspired by lists published by radio station KEXP-FM from Seattle in 2010, as well as the latest poll taken in 2021 by Rolling Stone Magazine. For the most part I will faithfully countdown from their lists, starting at Song #500 and going until I reach Song #1. When you see the song title listed as something like: Song #XXX (KEXP)….it means that I am working off of the official KEXP list. Song XXX (RS) means the song is coming from the Rolling Stone list. If I post the song title as being: Song #xxx (KTOM), it means I have gone rogue and am inserting a song choice from my own personal list of tunes I really like. In any case, you are going to get to hear a great song and learn the story behind it. Finally, just so everyone is aware, I am not a music critic nor a musician. I am a music fan and an armchair storyteller. Here is the story behind today’s song. Enjoy.

KTOM: The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History.

Song #450: Sucker by The Jonas Brothers.

***Just a quick note before I start today’s post: The first fifty songs are in the books now. Songs #500-451 are finished, which means that we are 10% of the way through this epic, musical journey. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has come along for the ride so far. I really appreciate the interactivity of this project. Thanks for your comments, your personal connections and other songs that you have shared as well. Thanks to those who have pitched new songs with interesting back stories. Thanks to Leah and Sophie for contributing their Top Ten lists, too. It’s been a hoot so far! Can’t wait to see what the next 90% of the list brings.

That brings us to today’s song. As you may remember, my own daughters were challenged to contribute a list of songs that meant something to them, after they were less than enthused with the “old music” I was posting. We listened to Leah’s #10 selection, “That Power” by will.i.am and Justin Bieber twenty-five songs ago. Now, it is time for Sophie’s #10 pick. She chose “Sucker” by The Jonas Brothers.

Sophie is 11 and a half years old, as I type this. She has grown into quite an interesting person. She very crafty and creative. You may remember the post about how we give Christmas cards and a craft to everyone in our neighbourhood? If so, know that Sophie, on her own, created all of the crafts that we gave out. She has become the face of our family tradition and, as such, is making a difference in the lives of our neighbours. Sophie is accomplished in the kitchen. She quietly whipped up a batch of brownies on the weekend and, several times a week, she makes fruit smoothies for herself and her dear old dad. Sophie is mathematical. I don’t mean that in a business/number sense but, more in the sense of recognizing patterns and having excellent spatial sense (which, if you don’t know, is how objects are oriented in a given space). Sophie is a home organizer and has used her mathematical skills to organize her closet, her sister’s closet, our kitchen and our family storage room in the basement at a level of sophistication that would make Marie Kondo blush. When she turns 13 (if she is still interested in doing this) we have discussed putting out flyers and having Sophie come into classrooms or homes to organize cupboards for a fee.) When you see how incredible she is at organizing, you’ll happily give her $50, with a tip on top and still think you are getting a bargain! Finally, for the purposes of today’s song, what you need to know about my Sophie is that she is all about style! She knows all about trendsetters and influencers and fashion and fame. This is how she came to know about The Jonas Brothers.

The Jonas Brothers consist of three brothers: Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas. At a young age, they were “discovered” for their singing and were signed to a contract that eventually saw them become part of the Disney entertainment empire. If you know anything about Disney and their young stable of stars, you will know that they all cross-pollinate on each other’s tv shows, they tour together in summer concert series, they all appear in movies and have merchandise deals and so on. The Jonas Brothers came to national attention when they made a guest appearance on Miley Cyrus’ show Hannah Montana. From there, the brothers released several songs that were hits with the teen crowd and which received airplay on networks dedicated to teens such a YTV in Canada. Sophie watched many of the Disney shows as she grew up and became familiar with the many stars that appeared. One star that she was drawn to was singer/actress Demi Lovato. When Demi appeared in the Disney movie Camp Rock, she began dating co-star Joe Jonas. Because they were a “couple”, Sophie did her due diligence, as she always does and began looking up information about Joe Jonas. This led her to The Jonas Brothers as a group. From there she became interested in their music and would listen to it while crafting or organizing in her bedroom. Needless to say, when word began to spread that The Jonas Brothers were releasing new music in 2019, Sophie, along with thousands of other fans, was excited. The song that was released was called, “Sucker”.

“Sucker” is a slick pop song. It debuted at #1 on the charts, making it only the 34th song in History to do so. “Sucker” is about a man who is being ” a sucker” for the charms of a woman he has just met. All three Jonas Brothers are in their twenties and all are now married. No doubt, their experiences at falling in love were still fresh in their hearts and minds and had influenced the creation of this song. As public figures, The Jonas Brothers care about their image in the eyes of their fans. So far, anyway, they have yet to do anything controversial and remain relatively squeaky clean, as befits young men who grew up as part of the Disney Entertainment Empire. When I mentioned to Sophie that there was a line in the song about “stumbling out of bars” and wondered if she thought that was something cool to do. She replied by saying, “Of course not! If I stumbled, I might fall and hurt my knees and dirty my pants!” As a parent, that answer suited me just fine.

In a world where some carefully crafted public images turn out to be complete works of fiction, The Jonas Brothers appear to be the real deal…..at least for now. I am happy that my crafting, baking, organizing, trend-setting, style-following daughter enjoys their music. Hopefully you will, too. In the video you are about to see, the three main females leads are, in real life, the three wives of the brothers. Here are The Jonas Brothers with “Sucker”. Enjoy.

The link for the official music video for Sucker by The Jonas Brothers can be found here. ***The lyrics version can be found here.

The link for the live version of Sucker by The Jonas Brothers can be found here. They are pretty slick showmen, I have to say!

A link to The Jonas Brothers website can be found here.

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