In my case I’ll say either Bloodhound Gang’s The Bad touch or Aqua’s Barbie Girl.
I mean… what the hell is “hanky panky”.
But for bonus points, I did also sing “take a walk on the wild side~” with no flying clue what “giving head” was supposed to be.
Wild Thing by Tone Loc
“Tone, let me tell you one thing I need fifty dollars to make you holler, I get paid to do the wild thing”
When I was a kid, Strokin’ by Clarence Carter was a super popular wedding song (at least where I grew up) and it had a fun line dance so we all knew every word and had no idea what it was about.
Next - Too Close
I recall my friends and I singing some of these lyrics when we were 11-12 with zero idea that it’s blatantly about a hard dick. The radio channel that played it didn’t come in too well where I lived, so we didn’t know 99% of the song, only the melody.
My stepson was always singing I Will Survive. Mentioned that was sorta the gay anthem. He was horrified. So he started singing YMCA instead.
That punchline got me real good.
Call me crazy, but him being horrified by that sounds like bad parenting…
Ring Around the Rosie
My Dingaling by Chuck Berry
Barbie Girl is cool though
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
I was 5 when it came out.
I’m sorry for violating your criteria, but…
6th grade, gym class, we are all doing this new thing called “aerobics” and that hot new song on the radio is playing. The song with the chorus “My angel is a centerfold”.
Then again, that’s the year we had sex-ed, so we kids knew that adults sexually lusted after each other, so … 🤷
That would be ‘Centrefold’ by J. Geils Band
When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, the gym teacher would play Mambo # 5 all the time… a song about boinking a different woman every day of the week.
Oh god, unrelated but more cringe school song memories: Assembly before high school prom introduced the football team for some reason.
To… let the bodies hit the floor, followed by I Stand Alone, which does not make any fucking sense as football is a team sport.
Ugh.
Dance Ten, Looks Three from A Chorus Line.
I’ll let you look it up. My relatives thought it was hilarious.
It’s pretty straightforward but I had to look it up: https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-dance-ten-looks-three-by-audrey-landers/
It’s amusing to me that overview never mentions the rather catchy hook (which was cause to clutch pearls in the era).
The version I grew up with on Youtube. Later versions softened the delivery a bit, but… yeah.
All the Linkin Park songs.
After he hung himself, it all makes sense.
Yeah that one was weird. Like the dude was always singing about being horrifically depressed, and then when he hung himself it was like surprised Pikachu face
In The End, Numb, Crawling, One Step Closer, Runaway, Place for My Head… motherfucker I hadn’t really thought to much about it before
Independence Day by Martina McBride is about murdering an abusive husband by setting the house on fire.
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia is about murder
Two.
*And his cheating wife had never left town
And that’s one body that’ll never be found*
When I was a kid I had a few albums of french singer Renaud who was a bit of an anarchist. So naturally the first CD I got next Christmas was a live album of his, which starts with a song called “where did I put my gun”. It’s uh… Maybe his most savage ever, with gems such as :
- “navy blue makes me want to puke, I hate work, justice and army”
- “military marches screw me up, and I’ll fuck your republic”
Good times…
OPP. - Naughty By Nature
Yeah you know me!
I had no idea what ‘OPP’ stood for as a kid, which is funny, because it’s right in the lyrics, but I was too young to understand what that meant. So I, too, would just belt that song out whenever it came on. Nobody stopped me, either.
Oh wow, I’m today years old when I found out what that means.
I’m pretty sure there’s never been an official definition for what it meant. I believe they claimed it stood for “other people’s problems” back in the day while other people said “other people’s pussy.”
The lyrics aren’t too ambiguous, I don’t think…
O is for Other, P is for People scratchin’ temple
The last P… well… that’s not that simple
It’s sorta like another way to call a cat a kitten
It’s five little letters that are missin’ here"
[…]
As for the ladies, OPP means something gifted
The first two letters are the same but the last is something different
It’s the longest, loveliest, lean- I call it the leanest
It’s another five letter word rhymin’ with cleanest and meanest
Now go back and watch Hilary Clinton’s Between Two Ferns interview, and let the layers of that joke unfold
Mezmerize was one of the first albums I ever owned around age 9. I knew almost every song by heart and would constantly sing along to them in the car. I have a vivid memory of singing this song in particular in the parking lot of the local mall when my dad finally decided to tell me what “cock” meant.
You’re telling me Serj wasn’t singing about a rooster??!
Edit meant to reply to the thread not your comment.
