Adorably Naive People Share The Songs They Didn't Realize Were Wildly Inappropriate Until Much Later
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Music fans are taking to social media to confess their mistakes when it comes to misunderstood song lyrics. From classic Beatles tunes to hits from the '80s, here are the songs that were adorably misunderstood by fans young and old. Vote up the tunes that had you turned around.
More Naive People Share The Popular Songs They Didn't Realize Were Inappropriate Until Much Later >>
- Photo: Legacy
From Redditor u/thespillerr:
"Only the Good Die Young."
Grew up on Long Island, so naturally Billy Joel is/was heavy in the rotation of music my parents listen to. Thought it was just a song about how unfair it was that bad things happen to good people or something, then I listened to it one day when I was like 13 or 14 and realized, “Oh, this song is about how Billy Joel really wants to bang this super religious girl.”
- 287 VOTES
'Tutti Frutti' By Little Richard
So, apparently the song "Tutti Frutti" was written initially about gay sex, and the original lyrics were:
— We are the future, Charles — not them. (@DamoneWilliams_) October 20, 2021
Tutti frutti — good booty!
If it don’t fit — don’t force it!
You can grease it — make it easy!
😳😂Me finding out the original lyrics to Tutti Frutti were “Tutti Frutti — good booty 🍑” and they made him change it for mainstream audiences
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) March 16, 2023
Not Little Richard singing about Bussy in 1955 pic.twitter.com/BHsNOidh3Q - 368 VOTESPhoto: @FoldableHuman / Twitter
TIL Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” is about Courtney Love’s vagina.
— Christine Estima (@christineestima) June 23, 2021
“Broken hymen of your highness, I’m left black
Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back” pic.twitter.com/aFUCMCd8D9More Heart-Shaped Box
- #485 of 2,060 onThe Best Songs Of All Time, Ranked
- #11 of 14 on14 Songs You Didn't Know Were About Other Celebrities
- #3 of 59 onThe Best Nirvana Songs
- 454 VOTES
Me after realising shut up and drive was NOT about a car but in fact about sex: pic.twitter.com/GAYaL2JRXW
— Lolly 🪄 (@RedIsaStar) January 18, 2023 - 533 VOTES
'Swimming Pools' By Kendrick Lamar
Photo: Kendrick Lamar / YouTubeFrom Redditor u/MaxThrustage:
"Swimming Pools" by Kendrick Lamar gets played in nightclubs all the time, and I see it on a lot of playlists of "drinking songs" (technically not wrong), but it's highly critical of drinking culture and the way peer pressure leads to alcoholism.
- 645 VOTES
'Greensleeves'
Photo: @WhoresofYore / Twitter - 777 VOTESPhoto: @DidymusBrush / Twitter
Song Title: Don't Stop Me Now
— Son of Chaos (@Giovar16) February 11, 2023
Performed By: Queen
Written By: Freddie Mercury
UMG
Year: 1978
🎶I am a satellite I'm out of control
I am a sex machine ready to reload like an atom bomb
About to oh, oh, oh, oh, explode🎵
<Few songs bring me joy and nostalgia, this is one of them> pic.twitter.com/jb6Fl9xjZo - 842 VOTES
From Redditor u/Grey-Ferret:
"We Built This City" by Starship.
There's a lot to the story, but it's basically a big “F*** You” song to the city of San Francisco (or at least the city council at the time) for banning them from playing there in the 1970s when they were called Jefferson Airplane.
They already had big hits with “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love,” and were then told they couldn't even play in their own home town. The city council had banned "amplified" music and said something like, “You know, we built this city on orchestral music.”
LAWYER: "And on what did you build this city?”
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) June 19, 2021
STARSHIP: “we built this city… *voice breaks, loud sobs*
…we built this city on rock ‘n roll…”
LAWYER: “Exhibit G, your honour, the sinkhole under the hospital”
STARSHIP (*wailing*): “We never meant for this to happen!” - 939 VOTES
'Candy Man' By Christina Aguilera
Photo: Christina Aguilera / YouTubeFrom Redditor u/billbapapa:
"Candy Man" by Christina Aguilera
I thought she was so nice and sweet.
never forget when my godmother gave me a christina aguilera cd when I was 9 and my mum heard me singing the lyrics and confiscated it 💀 didn’t know candyman was about sex I just thought it was about sweets
— kitana (@kita_naa) April 2, 2020 - 1035 VOTESPhoto: One Direction / YouTube
SO MIDNIGHT MEMORIES IS ABOUT SEX?? I- WHAT
— lau (@ESNYL0UU) September 13, 2020One Direction was formed July 23, 2010. Before the band took sabbatical in 2015, they've made five albums and sold about 50 million records during their run. Their third album, 'Midnight Memories' talks about love, sex and cheating. In this essay I will
— s 🪽 (succession & barry spoilers) (@s0phja) October 31, 2019i can't believe one direction managed to make our 13 year old selves sing songs about sex right in front of literally everyone
— niña. pat's bff! (@REMLOUIES) August 20, 2020 - 1137 VOTESPhoto: @islamocommunism / Twitter / YouTube
I guess I was too busy shaking my side ponytail to the beat in the 1980s to realize the Pointer Sisters’ I’m So Excited is a song about sex. Why didn’t y’all tell me? Lol!
— Mekeisha Madden Toby (@mekeishamadto) September 20, 2022 - 1252 VOTESPhoto: Chrysalis
From a former Redditor:
"One Way or Another" by Blondie.
Debbie Harry wrote it about a time when she was being stalked by a nut case.
Blondie's "One Way Or Another" is my favorite song about criminal stalking
— Tim (@Playing_Dad) October 1, 2013For those mad about Stalker by Badflower here are other songs about stalking and obsession
— Kasper Snow (@sabotagedgrey) September 8, 2022
-Every Breath You Take by The Police
-One Way Or Another by Blondie
-You're Beautiful by James Blunt
-Don't You Want Me by The Human League
-Stan by Eminem (feat. Dido) - 1351 VOTESPhoto: Norah Jones / YouTube
You havent fully committed to passive aggression until ur sex playlist is just the Norah Jones song that's like don't know why I didn't come
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) February 29, 2016If your girlfriend always puts on Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why I Didn't Come" right after sex, she might be trying to tell you something
— Arjun Lal (@ArjunFromTO) March 20, 2015 - 1434 VOTESPhoto: @PlantHashira / Twitter
- 1568 VOTESPhoto: Michael Jackson / YouTube
From Redditor u/lil_nemo1:
“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson.
I never got why my mom didn't let me sing it for the third grade talent show.
From Redditor u/homerbartbob:
But the kid is not his son. What’s the problem?
More Billie Jean- #25 of 86 onMusic Fans Rerank Rolling Stone's Greatest Songs Of All Time
- #65 of 76 onCover Songs That Are Better Than The Originals
- #680 of 2,060 onThe Best Songs Of All Time, Ranked
- Photo: Bloodhound Gang / YouTube
From Redditor u/angrygrasshoppers:
"Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo" by the Bloodhound Gang. I was 12 when it came out, sang along to it on the car with my mom, saw the music video and thought it was funny as well.
Only took me about three years to figure it out.
