My little sister was born in 1988. No sentence diagramming. She also got to take Ballroom Dance for PE. I’m still salty that marching band didn’t count for that in my day.

[-]

PassComprehensive425@reddit

Lol, they made me do all kinds of weird dancing. Including the minuet. When was that ever going to be useful?

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

I would’ve have loved the minuet, honestly. Better than the freaking triple jump during the Presidential Physical Fitness Test. (I can see running, but the fucking triple jump?)

[-]

gravitydefiant@reddit

I was born in 76 and have never diagrammed a sentence.

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

I was born in ‘72 and I haven’t, either. I just had an English book wrapped in the obligatory brown bag wrapper, as per usual, which my mom covered the front of with diagrammed sentences.

I thought it was hieroglyphs.

[-]

Capable_Mud_2127@reddit

Seems it depended on your school system. I moved and was introduced to this silliness late in life and had no clue what was going on.

[-]

Tim-no@reddit

What!?! That’s a crime, it’s supposed to be square dancing.

[-]

GreatOne1969@reddit

Trauma unlocked. Why was square dancing such a thing in elementary schools? Ugh.

[-]

NoOneKnowsMeAnywhere@reddit

Oh that’s cute. We didn’t do square dancing until high school. Lol

[-]

GreatOne1969@reddit

Late 70’s maybe 5-6th grade, in the lunch room, minus the tables. Sweating palms, all nervous kids. “He’s touching me!” 🤣 It was torture.

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

We did that at the house and especially on car trips. ‘She’s touching me.’ ‘You’re touching me!’

[-]

mommaTmetal@reddit

6th grade for me. We wanted to do the line dance to Amos Moses like the class before us. Nope- square dancing.

[-]

Professional-Bar9947@reddit

Square dancing was Ford's anti-Semitic and racist campaign to teach children "pure" American song and dance...vom.

[-]

flytingnotfighting@reddit

Literally, racism We square danced because fucking racism and I'm still mad about it

[-]

Alltheprettydresses@reddit

I had jazz. The Salty Dog Rag lives rent free in my head.

[-]

MikeW226@reddit

We square danced in my elementary school (1970's) and then on Saturday nights at our church. Full square-dancing schedule, back then.

[-]

tenzilk@reddit

To keep us off the jazz so we don't smoke the reefers!

[-]

Tim-no@reddit

lol! Come to think of it…… nope didn’t work.

[-]

I had to take a PE class that was Sports Appreciation. It was 2 weeks each of basketball, baseball, volleyball, track and whatever else they threw in. Hated that too. And marching band should have counted, yes.

[-]

JettaRider077@reddit

I preferred sentence diagramming to algebra problems, all day every day.

[-]

Wonderful-Power9161@reddit

Ohhhhh - I distinctly remember, as a kid, learning how to diagram sentences, thinking

"Man, I am NEVER going to use this..."

FORTY FIVE YEARS LATER, I took a Greek class in grad school... and BAM that diagramming sentence skill was needed after all.

Mrs. Thoren, you were a prophet

[-]

ebeth_the_mighty@reddit

And I went to a Francophone school in Manitoba—we had to diagram sentences in French AND in English…which use entirely different methods.

Why, yes, I am the Gramnar Police. Why do you ask?

[-]

flyingmando@reddit

I scrolled Reddit to find sentence diagramming, yet we skipped past Cyndi Lauper's proper congugation of "bop"? Wild. XD

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

I guess because she did it correctly so it didn’t register to us. Had she conjugated ‘bop’ incorrectly, you would’ve heard the sound of entire generation’s brains ‘skip’ much like a record.

gif

[-]

Taekwonmoe@reddit

Goddamn you for unlocking that memory. Forgot all about the diagram with the slashes and the branches and shit....lol.

[-]

CustomCarNerd@reddit

Don’t forget about that dangling participle…. 🫨

[-]

Taekwonmoe@reddit

_/_/_ _

[-]

ArcadianDelSol@reddit

\___

[-]

Taekwonmoe@reddit

it's so crazy because when I wrote it, it looked good but didn't display well. Might have been the proposition that messed it up.

I / hate / this

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

Preposition?

[-]

kiwihoney@reddit

Gah!

[-]

MorningAngel420@reddit

Whatever the fuck that was all about

[-]

Nomailforu@reddit

You’re evil for reminding me.

[-]

StellaBella70@reddit

Hate me, I dare you, but I LOVED diagramming sentences. I will say it's because the structures were so pretty in the end, but deep in my black heart, I admit it was because my classmates truly sucked at it and I finally got the chance to shine. Until gym class.

[-]

boringlesbian@reddit

Me too. My favorite part of 7th grade English.

[-]

mimtma@reddit

Hello everyone! 👋🏼

[-]

Grasshopper_pie@reddit

You and me both, girl. You and me both.

[-]

Taekwonmoe@reddit

People find beauty in all sorts of things I won't hate you for that. But it is one of those things that they taught us that ended up being absolutely useless ultimately. Almost like writing cursive. It's funny when my kids have a hard time reading cursive and it just comes second nature to me. Never thought cursive would be a dying art.

[-]

OwlEyesNiece@reddit

My people!

[-]

jingowatt@reddit

Are you me?

[-]

StellaBella70@reddit

.....pushes thick glasses up farther on nose... There are dozens of us, I'm afraid.

[-]

dandellionKimban@reddit

I loved it. I still think it's one of the best things primary school did to me, it's an excellent exercise for the brain.

[-]

gatorgopher@reddit

Oh, my God! Me too! I loved it.

[-]

Illustrious-Fox4063@reddit

I don't ever remember diagramming in English class but have trauma from doing it in Spanish II.

[-]

Former_Boysenberry45@reddit

Spanish teacher here. I made my Spanish 4 class diagram sentences in English because they had NO CLUE what the parts of a sentence were. After a day of that, they understood Spanish grammar a whole lot better! (But I think some of them still hate me for it lol)

[-]

PolkaWillNeverDie77@reddit

PREACH!

[-]

Apprehensive-Cat-421@reddit

My kids were teenagers that didn't know for to address an envelope or endorse a check. Forget actually write one...

[-]

CrowJane13@reddit

….Shit. You’ve just unlocked a painful memory I had blocked out.

Time to call my therapist.

[-]

Traditional-Panda-84@reddit

I’m sorry. Those kinds of teachers are the worst!

[-]

bluecanary101@reddit

Only on Reddit does a conversation about masturbation turn into one about diagramming sentences!

[-]

flytingnotfighting@reddit

Fuck. That. So. Much.

FUCK OFF, GERANDS, YOU PIECES OF SHIT

[-]

SuburbaniteMermaid@reddit

Nope, my kids did that in their classical charter school. It's not dead, just on life support.

[-]

Dramatic_Moon_Pie@reddit

[-]

trashman1326@reddit

Hmm - I have seen them in passing- but I had to look it up: never did sentence diagramming in either high school or college ….Must have been some Jedi mind trick…😎

(and this with a university professor for a father and growing up bilingual (mother from Germany)

It would have been useful in the foreign language classes (French and German [to learn proper grammar structure]) that I took…

[-]

lisanstan@reddit

I was taught diagramming sentences in elementary school.

[-]

SMDmonster@reddit

I wasn’t diagnosed dyslexic till college. Diagraming sentences legit was painful. When I read your comment I legit had a full body shiver of disgust.

[-]

Ok_Passage8433@reddit

Oh I was so bad at diagramming

[-]

mommaTmetal@reddit

But you know how to put a sentence together.

[-]

mommaTmetal@reddit

And the lack of diagraming sentences is why many have poor grammar. Grammar check doesn't always work.

[-]

GardenHobbit@reddit

Why did you make me remember that this early in the morning? You’re an animal.

[-]

westviadixie@reddit

I fucking loved diagraming sentences!

[-]

CenturioCol@reddit

I miss Sentence Diagramming

[-]

Pale-Owl-612@reddit

Nah, that's only when you do it in the city. ;)

[-]

ScreenTricky4257@reddit

It derives from Latin mas- (hand) and -turbare (thrust wildly). Master has a Germanic origin.

[-]

wildcard_71@reddit

Cuz it’s all about “you”

[-]

youhaveanicehouse@reddit

Mesturbation.

[-]

kiwihoney@reddit

Or MISSturbation, for some

[-]

Grasshopper_pie@reddit

MissTurbation if you're nasty.

[-]

MowgeeCrone@reddit

Sounds like the New Zealanders have entered the chat ;)

[-]

pippi_longstocking09@reddit

Yes!!! I love it.

[-]

revdon@reddit

Now she’ll be purterbed.

[-]

DynamiteWitLaserBeam@reddit

Erma gerd! ah'm purterbed!

[-]

ChronoMonkeyX@reddit

Not if you are REALLY good at it.

[-]

Waste-Account7048@reddit

I'm glad somebody said it.

[-]

SWNMAZporvida@reddit

🏆

[-]

the-largest-marge@reddit

Now watch the video.

[-]

freshcoffeegrounds@reddit

Tori Amos "icicle" from Under the Pink album as well. Amazing album btw.

[-]

stormer1_1@reddit

Legendary artist.

[-]

Caninetrainer@reddit

Her son is a rapist. That ruins her for me.

[-]

GarthRanzz@reddit

What about Prince's "Darling Nikki", The Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun", Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself", the Vapors' "Turning Japanese" or Billy Squire’s “The Stroke”? Masturbation was a whole sub-genre in the 80’s.

[-]

Big_Metal2470@reddit

We not gonna talk about Sister by Prince?

[-]

Slo-Mo-7@reddit

“Relax” Frankie Goes to Hollywood

[-]

Thatstealthygal@reddit

Oh honey that one was not about masturbation. It was about a related experience, perhaps.

[-]

blessed769501@reddit

CL said it was about that in an interview.

[-]

Thatstealthygal@reddit

Who is CL?

[-]

blessed769501@reddit

Cyndi Lauper- the og post

[-]

Thatstealthygal@reddit

But Cyndi Lauper didn't write or sing Relax, the song this thread was addressing. Relax is a song by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, which is famously not about masturbation, but about (probably gay) shagging.

[-]

blessed769501@reddit

The og post dealt with Cyndi Lauper. The comment was intertwined with both topics!!! It's nbd, geez.

[-]

IronAnchor1@reddit

Well, I mean, it says when you want to come, not anyone else...

[-]

Thatstealthygal@reddit

I was alive when it came out, and an adult, and the general consensus was that it was about taking it up the bum, when you have a prostate.

[-]

IronAnchor1@reddit

Fantastic! Hilarious! Well played. I was a kid when this came out, so the context of it came later.

[-]

KnitYourOwnSpaceship@reddit

"Everything I say is complete lies. Like, when people ask you what 'Relax' was about, when it first came out we used to pretend it was about motivation, and really it was about shagging."

— Mark O'Toole, Welcome to the Pleasuredome album liner notes

via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relax_(song)

[-]

redindiaink@reddit

And TAG which is an unlisted song on side A of Welcome To The Pleasuredome.

[-]

GarthRanzz@reddit

Ah, knew I forgot a big one!

[-]

Main-Elevator-6908@reddit

That’s what she said .

[-]

MikeW226@reddit

Are you here all week? Should we try the veal? Are our wait-staff working hard for us? ;O)))))

[-]

catnapspirit@reddit

More upvotes here, people..

[-]

Slo-Mo-7@reddit

“Whip it” Devo

[-]

SirRatcha@reddit

Naw. Devo is the most misunderstood political commentary band in history, though to be fair it’s because they took a dada approach to their art. “Whip It” is about not just being a spudboy and taking charge of your life.

[-]

ImInBeastmodeOG@reddit

That theme wouldn't fly today 😂

[-]

SirRatcha@reddit

Yes it would. It just wouldn’t have gotten radio airplay, but that’s fine. The best music was never on the radio.

[-]

ImInBeastmodeOG@reddit

Whatever

[-]

Calaveras-Metal@reddit

yeah it's a satire of self help books and tapes which were all the rage in the 70s and 80s. The upshot of most of those courses was usually a simple answer. So in the song they tell you no matter what the circumstance, just whip it.

[-]

Hagfist@reddit

🫡 fellow Spud 🧬♥️

[-]

merrysunshine2@reddit

…. That’s what she said - ba dum tss -

[-]

caramonwarrior@reddit

I remember that being about a pending fight, not masturbation...

[-]

Hot_Future2914@reddit

That was about BJs I thought

[-]

bored-panda55@reddit

The video takes place in a sex club. Pretty sure it’s about new sexual experiences.

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

This is obscure but Alien Sex Fiend - Hurricane Fighter Plane (Cockney goth/punks with synths)

"Got my hand in my pocket on my hurricane fighter plane.."

[-]

zionsXburner@reddit

Original by 60s Texas psych freaks the Red Crayola. Covered by a lot of bands. Personally I go for the Dwarves version

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

I had no idea that was a cover version!

[-]

zionsXburner@reddit

i dig that Alien Sex Fiend version too

[-]

temporary62489@reddit

TIL. Alien Sex Fiend was a very entertaining live show.

[-]

MoonageDayscream@reddit

Huh, I haven't seen a reference to that band in a while and I just mentioned them about an hour or so ago. Cool beans.

[-]

MarsKinnunen@reddit

I totally still say cool beans.

[-]

Glockenspiel-life32@reddit

I almost totally forgot about this band. I have the cassette tapes and records.

I gave up looking for them on streaming services.

[-]

Tribe303@reddit

That's awesome.

People misjudge them by the name. It's a married couple being campy and gothic/goofy. Love em! Caught them live in the late 80's and they were awesome. Mrs Friend runs the show.

[-]

teachthisdognewtrick@reddit

The Billy Idol one is a misconception. He wrote it after seeing a couple of girls at a nightclub dancing with their own reflections in the mirrors.

[-]

blessed769501@reddit

I watched in an interview once the video with him in the bed and going silly with the sheets was after a motorcycle accident and his legs were messed up and he couldn't perform how he wanted so they covered him up. I'm pretty sure that was about being happy alone 🤷‍♀️ I'm drawing a blank on the song name even tho it's playing in my head now lol

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

The motorcycle crash wasn’t until 1990. The song that came out after the crash was ‘Cradle of Love.’ I remember all of this pretty distinctly because I graduated from high school that May and my father had been in a near fatal motorcycle accident in March 1989. So, motorcycle accidents were/are sore spot.

Wear your helmet. This has been a PSA. 🙇🏻‍♀️

[-]

blessed769501@reddit

I'm sorry about ur dad. I'm glad he was given a second chance🫂🙏🏻. I definitely agree about the helmet. We have strict laws here..... I lost an uncle bc he didn't wear a helmet, but that was in Iowa. Luckily his daughter/my cousin survived. My exhub used to be a part of the fatality accident team (MAIT/Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team) with Highway Patrol and went to work a scene only to find out it was one of his best friends on his motorcycle pinned under a car😢....My ex has never been on another bike and neither has my stepdad. I personally hate them bc of where I live and how dangerous bike week can be.

[-]

Small_Dog_8699@reddit

False, it is about the music business and the cost of successfully

[-]

teachthisdognewtrick@reddit

He was asked about the song in an interview and he said it was about the girls dancing.

[-]

MikeW226@reddit

Off topic a bit, but Safety Dance was written after one of the Men Without Hats saw people slam-dancing at a rave and he was like, ooo, that looks dangerous.

[-]

Audrey_Angel@reddit

Exactly why I don't like to read too much into vague things.

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

Wait. Blister in the Sun??

Turning Japanese… I don’t think I ever understood the lyrics, so I get that I didn’t know that one. I can’t even think of the lyrics now, other than the chorus. Repetitive and a single damn line.

[-]

IGotOverGreta@reddit

It's such racist garbage. It references the closed eye, squinty faces people make when orgasming.

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

Thanks. I had a feeling but I guess I didn’t want to voice it. You’re right — absolute racist garbage!

I still don’t get Blister, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[-]

Beetso@reddit

Body and beats I stained my sheets I don't even know why

My girlfriend She's at the end She is starting to cry

Let me go on like a blister in the Sun Let me go on Big hands I know you're the one?

Really??? You don't get it. Read those lyrics again.

[-]

thisisntmyotherone@reddit

I get it now, sure. I never knew all the lyrics prior to you writing them out. I never bought the album, therefore I never read the liner notes. I never thought about looking up the lyrics, either.

When I’ve tried to previously, on lyrics.com, I had no luck. It never heard of any of the songs I entered. Right.

Thanks for writing the lyrics out.

[-]

Trandoshan-Tickler@reddit

It is really racist, but that wasn't the fault of The Vapors. When asked about the meaning of the song Turning Japanese, they seemed appalled that people thought it was about masturbation and said the song was aactually about when you're so obsessed over someone that you essentially become a different person. Nothing to do with touching yourself at all.

[-]

No_Act_2773@reddit

Touch Me - Sam Fox

[-]

Odd_Umpire_7778@reddit

We had great music in the 80’s.

[-]

BloodbuzzLA@reddit

Turning Japanese wasn’t about masturbation 😂

“While some popular myths suggested it was about facial expressions during orgasm, the songwriter, David Fenton, clarified that the phrase was simply a nonsensical, cliched way to describe his emotional transformation after a failed relationship…”

[-]

Trandoshan-Tickler@reddit

Thanks for helping me fight that myth. It seems pretty widespread. :)

[-]

GrumpyCatStevens@reddit

"The Stroke" isn't about masturbation - not in the literal sense, at least. It's about how people in the music industry flatter each other, or stroke each other's egos.

[-]

jingowatt@reddit

People have said The Reflex is but I think it’s just about getting an erection.

[-]

A_friend_called_Five@reddit

You are way off on most of these.

[-]

gamblinonme@reddit (OP)

Darling Nikki I knew but none of the others, completely clueless

[-]

kiwihoney@reddit

And if you’re old enough to remember, “Rosie” by Jackson Browne

[-]

FuckfacevClownstick@reddit

The Who “Pictures of Lilly”. Devo “Whip it”

[-]

scbalazs@reddit

Blister in the Sun is not about masturbation https://www.villagevoice.com/blister-in-the-sun-is-not-about-masturbation-a-talk-with-violent-femmes/

[-]

Trandoshan-Tickler@reddit

The Vapors have said that Turning Japanese is not about masturbation.

[-]

Small_Dog_8699@reddit

What did they say it was about?

[-]

Trandoshan-Tickler@reddit

That the song was actually about a guy who lost his girlfriend and is slowly losing his mind, becoming a completely different person, turning Japanese.

[-]

Nightwolf1967@reddit

The Longview by Green Day

Touch, Peel, Stand by Days of the New

[-]

oxgillette@reddit

Don't forget almost everything by Ivor Biggun.

[-]

DJDeadParrot@reddit

“Rosie” by Jackson Browne

[-]

bigpaparod@reddit

I mean the Divinyls wasn't exactly a masterpiece in subtlety and hidden messages in the lyrics lol.

[-]

2begreen@reddit

Turning Japanese? I really think so.

[-]

NeverEverMaybe0_0@reddit

The Stroke is about the music industry stringing artists along. Related, yes.

[-]

BontanAmi@reddit

Longview by Green Day

[-]

Kuildeous@reddit

At least "Darling Nikki" literally said masturbating. But....well, the others....

[-]

Tchio_Beto@reddit

Wait til you hear Chuck Berry's My Ding-A-Ling 😄

[-]

CommitteeTricky4166@reddit

What about Clarence Carter's "Stroking"?

[-]

stunneddisbelief@reddit

“Sure was hard swimmin’ cross that thing, with both hands holding my ding-a-ling-a-ling!”

[-]

Ok-Rock2345@reddit

Bring thstbthebfirst line of thensong she mentions she is thumbing through the pages of the Blue Boy magazine, ibthink itsnpretty obvious. Also, in the video, she pretends to have gone blind, which is what parents used to threaten kids with when they mastubated.

[-]

KissMyAlien@reddit

or the 50s song Lollipop is about a blowjob.

[-]

SonoranRadiance@reddit

I remember singing along to this when I was a kid!

[-]

Pyro_Bombus@reddit

Or Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti.

[-]

SubstantialPressure3@reddit

Good golly, miss molly

[-]

SubstantialPressure3@reddit

Mustang Sally

[-]

Secret-Asian-Man-76@reddit

YMCA, anyone? 😁

[-]

TopRevenue2@reddit

Mony Mony

[-]

Doorknob6941@reddit

Or Shake, Rattle, and Roll. And I quote:

"I'm like a one-eyed cat
Peepin' in a seafood store
I'm like a one-eyed cat
Peepin' in a seafood store
And I look at you
And you ain't no child no more"

[-]

SuburbaniteMermaid@reddit

Or Turning Japanese

[-]

darkest_irish_lass@reddit

Today I learned tutti frutti is risque. Was there parental outrage at the time?

[-]

bjtg@reddit

He sang lyrics in clubs that alluded to anal:

Tutti Frutti, good booty

If it don’t fit, don’t force it

You can grease it, make it easy.

Didn't make it onto the vinyl version.

https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/05/11/little-richard-tutti-frutti-gay-anal-sex-bumps-blackwell-charles-connor-death/

[-]

BabadookOfEarl@reddit

If it don’t fit don’t force it was a great track decades before, which he was referencing. It’s interesting to think about how hard censors were working to hold back reality, relegating it to the “party records” underground scene.

[-]

Trees_are_cool_@reddit

I doubt it. Probably went right over their heads.

[-]

MikeW226@reddit

He originally had the lyric as Tutti Frutti/Big Bootie. But Oh Rudy had to suffice.

[-]

samst0ne@reddit

I think it was actually “good booty”, which is even better

[-]

TheRealDoomsong@reddit

There’s an interview with Little Richard where he explains: “it was Tutti Fruity, good booty. Because it was good booty, and I was tired of people saying it wasn’t.”

[-]

MikeW226@reddit

Wow- the lubrication suggestions just after that in the original lyrics- woooo!

[-]

Designer-Mirror-7995@reddit

Lord, the flashback. That was one of my dad's most played songs, so I knew like all the words, lol. The warning NOT to sing it outside the house kinda tipped me off to the deeper meaning, lol, quite aside from the giggling embarrassment of hearing it. Only later (after marrying and developing my own "message" music list) did I start to wonder if he played it as "code" my mom understood - they didn't always get along well.

[-]

HamsterRight5500@reddit

Or The Conch Ain’t Got No Bone

[-]

Z-man1973@reddit

Or the Vapors "Turning Japanese"

[-]

Distinct_Damage_735@reddit

That one's actually a common misunderstanding. The idea that it's about masturbation or orgasm is basically middle-school urban legend; the writer, David Fenton, has specifically denied it.

[-]

redindiaink@reddit

Hokum blues!

[-]

nopanicitsmechanic@reddit

Thank you Sir. What a wonderful way to start the day!

[-]

Own_it_Polly4117@reddit

Hand in my Pocket? 😆

[-]

neveraninja@reddit

I knew it from day one

[-]

Winterwtch@reddit

I have known that since I first heard it...its a very catchy song! I purposefully play it at the bars...it surprises me how many people ask me who sings the song because they like it so much.

[-]

teejwi@reddit

Hah. I remember seeing an interview with her back when the song came out and she said something like "Boys bop and everyone knows it. Girls bop and nobody talks about it." or something like that - it _was_ 40 years ago, don't remember verbatim.

[-]

earthtobobby@reddit

I saw Cyndi on her most recent (and farewell) tour. She took a moment to talk about this song and that she had to explain the lyrics to her mom, lol.

[-]

AddlepatedSolivagant@reddit

I—don't—even understand—

[-]

Character-Twist-1409@reddit

Til

[-]

gldmj5@reddit

It was one of Tipper Gore's "Filthy Fifteen" songs that eventually got the Parental Advisory stickers on albums.

[-]

WHYohWhy___MEohMY@reddit

Get out!! Do you know the rest?

[-]

old-man-punk@reddit

Artist Song title Lyrical content

1 Prince "Darling Nikki" Sex/masturbation 2 Sheena Easton "Sugar Walls" Sex 3 Judas Priest "Eat Me Alive" Sex/violence 4 Vanity "Strap On 'Robbie Baby'" Sex 5 Mötley Crüe "Bastard" Violence/language 6 AC/DC "Let Me Put My Love into You" Sex 7 Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It" Violence 8 Madonna "Dress You Up" Sex 9 W.A.S.P. "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" Sex/language/violence 10 Def Leppard "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)" Drug and alcohol use 11 Mercyful Fate "Into the Coven" Occult 12 Black Sabbath "Trashed" Drug and alcohol use 13 Mary Jane Girls "In My House" Sex 14 Venom "Possessed" Occult 15 Cyndi Lauper "She Bop"

[-]

Due_Asparagus_3203@reddit

Spotify playlist!

[-]

weaselroni@reddit

lol Occult? WTF LOL

I forgot that was a thing. All those poor preschool teachers oh my gosh.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_panic

Thank you for the list and the laugh.

[-]

KissMyAlien@reddit

Divinlys- Touch myself

that oldies song Lollipop is about sucking dick.

[-]

old-man-punk@reddit

It was but it came out several years after the Filthy Fifteen and the PMRC.

[-]

Haunt_Fox@reddit

I don't think Venom did anything but "occult". 😹

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SutraCuPutovati@reddit

Darling Nikki, probably.

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mommaTmetal@reddit

Dee Snider spoke in Congress against that labeling and was a voice for the music industry in fighting the mandatory labeling so I'm going to assume there were some Twisted Sister songs as well. Not all the targeted music was about sex.

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thisisntmyotherone@reddit

So did John Denver!!

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MikeW226@reddit

NWA and Ice-T definitely got them.

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evilJaze@reddit

I think 2-Live Crew probably gave her an aneurysm.

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MikeW226@reddit

Tutti Frutti by Little Richard come up on here somewhere earlier. Check the original lyrics which were- "Tutti Fruitt/ Good Booty"...and the next line was recommendations on lubrication. She would have had a SECOND aneurysm reading that shit.

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1Pip1Der@reddit

F is for fighting, R is for red

Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed

E, we elect them, E, we eject them

In the land of the free and the home of the brave

D for your dying, O, your overture

M, will cover your grave with manure

This spells out 'FREEDOM', it means nothing to me

As long as there's a PMRC

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thisisntmyotherone@reddit

What is this from?

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vistaculo@reddit

https://youtu.be/2ZqYtb94GqU

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Lumpy_Tomorrow8462@reddit

This is why I still love the song “we love you, Tipper Gore” by FurnaceFace.

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MikeW226@reddit

Geez that woman needed a hobby.

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BeautifulFountain@reddit

She needed to bop more.

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MikeW226@reddit

I saw Gore at a campaign event once, and he made fun of himself by saying: "Al Gore doing the Macarena......." (and he just stood there, perfectly still and expression-less, to roars of laughter from the crowd). More bop, indeed.

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awmaleg@reddit

Just touch the Tip a bit , Tipper

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Virnman67@reddit

Fun fact. There are 2 dildo shops in Portland called She-Bop.

https://www.sheboptheshop.com/

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PDX_Weim_Lover@reddit

It's the best store in town for sex toys. Or so I've been told... 🤭

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Ok_Mention_3308@reddit

Speaking for a friend? 🤭

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MormorHaxa@reddit

And I’m happy to tell anyone who wants to know. Great shops, great products, great classes.

Sex positivity FTW!

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Lost2BNvrfound@reddit

Can confirm.

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PDX_Weim_Lover@reddit

Yesssss! 🩵💜💚

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LongjumpingNorth8500@reddit

I was gonna ask....for a friend...😎

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djdayer@reddit

Good to know. I am moving to that area later this month. Now I have a store besides Powell’s to frequent 🤣🤣

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skbugco@reddit

Can confirm.

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muddlebrainedmedic@reddit

Just wait 'til you figure out who Jackson Browne was singing about in Rosie.

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IceNein@reddit

The Beatles song Please, Please Me which was their breakout hit is a song complaining about his girlfriend not giving him a blow job:

I don't want to sound complaining (ah) But you know there's always rain in my heart (in my heart) (Ah) I do all the pleasing with you It's so hard to reason with you Whoa, yeah, why do you make me blue?

Please, please me, whoa, yeah, like I please you

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SkunkMonkey72@reddit

That i didn't hear about that one. Though I know "ticket to ride" is about how prostitutes in Germany get a clean bill of health so they can continue with their job...to ride.

Ticket to Ride - The Beatles

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Remmy555@reddit

Oh no we knew when it came out, it was the big 'tee hee' naughty thing

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77765876543@reddit

Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun

They claim it isn't about mb, but c'mon

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KaitB2020@reddit

I hadn’t heard the song in years. One day I was driving in my car listening to music on my iPod. She Bop came on & I’m just jamming while driving when it suddenly hit me what was being sung about. I nearly crashed!

Afterwards I made sure to only listen to the song with headphones on & not blaring in my car with the windows down.

This was a while ago. My iPod in this story was a new one I had saved up for. So early 00s. It was a few years after the original iPod had released.

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yurinator71@reddit

Michael Jackson Beat it

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dodadoler@reddit

Wait until you find out what the go gos were singing about

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Dr-Molly@reddit

My aunt told me what it was about when it first came out

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Appropriate_Smell833@reddit

I didn’t know either and that from my era, but then again my 20 yr old daughter had to tell me watermelon sugar was oral sex. lol

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Wyndeward@reddit

You're late to the party, but you ain't the only one.

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1Pip1Der@reddit

Let's not talk about Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, OK?

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Recent_Data_305@reddit

The Summer of ‘69 is not about 1969.

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Extension_Crazy_9910@reddit

Pictures of lily by the who.

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KayNicola@reddit

Well, I REALLY listened to the Little Red Corvette lyrics today. I used to sing this song when I was 6 years old. Didn't know WTF was going on for real. 🤣😅🤣

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_Silent_Android_@reddit

It certainly helps that the lyrics are full of metaphors and aren't totally intelligible.

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Imaginary-Race311@reddit

Look up Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel

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corgirl1966@reddit

To be fair, there is a line in She Bop about stopping before you go blind.

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Squido85@reddit

Yeah well I better get a chaperone, cause I can't stop messing with the danger zone.....

They say I better stop...or I'll go blind...

These are not subtle lyrics

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runningoutofwords@reddit

I've been enjoying Honest 2 Betsy's videos on YouTube where she plays and reacts to real historic songs going all the way back to the 20's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLWcCIdPQLk&list=PLeiq9bu7NfxtPrTjJXbY2kYPsmL2SM5O5

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fountainofMB@reddit

I never really thought about it. But thinking about the lyrics it makes sense,

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Spotboslow@reddit

I know now, and have known for years. I didn't know when it first came out....well, not until my mom saw the video and was like "hey, wait a minute...". 😱

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rexxraul@reddit

"They say I better stop or I'll go blind"

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gatorgopher@reddit

I saw this post earlier this morning and thought "yeah, I've heard that before, but I don't get it". Then I was getting ready for work and the song started playing in my head...sweet merciful crap! Of course it's about masturbation! "Can't stop messin with the danger zone...they day i better stop or I'll go blind"...ffs, I acknowledge that at 58 I'm still oddly naive sometimes but I didn't realize that stretched to obtuse!

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hanzobust75@reddit

In case you didn't know, "rock and roll" is a euphemism for fornication.

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ApprehensiveBus3302@reddit

Yes. You are the only one. In fact, almost every song is going to blow your mind. It’s all about sex and money. Buckle up.

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gamblinonme@reddit (OP)

That doesn’t bother me. I was just a kid listening to the jams and not paying attention to lyrics.

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Doorknob6941@reddit

Yep, it's about flickin' the bean.

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tunaman808@reddit

It's literally the first lines of the song:

Well, I see 'em every night in tight blue jeans

In the pages of a Blueboy magazine

Although I'll admit I didn't know Blueboy was an actual gay magazine until I saw a copy at "the convenience store on the edge of town that sold all the porn mags, various drug paraphernalia disguised as something else, and wasn't too picky about carding" that every metro Atlanta town seemed to have in the 80s.

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HugoNebula@reddit

For a completely different vibe, if you'll forgive the expression, her acoustic version from a few years back ([YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7yuzH4pCE8 is beautiful.

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DeviantHellcat@reddit

Another fun fact: Cyndi's mom was in the music video for She Bop.

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Apprehensive-Cat-421@reddit

I'm always the last to know :|

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Rand_Casimiro@reddit

My friends and I definitely understood back then

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im_joe@reddit

You'll love the Electric Slide.

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Historical-Gap-7084@reddit

You're not the only one. I didn't learn what it was about until I was in my 30s.

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Zooter88@reddit

“I don’t even understand”

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Kinda_ShouldaSorta@reddit

MyriVerse2@reddit

I'm not sure how this went under anyone's radar. She mentions "Blueboy magazine" ffs. MTV seemed to mention it as often as they could.

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Mommy-Dearest15@reddit

Yes, I think you might be the only one.

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JuJu_Wirehead@reddit

I knew this song was about masturbation in the late 80s or early 90s. She actually did an interview on Mtv telling people that's what it was about and why she wrote it. Around the same time Madonna was putting out her SEX book.

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ZakanrnEggeater@reddit

filthy fifteen, represent!

Fuck the P.M.R.C. 🤘🏻

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kindoaf@reddit

Well, they did point us to God music. Tipper's still a bitch.

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ZakanrnEggeater@reddit

that's how we all knew which ones were the really good records

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Tchio_Beto@reddit

... and gave us a must-have poster to put up in our dorms.

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Alarmed-Range-3314@reddit

VH1 told me years ago! They had a whole show about songs that were secretly controversial, and this was one of them. So weird!

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Typical2sday@reddit

You are the only one. It’s been thirty years. There are tons of articles and videos pre and post internet.

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SomeAcanthisitta173@reddit

No you were not the only one lol

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benbenpens@reddit

There are so many songs with hidden or double meaning. I had to explain to somebody that “Your Love” was about a guy cheating on his vacationing girlfriend.

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Ineffable7980x@reddit

Wow. Just wow.

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saintsuzy70@reddit

I watched a Cyndi Lauper on a talk show (maybe Dr. Ruth) yeeeeeaaaaaarrrrrssss ago, talking about it and how she would walk by her local radio station where the DJ had a window and just move her index finger in a “certain way” to get then to play the song.

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Randygilesforpres2@reddit

Um…

Blueboy was a gay men's magazine with lifestyle and entertainment news, in addition to photos of nude or semi-nude men. It was published monthly from 1974 to 2007. The Detroit Free Press described the publication as "a full-color, slick gay version of Playboy magazine." Blueboy.

She literally says “in the pages of a blueboy magazine” which I defined above. Which were basically wank fodder for anyone who enjoyed men.

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EIO_tripletmom@reddit

I’m sure I had no idea when I was little (I was only 7 years old when She’s So Unusual was released), but I puzzled it out later when I heard the “blind” line.

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Captain-Pig-Card@reddit

With your new insight, I invite you to enjoy the video. Too many references to list and I’d hate to spoil the fun you’ll have on your own.

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MasterAlchemi@reddit

I remember being on a school bus heading to some activity (probably 8th grade basketball in 1984) when some kid cranked up a boom box to “Big Balls.” Coaches frowned while the other kids lived it up. I was kind of mortified.

I had grown up in a sheltered life of old time country from my dad and AOR Simon & Garfunkel from my mom so clearly I had never heard anything like this. Kind of like getting out of dad’s car playing Convoy or mom’s car playing Summer Breeze, and some teenage rolls up with Let’s Put the X…

Anyway, I grew up, learned to love 80’s music, and my favorite band is ZZ Top. And then after listening to Pearl Necklace a few times—

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MikeW226@reddit

"My balls are always bouncing, from the left and to the right".

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Interesting_Cut_7591@reddit

I didn't know. And now I'm cracking up because when I was on the 6th grade drill team, we danced at half time to this song.

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P_i_g_P_e_n@reddit

Squeeze Box by The Who

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Trees_are_cool_@reddit

I knew this, but I had never read the lyrics. No question about it!

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Tim-oBedlam@reddit

I never realized that until it landed on the list of the Filthy Fifteen. Thanks, Tipper!

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majesticalexis@reddit

4am and I’ve already learned something new today.

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TheRateBeerian@reddit

I seem to recall even the MTV veejays talking about this song and what it was really about

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JanaT2@reddit

Hahahahhaa no I knew that when the song came out but I do love the beat

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Fitz_2112b@reddit

Ha! I just saw Cyndi Lauper about a month and a half ago and she opened with this song

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W0gg0@reddit

Well, I’m glad I never paid attention to song lyrics.

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BusPsychological4587@reddit

I knew it was about masturbation back then. I think I read it in Tiger Beat or similar, and then the video really made it clear.

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ValgalNP@reddit

😱I never knew that either!! OMG

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Skellington72@reddit

I also had no idea. Ill have to go back and listen to the lyrics now

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2HappySundays@reddit

Yes, just you.

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AMissionFromDog@reddit

they say if I don't stop, I'll go blind. ooh she bop, ooh she bop.

For your next revelation, by any chance have you looked into the subtle meaning behind the song Like A Prayer?

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gamblinonme@reddit (OP)

No way! I think I was just young and vibing to the beat not really paying attention to the lyrics

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AEM1016@reddit

Saw Cyndi Lauper on Saturday in her final concert and she was fabulous. And yes, She Bop is about masturbation. Cyndi is amazing and totally rocked it.

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GeistMD@reddit

I saw her last month, she was so impressive. I really wish I had seen her back in the day. If the energy she has now is any indication, she must have been mind-blowing back then.

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Small_Dog_8699@reddit

I so love her and all her work

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Osopawed@reddit

Never heard it, watched the video, I now feel like I've caught up a little with GenX's trauma, I understand us better now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFq4E9XTueY

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SeatSix@reddit

Sheena Easton's sugar walls

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reapersaurus@reddit

While we're listing songs of this nature, the best pop song of all time about a guy's D is Jellyfish's "He's My Best Friend".

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KittenFace25@reddit

Holy shit, it is? Lol, I had no idea either. 😆

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saint_ryan@reddit

Blister in the sun?

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scbalazs@reddit

Not https://www.villagevoice.com/blister-in-the-sun-is-not-about-masturbation-a-talk-with-violent-femmes/

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satyrday12@reddit

Gordon Gano said it wasn't about masturbation

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JerkyBeef@reddit

Big Hands

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Independent-Low6706@reddit

I know you're the one

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Thats-what-I-do@reddit

Body beats

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Oldebookworm@reddit

Oh, wow, really??

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merrysunshine2@reddit

think I learned that from a vh1 pop up video 😂

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Roguefem-76@reddit

Now there's a show that deserved to be on for much longer!

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lovemesomezombie@reddit

I learned that when I was around 18 l. My friend and I were driving around as one does, looking for parties at the beach when the song came on. My friend was drunk and started yelling, "EVERYBODY BOPS!" out my car window.

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run_squid_run@reddit

ZZ Top had Tube Snake Boogie and Pearl Necklace

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QueenVell@reddit

I thought it was about sex, not masturbation.

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Worth_Fondant3883@reddit

My gen ex partner, who is a year older than me, is on board with you. I'm about to show her the vid again, see if she has any takeaways from it lol. So don't feel alone.

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ricekrispytweet@reddit

What the what?!?!

[-]

DJDeadParrot@reddit

Fun fact: Cyndi was naked in the studio when recording the vocals for this track.

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Ok_Passage8433@reddit

I had no idea but then I’ve never been a Lauper fan.

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nutmegtell@reddit

Summer of 69 is about doing 69. Not the year lol

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1upjohn@reddit

Tipper Gore knew.

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Audrey_Angel@reddit

I still didn't know, now I guess I do

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prayingforrain2525@reddit

Nope. I didn't know either until recently.

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auntieup@reddit

I don’t even understand

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Daienlai@reddit

Nope, you aren’t the only one. I innocently thought (and still kinda think) it’s just about a manic pixie girl being herself

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skbugco@reddit

Manic pixie girls were my jam. As a Mormon teen when this song everywhere, I just thought it was catchy, and Cyndi was super cute. Didn’t figure it out until later.

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BeDeviledDevotchka@reddit

I didn’t realize what it was about until many years later. The part I find most amusing about is that when it was first out we used to sing the “they don’t even understand” line as “I’m not wearing underpants”. Which kind of works for the actual topic of the song.

[-]

DaveFoucault@reddit

Me and my friends realised at the time just through singing the lyrics. They are pretty straightforward…

Well I see them every night in tight blue jeans
In the pages of a blue boy magazine
Hey, I've been thinking of a new sensation
I'm picking up good vibrations
Oop she bop, she bop

Do I wanna go out with a lion's roar
Huh, yea, I wanna go south and get me some more
Hey, they say that a stitch in time saves nine
They say I better stop, or I'll go blind
Oop she bop, she bop

She bop, he bop, a we bop
I bop, you bop, a they bop
Be bop, be bop, a lu bop
I hope He will understand
She bop, he bop, a we bop
I bop, you bop, a they bop
Be bop, be bop, a lu she bop
Oo oo she do, she bop

Hey, hey they say I better get a chaperone
Because I can't stop messin' with the danger zone
Hey, I won't worry, and I won't fret
Ain't no law against it yet
Oop she bop she bop
She bop, he bop, we bop...

[-]

bigpaparod@reddit

Also see "Dancing with myself" by Billy Idol

[-]

AmyKittiesGalore@reddit

That's funny because we have a woman owned sex shop in my city called SheBop but I never really thought about it in regards to the song

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blessed769501@reddit

I'm 48 now and was a HUGE CL fan growing up and didn't realize it til my 30s lol

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Reader47b@reddit

I mean...it's not subtle. LOL.

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TwistedMemories@reddit

She talked about that in some interviews she did.

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KISSALIVE1975@reddit

🤣🤣🤣 Seriously??? The Lyrics Are Obvious, And Cyndi Talked About It Openly On MTV During Interviews…

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Miserable-Beyond-166@reddit

Yes I heard it was about masturbation. We got all the news in my school.

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waywardgirl25@reddit

I, too, took a real long time to find this out but if you watch the music video again it’s blatantly obvious, I was just a naive kid

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roughlyround@reddit

don't get me started about Depeche Mode. I was very naive apparently.

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MeasurementStill5997@reddit

Oh no…what about Depeche Mode??

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Dexter_McThorpan@reddit

"Nasty Habits" is one of my favorite Oingo Boingo tracks. "Everybody Needs" is another good one.

And literally every Zappa song.

Tomorrow is gonna be 80s songs about masturbation day on the shop stereo.

[-]

Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit

Huh. Now that I think about it....

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Kim_possible91768@reddit

I didn't know either.

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traveling_gal@reddit

I learned this just last month, from this sub, the day I was going to her concert! I think the post got deleted for being "off topic" or something. But as it turned out, she opened with She Bop and it made me so happy!

So no, you're not the only one who missed it!

[-]

hatred-shapped@reddit

So is kill yourself by SOD. Oh the memories

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heather3113@reddit

7th grade we had to pick a song to create a video for. Teachers let us use She Bop, likely not knowing themselves what it was about, and i didn't know until I was in my 30s

[-]

Specialist_Stop8572@reddit

lol, yes, this has been well known for a long time

coincidentally, this was the very first 45 I ever owned

[-]

Chiron008@reddit

Wow.

[-]

Cajunmamma@reddit

Today years old for most of these songs-except she bop & turning Japanese.

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Entrepreneur-Exact@reddit

me too, I didn't read that much into songs, just wanted to dance and have fun.

[-]

Moonchildbeast@reddit

I only knew it because some magazine article said so, a long time ago. How would you ever just KNOW from hearing the basically nonsense lyrics? This song was a hit when I was 11 and it definitely didn’t mean anything to me like THAT. I think the PMRC had dirty minds and wanted to stop others from enjoying that. 😃

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