Music used to be more subtle in the 70's & 80's. What song had a meaning that went WAY over your head?

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evility@reddit

Captain Jack by Billy Joel. It’s not subtle, but I was 6 years old.

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Entire-Flower1259@reddit

They did the video specifically to make you think that.

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I think it's more an age and understanding thing. When you're young you don't really know. I have a 14 year old and even some of what sounds overt he doesn't get it. Yes some songs are blatant, but I don't think its generational I think it's the audience level of experience and understanding.

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shifty808@reddit

Superstar by the carpenters

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small-gestures@reddit

Wait what? What’s it about then???

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trekgrrl@reddit

That one is more subtle (I think Bette Midler's version is less so), but it is about a groupie singing about the musician who came through town with whom she fell in love/slept with. The Carpenters changed a lyric of, "and I can hardly wait to sleep with you again," to "be with you again..."

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small-gestures@reddit

Luther sings it the same way. But now “before the second show” makes more sense. I thought it was like an old time radio-show type reference. Like the second hour of the radio broadcast. Man I was working overtime to make that fit! I am listening to it as soon as I am done with this and my head is now going to explode when I hear it.

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retiredsloth6969@reddit

My Sharona. Holy Shit....

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hundredgrandpappy@reddit

Billy Idol’s Cradle of Love. No clue what it meant until later on.

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Rahshoe@reddit

"She Bop" by Cindy Lauper ---- I had no idea it was about masterbation until about 15 years ago!!

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meschatetmoi1957@reddit

Well, I just found out today!!

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Nice_Cost_1375@reddit

I was 28 in 1999 when I figured out "Little Red Corvette" was NOT about a car.

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RawAsparagus@reddit

Wait, what?!

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Iron_Chic@reddit

"I'mma try to tame your little red love machine!"

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mrsbeeps@reddit

You must be a limousine

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shouldernauts@reddit

You had a pocket full of horses Trojan and some of them used

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S99B88@reddit

Oh boy. Look at those lyrics and you will get it. I think most of Prince’s songs were about sex.

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Rahshoe@reddit

Say what now? Are you about to destroy another part of my youthful innocence?

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grumpymac@reddit

I’m 53 and right now you just destroyed my innocence about that song 😂

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UniqueIndividual3579@reddit

Summer of 69 was not about the year.

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ldefrehn@reddit

Wait. Seriously? I’m 51 … I genuinely never thought it was referring to THAT. Are we sure?

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Caco-Becerra@reddit

At the end, it says clearly "me and my baby in a 69"

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sarcasticbaldguy@reddit

It's both. Brian Adams has said that it's what you think it is, a nostalgic song about youth, but he chose 69 intentionally.

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UniqueIndividual3579@reddit

Bryan Adams confirmed it.

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ldefrehn@reddit

Gah!!!!!! Ok, I’m going back to bed … that’s enough Internetting for today!

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orangeyouabanana@reddit

Born in the USA. I was born mid 70s so assumed it was a patriotic song.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

No Politics - Political posts or comments of any sort are not permitted. If you wish to have political discussions, you may do so on our other sub r/GenXPolitics.

Breaking this rule may result in bans, either temporary or permanent.

Before you make the claim: No, providing respite from political discussions does not infringe on your rights.

Also, this politics ban was put before the sub over a year ago, and members have spoken.

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Kriscrn@reddit

YMCA by The Village People

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Zaltara_the_Red@reddit

What is it about? It's not about the youth center???

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Kriscrn@reddit

It’s about young men doing whatever they feel.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

Young Man!

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dogpak@reddit

In a sense, it is.

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InDaFamilyJewels@reddit

“Afternoon Delight” was completely missed by me until Arrested Development made it so obvious.

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_Go_With_Gusto_@reddit

I prefer the he more succinct "nooner".

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Ok-Actuator8579@reddit

Oh.haha. Same

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Ok-Actuator8579@reddit

Specifically remember Singing let’s get physical and Billy Squires “stroke me stroke me” and my baby sitter giving me the side eye. 😂

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pavalooch@reddit

Afternoon Delight

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ViewfromMyOfcWindow@reddit

This is always my answer. I was convinced it was about ice cream 😂

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Esau2020@reddit

What flavor? 😁 🍦

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deetman68@reddit

And on the Subject of Ice Cream—“Ice Cream Man” by Van Halen.

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Melodic_Caramel1777@reddit

I was 6 when this was on the radio and thought it was about fireworks because the bicentennial was that summer.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

well, the bridge of the song does clarify it for the slower amongst us:

Please be waiting for me, baby, when I come around

We could make a lot of lovin' 'fore the sun goes down

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foosballallah@reddit

This one didn’t go over my head but I bet it went over my parents heads. If You See Kay by April Wine.

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deetman68@reddit

Much later, Britney Spears had ‘If You Seek Amy’, so the idea that double entendres died in the 2000’s and beyond just isn’t true.

It’s not a good song, but I immediately thought of the April Wine song when I heard it! 🤣

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Jld114@reddit

I was convinced Papa Don’t Preach was about a boyfriend, not teen pregnancy

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schmearcampain@reddit

“Papa don’t preach, I’m keeping my baby” isn’t really subtle 😂

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Hayday-antelope-13@reddit

Plenty of people call their significant other Baby. I also thought it was about a boyfriend her parents were trying to break her up with - to be fair I was pretty young when this song was popular

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Chesterlie@reddit

I used to argue with my Dad about this. He said ‘baby’ was referring to a boyfriend. I thought he was dumb.

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jimmytwo57@reddit

Chain reaction sung by Diana Ross is very rude

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birdbrainedphoenix@reddit

I mean, the lyrics spell it right out, but it was years n years before I realized that "Lola" by the Kinks was about picking up a cross-dresser in a bar. I was such an innocent kid lol.

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InDaFamilyJewels@reddit

So glad I’m not the only one.

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gp66@reddit

"Come on Eileen" - Dexy's Midnight Runners

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DynastyZealot@reddit

Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin. Once you realize Rock and Roll was a euphemism, it makes a lot more sense why it's been a long, lonely time since he's rock and rolled.

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SMA949@reddit

Definitely let’s get physical. My mom loves to tell the story of me turning 6 and at my birthday party at the skating rink that was the song I requested for my birthday skate. I literally thought it was about working out. Also I was 8 when Like a Virgin came out- loved it- it was one of the first tapes I got. Had no idea what a Virgin was lol.

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Hayday-antelope-13@reddit

I was also a young Madonna fan. Papa don’t preach also went completely over my young innocent head

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NatashaMuse@reddit

In fairness, she does wear a workout outfit on the album cover 💪

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BSCPantherfan@reddit

It’s late 60’s but “Yummy Yummy Yummy” by Ohio Express. I heard it as a kid and thought nothing of it until I got to high school.

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Keyser_Kaiser_Soze@reddit

Wait, I haven’t heard that song since the 70s when I was a kid. Whats the rest of the lyrics?

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BSCPantherfan@reddit

Yummy, yummy, yummy I got love in my tummy and I feel like a-lovin' you Love, you're such a sweet thing, good enough to eat thing And it's just a-what I'm gonna do

Sounds sweet and innocent but …😳

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scruffmonkey@reddit

Turning Japanese by the Vapors

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tmmao@reddit

TBH, all of them. Took decades to figure out “Dancing with Myself”

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Zaltara_the_Red@reddit

Omg I just read the lyrics and HAD NO IDEA! makes total sense now. Blown away.

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DaddyOhMy@reddit

How about "Turning Japanese"?

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Bookem25@reddit

That I just learned from my buddy. No clue. Just thought it was catchy. I can’t listen anymore lol.

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life-is-thunder@reddit

And "She Bop"

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totcczar@reddit

And… it took me until now.

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Umeyard@reddit

She Bang. I thought it was was about head banging like to heavy metal

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mnreco@reddit

"Afternoon Delight" - For the longest time, I got "skyrockets in flight" line confabulated with another song at the time ("Up, Up, and Away") so I assumed it was about hot-air balloons or something.

"Afternoon Delight" is most definitely not about hot-air balloons.

I also didn't realize this until I was in my 20s.

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No-Win-2741@reddit

When I was like seven or eight, so 1974 75, in the JCPenney in the mall we went to they had a jukebox. This jukebox had afternoon delight on it. And you didn't need coins so if we were shopping I would play that song on constant rotation. Had no idea what it was about! Don't think my mom did either because she had no problem with me playing that song.

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Western-Poet-1239@reddit

Hahahaha!!! ☝️This!!!! I can remember cruising the roads standing up on the front bench seat of a station wagon next to my mom who was driving. We were singing this one at the top of our lungs. And I was maybe 4 or 5 at the time.

Heard the song again in my late teens and was floored when I gave it a listen! Definitely not about fireworks. Or maybe a different kind of fireworks!!

Great memories! Thanks @mnreco for reminding me of that!!

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Quick-Cartoonist-574@reddit

Sledgehammer - it’s all about his D!

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CommitteeBig1581@reddit

I learned of this in recent months and I was 12 when that song came out!

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JaxBoltsGirl@reddit

And how many of us didn't realize the Grease soundtrack that we sang along to as kids was so filthy?

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sarcasticbaldguy@reddit

Tell me more tell me more

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Swmboa@reddit

So so so many. I hear a new oldie every week and have a “TIFO what ____ actually meant in that song I naively sung in my preteen and teen years.”

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egret_society@reddit

Fuck like a beast by wasp. What was that song about anyway?

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LordChefChristoph@reddit

Live in the Raw is the greatest live album ever. LONG BEACH ARENA, THEY HAVE RETURNED. FOR THE FINAL NIGHT OF OF THEIR 1986-87 WORLD TOUR. THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS BAND IN THE WORLD... WASP!! Blackie has some lungs baby.

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LordChefChristoph@reddit

Put it on seconds later. Just got to your part. Sexual perverts according to Balckie LAWLESS! I'M BLIND IN TEXAS!!

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NebraskaCornSucker@reddit (OP)

Maybe not all of them were subtle. 😄

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fourthelifeofme@reddit

I could never remember if they were Satan's people or sexual perverts

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Legal-Challenge7578@reddit

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: "Relax"

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

he literally sings:

Relax, don't do it

When you want to suck it, chew it

Relax, don't do it

When you want to come

and

Relax

Don't do it

Relax

When you want to come

Come

I'm coming

I'm coming, yeah

Relax, don't do it (Once you're inside of me)

Even a 10 year-old me got that this song was dirty.

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Sea_Measurement_1654@reddit

It was gibberish to me till now!

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Frankenrogers@reddit

Me too. Up until right now I thought it was “when you wanna sock it to it” not “when you want to suck it chew it” haha.

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Legal-Challenge7578@reddit

Yep. Same here!

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Legal-Challenge7578@reddit

Bully for you, I guess.

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

Was come on Eileen dirty? Seems maybe.

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ShoNuff3121@reddit

Bertha

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VeeLund@reddit

I remember my older brother insisting the ZZ Top line “money for nothing, chicks for free” was “checks for free”. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure it was about getting sex for free.

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LeopardCoin@reddit

in your defense, Mark Knopfler's guitar does sound like ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons

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ChiliSama@reddit

First of all

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kbivs@reddit

That's a Dire Straits song, not ZZ Top. Sting sings back up.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

I want my MTV

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GuitarHeroInMyHead@reddit

Not only do you have the band wrong, but that is not what the song is about.

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VeeLund@reddit

Oops, got the band wrong. Give the old broad with brain damage a little mercy 😂. I’ve never been good with which group did what.

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Photobuff42@reddit

Okay

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Photobuff42@reddit

Not ZZ Top.

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VixxSynn@reddit

Except that was Dire Straits…

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HardcaseKid@reddit

*Dire Straits.

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JackSkell049152@reddit

My experience is kids under 12 rarely listen to lyrics, just fixate on their favorite musical aspect of the song.

I quit paying attention to popular music in the middle 2000s (b 1969) but noticed the death of the double entendres well before then.

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small-gestures@reddit

Ok after reading the comments it’s pretty clear the music wasn’t subtle, we were all too young, too dumb or just weren’t investing a lot of effort in paying attention to all the lyrics of every song.

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liddybuckfan@reddit

That's what I thought before I even got to the comments. We didn't get it because we were too young, not because Afternoon Delight was particularly subtle.

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Emotional_Oil6160@reddit

Copacabana

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Breakfastclub1991@reddit

They fell in love

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JuJu_Wirehead@reddit

You were just more naive when you were younger. Dancing in the Sheets and I Want Your Sex were anything but subtle.

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IBovovanana@reddit

You mean Dancing in the street?

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minlillabjoern@reddit

No, this was a one-hit wonder by Shalamar.

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Far_Animal6970@reddit

Off topic, but Shalamar was FAR from a one hit wonder. Shoot your shot? Second time around? A night to remember?

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abbagodz@reddit

And don't forget 'Dead Giveaway'. Love that song.

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IBovovanana@reddit

Oh yeah! From footloose right?

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Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit

Or the DiVinyls 🎶When I think ^about you I touch myself …🎶

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Chibi-Skyler@reddit

🤣My 60-something mom and I were out running errands one day when than song came on the radio. It was already at the second chorus, we were stopped at an intersection, and all of a sudden, Mom said, "WHAT did she just say?!?!"

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Major_Zucchini5315@reddit

Bad Girls by Donna Summer

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S99B88@reddit

Ok this was 90s I think, but Closing Time by Semisonics isn’t just about a bar closing, it’s about childbirth.

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Teammx112@reddit

Walking On A Thin Line by Huey Lewis & The News. When I was younger I thought the song was about the boy next door who fell in love with his neighbor but couldn't seem to win her affection(don't you know me I'm the boy next door). Turns out the song the song is actually about a man who comes from from Vietnam with a severe case of PTSD. Which makes way more since when you pay attention to the lyrics. Absolutely great song though.

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

Hardly subtle. “Taught you how to shoot to kill, a specialist with a deadly skill”

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Teammx112@reddit

I was 11 when that song came out and hardly knew anything about the Vietnam War. I just liked the catchy chorus. Like I said, it made much more sense when I got older and really paid attention to the lyrics. And the little gunshot sound right after that particular lyric.

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SamHandwich0@reddit

Hey 19 by Steely Dan

I mean, some older dude getting a young girl f'd uo on Tequila and cocaine....i gues they just wanted to 'skate a little lower now'

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Decent-Plum-26@reddit

I’ve read an interpretation that the song is about an older loser guy’s failed attempt to woo a younger woman, then he realizes “we’ve got nothing in common,” things happen, and then the guy ends up alone drinking Cuervo and doing coke.

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IndependentOffer4343@reddit

I read somewhere that the "fine Columbian" actually refers to weed, not cocaine.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

that’s exactly what they said it was about

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SamHandwich0@reddit

I could see that. He starts out talking about 'back in 67' when he was in college and is now definately older and trying to relive his youth with a 19 year old that he diesn't understand. The 'so young and willing' line would be problematic for todays kids im sure- implying that this 19 isnt so 'willing'.

The funny thing about SD is it's so smooth and overproduced with a jazz sensibility that it sounds very sophisticated and adult, but it's really just 80s white guy pimp music.

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Lafinfil@reddit

Almost all SD songs are about sex, except the ones about drugs,or the others about sex and drugs.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

that’s something they have in common with pretty much any rock band

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

What about the caves of Altamira ?

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Research_Liborian@reddit

Great example! Best example: "Everyone's gone to the movies"... A HS teacher bangs a school student on an overnight trip, set to an insanely catchy, hooky beat.

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minder125@reddit

I thought it was about watching "adult movies" at some creepy guys house.

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minder125@reddit

Pretty much all Steely Dan songs are hiding disturbing scenarios.

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Arglebarglor@reddit

I mean, the band is named after a brand of vibrator.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

my favorite is probably Peg. I really love those foreign movies.

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arothmanmusic@reddit

My wife says Steely Dan is "what older guys put on the stereo when you come over to their apartment so you'll think they're sophisticated before they try to get in your pants."

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

yes, but it’s also legitimately great jazz rock

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FleetAdmiralCrunch@reddit

One of my friends calls it creepy uncle rock. Lol

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Lafinfil@reddit

Bought my first Steely Dan album when I was 15 years old and didn’t even have my own room

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DaddyOhMy@reddit

Considering the origin of the band's name, it's not surprising that a lot of their songs are about sex.

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SamHandwich0@reddit

Lol- those crazy old dildos

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

steely Dan has nothing on bad dragon

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analogpursuits@reddit

Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Catchy tune, but what the hell is all that about?

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MixCalm3565@reddit

Wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night ...I had no idea lol... I thought douches might need to be wrapped up for storage or something like that.

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RawAsparagus@reddit

A deuce is a 2 cylinder motorcycle

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Annual_Duty_764@reddit

Actually, it’s a deuce coupe, often hot-rodded for bootlegging. I think it might have been Springsteen’s teenage dream car.

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analogpursuits@reddit

Yeah, 7 year old me wouldn't have had a clue. 😅

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sydbarrett@reddit

Actually written and performed first by Bruce Springsteen.

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analogpursuits@reddit

Oh gawd, that's right. Forgot he originally did it. Ok still, WTF is that song about? I could do the googles, but I'd rather leave it a mystery, as it has been my entire life. 😂😎

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Peloton72@reddit

“Cocaine” was pretty subtle. 😂

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ChavoDemierda@reddit

I'm one of the few who still thinks that JJ Cale's version is way better than Clapton's cover.

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spunquee@reddit

hard agree, fuck clapton

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

Clapton covered 16 Cale songs and even made a record with him. It would have been better as a Cale project. IMO.

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NebraskaCornSucker@reddit (OP)

Thanks. Now I can't unhear that guitar riff.

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Peloton72@reddit

You’re most welcome! 😂

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Stereo_Jungle_Child@reddit

Since I've gotten older, I no longer think that Bruce Springsteen's song "Pink Cadillac" is about cars.

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Krissy_ok@reddit

What is it about?

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Stereo_Jungle_Child@reddit

It's about vaginas.

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Krissy_ok@reddit

Ohhhhhhh lol thank you

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steelstringstinger@reddit

Also Aretha’s “I’m Going Riding on the Freeway of Love in my pink Cadillac”. Not exactly subtle when I think about it 😆

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HistorianJRM85@reddit

I thought "hotel california" was about an actual hotel....

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VixxSynn@reddit

I used to live in the town that song was rumored to be about. The rumor was that the Eagles' "Hotel California" was about the Camarillo State Mental Hospital. It’s a popular urban legend, but it is false. The Eagles have stated the song is an allegory about the excesses, hedonism, and escapism of the 1970s American dream. Nonetheless, it was a popular field trip in the80’s, and the tour guides would explain particular details of the song in relation to the hospital.

It was explained that the hospital was a place of rehabilitation and a retreat of sorts, and people speculated that it inspired the lyrics “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” Camarillo, California, was indeed (at the time, not currently) “down a dark desert highway” and the massive psychiatric facility operated from 1936 until it closed in 1997. It was known for its distinct Mission Revival architecture and bell tower. Now it has been redeveloped and opened as California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) as of 2002. The university retained much of the original, distinctive architecture.

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punkarama@reddit

It was about Zelda Fitzgerald wife of Scott ( Great Gatsby) and her hedonistic lifestyle which ultimately led to her being committed.

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VixxSynn@reddit

Wellllll…according to the Eagles, no…but that’s kind of the fun of song lyrics, we can interpret them in different ways and still enjoy the same song! But if you were in Mr. Crowe’s high school psych class, and went on that tour, you sure believed it was the ballad of the mental institution!

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TruthOnLifeSupport@reddit

Turning Japanese. I had no idea.

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Individual-Army811@reddit

I had a boss who used to say she was turning Japanese when she was stressed. She would routinely walk i to meetings and proudly announce it to a room full of men.

Ew. For the record, she goes down in history as the weirdest boss I've ever had. One of us liked her much, so never let her know why we all thought it was so funny.

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regeya@reddit

My parents listened to country music almost exclusively when I was a kid and so much of what was played on country radio then was about drinking and infidelity. Some of the infidelity wasn't even subtle.

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

Like long black veil by lefty

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devious_204@reddit

And epic violin battles

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Photobuff42@reddit

Don't forget the train...and prison!!!

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Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit

Be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy, and they’ll be nice to you.

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Winter-eyed@reddit

I don’t know that they were more subtle. Maybe she-bop was subtle

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Arglebarglor@reddit

I think we were all like 10 years old and had no point of reference for many of these songs.

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

You’re breaking my heart by Harry nilson. Not exactly subtle.

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SockBrewer@reddit

Cocaine by Clapton lol

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GenX-Kid@reddit

2112 is about a kid rebelling against his parents. The parents (priests) have taken care of everything. The boy finds his own voice in music (an old guitar). The parents say rock and roll sucks. The boy is devastated (kills himself) then Rush shows up to assume control with 20 minute long prog epics. So cool

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DanookOfTheNorth@reddit

I never thought about 2112 that way.

Young me completely missed the meaning of A Passage to Bangkok. I can't believe I missed that.

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WiseDebt7345@reddit

So many Rush songs are like that.

It blew my mind when someone pointed out to me that The Trees was also a metaphor for historical battles between English Canada (the oaks) and French Canada (the maples).

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lofgrenator@reddit

I never looked at it that way. I'm a huge Rush fan and have listened to 2112 so many times but never thought of it as more than a dystopian warning of the world. Thank you for this different view of a great song!

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SueInA2@reddit

Little Red Corvette by Prince. OMG, it wasn’t actually about a cute little sports car — it was about a woman’s privates… Didn’t find this out until many years later!!! 🙀🤪

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NebraskaCornSucker@reddit (OP)

WHAT?

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Lizzie_001@reddit

Pocket full of horses?

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Lemon-Cake-8100@reddit

Trojans! Lol

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SamHandwich0@reddit

Some of the used- wtf was wrong with that girl?

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

apparently, not much from the guys’s perspectives

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SamHandwich0@reddit

'She walked in through the out door'

She was pegging Prince!

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

what ha ha OK I missed that innuendo

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grepppo@reddit

Trojans and some them used

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Lizzie_001@reddit

Yes...Prince was a nasty little fucker. I loved him so much!

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MaleficentExtent1777@reddit

He DID write Sugar Walls for Sheena Easton 😄

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grepppo@reddit

Which, for the avoidance of doubt, I believe is a make of condom in the States. Prince may have been sexy, but he was also safe.

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Inner-Salt-2688@reddit

Finding out today years old

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dperiod@reddit

“A pocket full of horses, Trojan, and some of them used.”

“Girl, you’ve got an ass like I’ve never seen. And the ride…I say the ride is so smooth, you must be a limousine.”

I can remember my mother jerking my headphones off my head as a very young me sang along to this and she was like “WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?!” 😂

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Upbeat_MidwestGirl@reddit

Same!

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InterestingHippo7524@reddit

Motley Crue "Girls, Girls, Girls"

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lofgrenator@reddit

How could that go over your head? Even as a teen I knew that was about strip clubs. Lol

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rabbittdoggy@reddit

Maybe they only heard it live in the past 20 year and couldn’t understand what that drunk beach ball was screeching about

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Arglebarglor@reddit

I just choked on my own spit I laughed so hard at this, thank you

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schmearcampain@reddit

The video is about as explicit as you can be.

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

i’m more of a kickstart, my heart guy

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Elegant_Row_6426@reddit

I remember being about twelve and exclaiming to my babysitter that Dr. Feelgood was about dRuGs

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TerpBE@reddit

"Dr. Feelgood is about drugs!!!!!!!!!"

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Antique-Mechanic-324@reddit

Dancing = fucking in all songs

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

I mean, rock and roll is literally a euphemism for sex

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MRV-DUB@reddit

For the longest time ...Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin

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Habaneroe12@reddit

“I can’t go for that” is about the music industry

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Cowboywizzard@reddit

no can-do

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Aria-Part-Time@reddit

Ring My Bell by Anita Ward

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Adventurous_Bad_3421@reddit

My first thought, as well

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Character-Twist-1409@reddit

I loved that song as a kid

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MaleficentExtent1777@reddit

Pull Up to the Bumper Grace Jones

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7eregrine@reddit

More subtle? Ok Grandpa....

"I'm gonna slide it in, right to the top Gonna slide it in, I ain't never gonna stop Slide it in, right to the top Gonna slide it in, slide it in, slide in Yes, baby"

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me_and_my_dd@reddit

Lol I'll see you that and raise you... "Spit it out! Spit it out! If you don't like iiit" 🎶🎶🎶

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7eregrine@reddit

So subtle!

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NebraskaCornSucker@reddit (OP)

Actually I am a grandpa. Pretty proud of that.

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worstpartyever@reddit

Lady Marmalade.

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Tokogogoloshe@reddit

Master of Puppets was about addiction. Kiddo me thought it was some sort of a rebellion song.

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LordChefChristoph@reddit

Chop your breakfast on a mirror!

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RetroactiveRecursion@reddit

I had no idea Cindy Lauper's She Bop was anything other than an homage to old be-bop (bubble gum?) rock.

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tgrantt@reddit

Yep. Only learned the truth about a year ago. Not that I'd like at the lyrics.

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Basic_Scale_5882@reddit

She-bop, Cyndi Lauper

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Krissy_ok@reddit

Well I literally just learned that right now so thanks

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PurposeConsistent131@reddit

lol me to!

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Fudloe@reddit

Subtle?

I never had any trouble figuring out the meanings behind Slow Ride and Wang Dang Sweet Poontang.

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TheBetaUnit@reddit

Sledgehammer.

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Photobuff42@reddit

Love that song.

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Snapcrackleburp@reddit

Any Prince song.

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archedhighbrow@reddit

Cruisn' by Smokey Robinson

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marty_anaconda@reddit

Sugar Walls

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CBTprovider@reddit

“Afternoon Delight”

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lesh17@reddit

gif

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minder125@reddit

Loved the scene in Arrested Development when they realized what the song was about.

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Russian_Doll_888@reddit

Arrested Development has an episode with this song that is so hilarious!

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hippiestitcher@reddit

Seriously, we all went around singing that as little kids in the 70's and thought it was a fun song. LOL

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TerpBE@reddit

When my sister and I were little kids, we bought Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby". It was only when I was older that I realized it's essentially a 5 minute moaning orgasm.

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toocleverbyhalf@reddit

Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff had a great groove and I loved singing along. My mother and her friends thought I was hilarious. I assumed it was about hot sauce or some kind of food. It was not, but I was probably 6 and just knew the chorus.

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TerpBE@reddit

When my sister and I were little kids, we bought Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby". It was only when I was older that I realized it's essentially a 5 minute moaning orgasm.

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Trolkarlen@reddit

I had no idea what She Bop was about until I was much older.

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DaddyOhMy@reddit

I got that song immediately. "I Touch Myself" by The Divynals took mean bit though.

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FoxPowerful4230@reddit

Came here to say this. The lyrics were SLY.

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MinimumAnalysis5378@reddit

The video is pretty on-the-nose though. (I saw it for the first time last month.)

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Trolkarlen@reddit

I didn't know what "Blue Boy" magazine was until the 1990s.

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NebraskaCornSucker@reddit (OP)

Same.

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Imaginary_Office1749@reddit

Check out the video. Theres an animated section that shocked me with the innuendo, Cyndi pointing to a gas station sign that says self serve.

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emmaapeel@reddit

"Miracles" by Jefferson Starship.

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Fritz5678@reddit

First time I heard the extended version as a grown up I was like "oh!"

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emmaapeel@reddit

Definitely didn't get the "going down, tasting a drop" lyric when I was a kid!

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ThatFilthyApe@reddit

I was that little kid singing along with 'Afternoon Delight' like it was some kind of song about a nice day or maybe a dessert?

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Trolkarlen@reddit

I also thought afternoon delight was a sweet afternoon snack. I mean, I guess it is....

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rubbish_heap@reddit

I thought it was an ice cream sundae for some reason

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Trolkarlen@reddit

That would be a delight.

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punkshoe8@reddit

I thought it was about fireworks (skyrockets in flight) and couldn’t figure out why anyone would light them off in the afternoon.

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mumblemuse@reddit

I was sure it was about dessert.

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DevolvingSpud@reddit

Excellent choice.

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ernurse748@reddit

So funny story, if you don’t know how that song got written. There’s a restaurant in Georgetown (Washington DC) called Clyde’s, and their happy hour menu was called “Afternoon Delights”. Songwriter Bill Danoff spotted a table tent with "Afternoon Delights" (which actually featured food like spiced shrimp and hot Brie) and penned the song.

As a DC person who frequented Clyde’s , whenever I hear that song…I immediately think of spinach artichoke dip LOL

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totcczar@reddit

We do not judge your kink.

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rubbish_heap@reddit

Cracklin' Rosie
Actually I remember my dad telling me "Ya know this song is about bums getting drunk"
I was probably 9 years old. Thanks, Dad.

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dperiod@reddit

Wasn’t it Tipper Gore who led the crusade in the 80s to get parental warning stickers on music because it was so explicit?

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cstephenson79@reddit

Yup! And the “filthy 15” makes for a great play list

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WombatScopique@reddit

The “People’s Music Resource Center” (PMRC)

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SueInA2@reddit

Parents, not People’s

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Moony2433@reddit

Yup, she is/was the mold for the current model of “Karen’s”

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squeaktooth@reddit

In first or second grade we made up a dance for Centerfold (j geills band)- we thought it was a baseball reference. My mom wouldn’t buy me the album at Tower Records bc the song title Piss on the Wall was “vulgar”. Got Joan Jett instead.

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totcczar@reddit

I ended up with the J Geils album I brought my little brother for that exact same reason. I’d gotten Joan Jett for myself. One of the few times I was glad my parents were so overprotective.

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smspluzws@reddit

Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax

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ChavoDemierda@reddit

The first time I saw that video as an adult, I had to laugh my ass off. How could I have not known just how supremely gay be was? I still do love the video though. Great song, great video.

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Russian_Doll_888@reddit

The video is fucking wild! It came up several months ago and I definitely didn't get it as a kid, but it's so obvious now. My husband had never seen it, so he was viewing with adult eyes and was baffled that it ever made it to air.

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CrouchingGinger@reddit

Beat me to it. Pun intended.

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arothmanmusic@reddit

When I was a kid I loved the 45 of "Steppin' Out" by Neil Sedaka. I picked it out at a library book sale because the label had a train on it. I didn't realize until I was much older that it is a song about a guy trying to get another man's bored trophy wife to come get it on with him.

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Elegant_Row_6426@reddit

I remember being about twelve and exclaiming to my babysitter that Dr. Feelgood was about dRuGs

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nonotburton@reddit

I'm not sure I would call Sugar Walls by Sheena Easton subtle, but when it was playing on the radio all the time, I was too young to understand it, but old enough to know it wasn't about walls made of sugar cubes.

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