For What It's Worth


Monday, February 6, 2023

Music: I was a naïve little girl...

I think I, maybe, have hit a little blogging groove. We'll see how long it lasts. 

I have not, however hit a reading groove (well, actually, I have, but not at a fast enough pace to have a lot of reviews to schedule). There will probably be a lot of *mixed bag* content from here on out. 

One post I had wanted to do for a while was inspired by Greg's Book Haven's Sexy Song Lyrics 3 part series but with my little twist on it. 

As a child of the 80's - I grew up with the birth of MTV, Ozzy Osbourne biting off the heads of bats, Judas Priest and other rock bands luring us into satanic cults and suicide and Madonna leading us down the road of hedonism. Parents were TERRIFIED.

But my twist is...how oblivious we (just me and my friends?) actually were as teens. Not that lyrics aren't influential, or go over everyone's heads, but I truly didn't catch any meaning and just went by the beat of the music.

Exhibit A:

Frankie goes to Hollywood - Relax


There was my teen self, roller skating faster and faster with my friends, belting out these lyrics.

"Relax, don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax, don't do it
When you want to come

Come on
Ohhh"

NO idea. NONE as to what I was singing. Only vaguely knowing it was a sexy song, but not about THAT. And watching the video not knowing they were gay or at a gay club. lol

Exhibit B:

Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Do It)


Again - no clue this was about drugs lol Was I the most naïve teen ever???  None of my friends thought much of them either. I just liked songs that were easy to skate fast to. I didn't really dissect them unless they were love songs - because my friend made me listen to those over and over to write down the lyrics 😄 

Want to know more about the kids are all going to hell because of music era? Listen to the You're Wrong About Podcast: Tipper Gore vs. Heavy Metal: The Case Against "Porn Rock" episode.

White Lines is having a bit of a comeback as the theme song for the new movie Cocaine Bear...Yes, Cocaine Bear


And going back into the blog archives - I had a post about misheard song lyrics.

Were there any songs from your childhood that you were completely oblivious to their meaning? And I truly fear what kind of sp*m I might receive from this post lol



24 comments:

  1. I knew about White Lines, but I will say, I was today years old when I really looked at those Frankie Says Relax lyrics. Speaking of drug songs, what about Steal My Sunshine? That song is so upbeat, about drugs. And I know I was singing away with Third Eye Blind about taking the "bump" and all sorts of other illicit stuff

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    1. Sam!! I did not know that about Steal My Sunshine!!!! Lol I loved that song and never heard any drug references. I'll have to go read the lyrics.
      I guess older me is naive too lol

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  2. Lol, I grew up with those songs too and had NO idea that they weren't as innocent as I thought. Ditto Grease Lightning where I thought he sang "the chicks will scream".

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    1. Bahahaha! Ooh that just reminded me of another one! Paradise by the Dashboard Lights!! No clue. Thought they were on a date watching baseball. lol

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  3. Blogging groove!? What is this madness? May it last!
    And music too, I am impressed :D

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  4. I'm very naive when it comes to music. I had no idea about "Relax." I still didn't until I read the lyrics out loud, lol. I've only recently (in the last couple of years) realized how sexual "Peaches" by The PotUS is. I had no idea until I someone pointed it out to me in Junior year that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was about suicide. The ONLY song I've ever realized was a lurid song from the first I heard it was "Bad Touch" by the Bloodhound Gang and it's because it's SOOOOO obvious. LOL. I still love it, though.

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    1. Yes, even I grasped the Bloodhound Gang one lol

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  5. Yes! I was a teen in the 80's too and I can so relate to this so much. I had no idea what I was singing about in so many songs. Had no idea so many songs were about drugs and sex. lol

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    1. I understand - but it's so funny seeing parents freak out when we have NO clue lol I know, back then, they were sure we were all about to join satanic cults and kill ourselves.

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  6. Ah, the 80's. Every song was about love or sex. Relax YES lolol. Great skating song though...

    Sex by Berlin is another... wow

    Thanks for the shout out! I might have enough material ha ha for a PArt 4 and 5.....

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    1. I was listening to a 70's channel last week and I think all those songs are about abusive relationships lol

      There's a Donnie Osmond song toot hat cracks me up. He must be about 12 or 13 signing about how a girl who is tempting him is too young and innocent for him bahahahaha

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    2. Oh my gosh. And yes the 70's. I love the era. It was such a golden time for songwriting?

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    3. I think so too. The songs are like full stories lol

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  7. "I just liked songs that were easy to skate fast to" is so pure and innocent 😄 But I am not one to talk. I saw you mention Paradise by the Dashboard Light in a comment, and yeah, I grew up listening to that and always wondered by there was random baseball commentary in the middle of it and just wanted to get back to the music lol. I didn't grow up in the 80s, so I had different songs, but yep, there were definitely ones I didn't realize were about sex or drugs!

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    1. I had written this post before the whole Grammy Sam Smith/Petra uproar and it just goes to show people keep freaking out about this stuff but most kids are oblivious. My parents were very afraid that I was flirting with satanism because I listened to Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne.lol
      I was also really into disco (because of the roller skating) & my boyfriend at the time was a dj - so I heard a lot of these obscure club songs that were ALL about sex and drugs. No clue!

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  8. 😂 Same for me...I mean, I was originally interested in the English language as a kid because I wanted to understand the lyrics of the songs I heard on the radio, so one would figure I had a clue about their not-so-hidden meanings 😂. Yeah, right...I was so innocent as well LOL.

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    1. Parents are so worried about us going tot he dark side because of lyrics and we're al lalalalalala...no clue lol

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  9. Yay for hitting a blogging groove, I thought I'd hit one then life and work got busy and it all fell apart but I'll get there. I love this post idea, I think everyone is oblivious to the lyrics of songs when they're younger. I mean, I only learnt the other week what the actual lyrics were for Delilah by Tom Jones and that was only because the song was banned at Welsh rugby matches and I wanted to know why. That song is dark! And then I think of when I was a kid listening to the radio in the car when we were going on family holidays and then we kids were all singing songs like Shaggy's It Wasn't Me with no clue what we were actually singing. Our parents must have been in hysterics listening to us.

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    1. We'll see how long it lasts lol I have one more week of scheduled posts right now.

      I was thinking of how I went for walks a lot (a few years ago) in a older retirement area and I had raunchy songs blasting in my earbuds and I was always afraid they could hear me lol

      But as a kid, I had 0 clue what I was singing about.

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  10. So many things we didn't understand, but the same goes now... Weeknd "I Can't Feel My Face" or Harry Styles "Watermelon Sugar." Lyrics will also be a bit crazy!

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    1. I catch them better now but even so, some slip right past me still. lol

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  11. I went straight from The Monkees to The Doors, The Who, and The Rolling Stones... but there was only a short interim year between that musical transition and when I was thrust into the IRL rock world and saw first hand what certain lyrics meant. I've never thought about what I thought some of the lyrics meant during that year. This is a great post! 🎶

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  12. You are like me and many others when you were a child. The content songs that I find unhealthy on the music platforms that I listened to when I was a child did not understand the meaning until I was an adult. Music is good for listeners, but there is good music and negative music, listening to music will more or less affect the listener's thinking and life concept. Especially young children. This is my personal opinion.

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