Even though Girl Child is 13 and, in some parents’ purview, too old for my iron-fisted censorship, I still keep an ear out for the stuff she’s listening to. There is just something blood-curdling about hearing your barely teenage daughter prancing around the house obliviously belting out the lyrics to Rihanna’s “Rude Boy”: “Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up?/Come here rude boy, boy; is you big enough?” No ma’am, no sir. Not on my watch.
Still, even with being on my toes for subliminal messages and overt sexuality, one occasionally slips past me, like The Wanted’s “Glad You Came,” which I would never have suspected is really about… orgasms?! At least that’s what one member of the band has strongly suggested. And I’ve been letting my daughter sing along whenever it comes on the radio which, if you listen to any given pop station, is like 30-50 times a day, no lie.
Apparently that’s been a rumor since the single dropped, that the song is actually sexual in nature. I don’t know how I let that one sneak past the front door, considering the word “came” is involved, but I was off in la-ti-da land somewhere, never thinking new boy bands were making double entendre tunes for their innocent kiddie fans to enjoy. I don’t know a whole lot of grown women clamoring for The Wanted concert tickets, so suffice it to say the bulk of their fan base are not yet old enough to vote or drink, which makes their little inside joke even worse.
Now I’m over here psychoanalyzing every lyric like hmph, what exactly do you mean by “my universe will never be the same?”
Do I still have it? Did I lose it? Is it possible that I’m (gasp!) getting old and out the loop? Verdict: nah. Just a one-time fluke. And hey, if we were to go around scolding artists for not making kid-appropriate material then Nicki Minaj wouldn’t have a career and those two little girls would’ve never become mini-superstars singing “Super Bass” on Ellen. And I’m pretty sure Madonna would be nothing more than a fingerless-glove-wearing wannabe.
“I’m Glad You Came” flew under the radar so score one for The Wanted and their creative lyrical debauchery. But I’m on my toes now. I’ll even let Girl Child continue to listen, considering I could tell by her face that she was genuinely none the wiser, too.
Onward and upward, Wanted fans.
Is there a pop(ular) song that you absolutely refuse to let your kids listen to?
Image via Gene Hunt/Flickr
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Comments 16
This line right here screams sex:
And I decided you look well on me, well on me
This isn't new. Half the songs in the 60s were about various drug abuses.
I'll let my kids listen to the "hidden meaning" songs, but not s&m from rihanna or anything blatant.
Lyrics from the song "Lola" reveal that Lola is a cross-dresser and had a relationship with a guy. "...I know what I am and that's a man, so is Lola..." That song was written in the sixties, so suggestive lyrics are nothing new.
70's classic rock is full of "dirty" songs. Rod Stuart "Tonight's the Night", Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side", The Doors' "Gloria", Areosmith "Rag Doll". There are others, but those are the ones that I recall off the top of my head. Rock has always been associated with sex. Hopefully, the younger kids who hear the lyrics and sing along have absolutely no idea what they actually mean. My daughter's play list is generally from Disney and Nickelodeon pop stars, so the lyrics are tame and some actually rock! I like Victoria Justice's "Freak the Freak Out" and "My Best Friend's Brother"
Meh. Really, pretty much every song out now and even "back in the day" is about sex. My mother used to laugh because my favorite songs as a pre-teen were Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" and Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" courtesy of her 80's music obsession.