00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for those songs that weren't
00:10even attempting subtlety when it came to some obvious innuendo.
00:20Number 10.
00:22Relax.
00:23Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
00:30This British group certainly weren't mincing about when it came to the sexually charged
00:36video clip for Relax.
00:37The homegrown controversy behind Frankie Goes to Hollywood was actually so noteworthy back
00:42in the day that it got them briefly banned by the BBC.
00:49There was no stopping Frankie Goes to Hollywood from taking over their early 80s world, however,
00:54despite some humdrumming about how Relax freely celebrated its frank and explicit sexuality.
01:00The musical side of things seem to echo this sentiment as well, as the booming bass and
01:05pulsing synth drives home Relax with a vibe that's almost menacing with how intensely it intends
01:11to make its presence known as an ode to catch-and-release seduction.
01:16When you wanna come.
01:18When you wanna come.
01:22Number 9.
01:23Whistle.
01:24Flo Rida.
01:26You just put your lips together and you come real close.
01:30Can you blow my whistle, baby?
01:32Whistle, baby.
01:33We'd be here all day.
01:35If we were to attempt counting all of the myriad ways songs have utilized placeholder metaphors
01:40in lieu of referencing private parts or the sexual act.
01:44Whistle by Flo Rida actually references both of these things, since the song is a not-so-subtle
01:49ode to one very specific sort of act on that spectrum.
01:53Girl, I'm gonna show you how to do it and we start real slow.
01:57Flo Rida also chooses the word whistle as a noun to describe an aspect of his anatomy, so
02:03yeah.
02:04The meaning becomes very clear here, right from the get-go.
02:07Although we guess you could just take whistle at face value, maybe Flo Rida just likes to
02:12whistle while he works.
02:14Yeah, we'll just keep telling ourselves that.
02:19Number 8.
02:21Peacock.
02:22Katy Perry.
02:29This tune didn't need to be a single in order for it to briefly earner the ire of Katy Perry's
02:34record company, Capital.
02:35The label initially didn't want Peacock to be included on Perry's third LP, Teenage
02:40Dream.
02:41But the singer didn't budge, so what we're left with is… well, it's a song.
02:47Are you brave enough to let me see a peacock?
02:50Don't be a chicken, what's not acting like a peacock?
02:53A song that makes no bones about comparing the male Peacock's beautiful plumage with some
02:58low-hanging comedic fruit.
03:00Perry wants to see that peacock, and she's not gonna rest until it's shown off.
03:04In all of its presumed glory.
03:07It's silly and juvenile, sure, but Teenage Dream did just fine on its own, with or without
03:12Peacock.
03:12And it's all for me.
03:16Are you brave enough to let me see a peacock?
03:19Number 7.
03:20Jeannie in a Bottle.
03:22Christina Aguilera.
03:24If you still wanna be with me, baby, there's a price to pay.
03:29There's nothing new concerning the habitual inclusion of sexual innuendo within music
03:34that's being marketed to a teen or pre-teen audience.
03:38Evidence of this promotional strategy can be traced back to the bubblegum pop artists
03:42of the 60s and 70s, while Christina Aguilera's debut single, Jeannie in a Bottle, was a great
03:47example of this tactic taking shape in the late 90s.
03:50I'm a Jeannie in a Bottle, you gotta rub me the right way.
03:56The song's three songwriters clearly knew what their audience might infer via the whole
04:00rub me the right way bit from the song's chorus.
04:03Elsewhere, the verses also make no bones about how the protagonist clearly wants to do something,
04:09yet is reluctant to go all the way.
04:11It's an interesting visual juxtaposition against Aguilera's 2012 single, Dirty, which
04:16was, well, exactly that.
04:23Number 6.
04:24Afternoon Delight.
04:26Starland Vocal Band.
04:34The songwriters behind the Starland Vocal Band are famous, and not just for their 1976
04:39hit, Afternoon Delight.
04:41Bill Danoff and Taffy Nyvert co-wrote Take Me Home Country Roads with John Denver, but that
04:47little bit of trivia likely pales in comparison to the hubbub caused by their group, the Starland
04:51Vocal Band.
04:52Rubbing sticks and stones together make the sparks ignite, and the thought of rubbing you
04:57is getting so excited.
04:59That's because Afternoon Delight was a song that celebrated what used to be referred to
05:04as a nooner, slang for a sexual rendezvous that takes place during the day.
05:10The Sky Rockets in Flight referenced in the song represent the after-effects from such
05:14activity, a rather innocent ode to getting away for a bit with somebody you love, or at
05:19least, like, a little bit.
05:21Sky Rockets in Flight.
05:23Afternoon Delight.
05:265.
05:27She-Bop.
05:28Cyndi Lauper.
05:29I've been looking up a new sensation.
05:33I'm looking up a good life real.
05:36Sure, it might have been easy for us to go with something more on the nose, a la I Touch
05:41Myself by the Divinals, but for our money, Cyndi Lauper's She-Bop plays around a little
05:46better with its innuendo.
05:48We say innuendo, but actually a lot of people knew exactly what Lauper was cooking up with
05:53She-Bop, even back in the 1980s.
05:56After all, the subject of female self-love of the sexual variety wasn't exactly commonplace
06:02around this time.
06:03But Lauper, to her credit, does such a good job on the entire tune.
06:10The musical hooks are catchy, Lauper's vocals are on point, and She-Bop remains one of this
06:16unusual stars, biggest hits.
06:224.
06:23Barbie Girl.
06:24Aqua.
06:25Every decade has retained its own unique style of novelty hit that will forever remind those
06:38that were there about their youth's strangest and perhaps questionable musical hits.
06:43Aqua's Barbie Girl just happens to be one of those defining tunes for the late 90s, a
06:48song that wears its vapidness upon a sleeve, while at the same time winking to its core audience.
06:54Both band and fan alike knew what was going on here, as Aqua played around with the Barbie doll's
07:06complex history of sexual politics.
07:08In this sense, being in on the joke has allowed for Barbie Girl to endure a lot longer than
07:14other, perhaps, less self-aware contemporaries of its day.
07:18Oh, I'm having so much fun!
07:203.
07:21Pony.
07:22Genuine.
07:23Here's a question, do you think that anybody was fooled by the artwork that accompanied the
07:35clean version of this 1996 single from Genuine?
07:38We find it hard to believe, even if that release of Pony did feature a normal, everyday-looking
07:43horse.
07:44Equine jokes aside, the actual sound of Pony is so filthy that it almost doesn't need
07:50to play around with innuendo.
07:58That sweaty R&B groove practically drips with an almost humid air, while Genuine knowingly
08:05plays around with the song's subject matter in a manner that's keenly self-aware.
08:09There were a lot of erotically charged R&B tunes released back in the 90s, but Pony is definitely
08:15remembered more than most.
08:172.
08:21Milkshake.
08:22Khalees.
08:23It's refreshing, in a way, to discuss and unpack all of the things that helped make Milkshake a
08:33hit for Khalees back in the day.
08:35The singer told About.com about how the song's point was to celebrate that something that
08:40makes women special.
08:42And this overarching intent makes it easy for listeners to decide for themselves what that
08:47something is, exactly.
08:53The titular milkshake could mean a literal swaying of the hips, or it could be a certain level
08:58of confidence or grace that others find attractive.
09:01Thus, it's cool that this jam for Khalees keeps this out of the gutter, for once at least.
09:10Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
09:14about our latest videos.
09:16You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
09:20If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:23Heavy metal was a big business on the pop charts back in the 1980s and into the 90s.
09:40This was where Warrant's Cherry Pie made a huge impact, reaching number 10 on the Billboard
09:46Top 100, despite its rather on-the-nose brand of lyrical innuendo.
09:50This was actually by design, since songwriter Janie Lane composed what he felt was a throwaway
10:01tune for Warrant's label, Columbia.
10:04Cherry Pie was a certified hit, however, which effectively ended earlier plans to call the
10:09album Uncle Tom's Cabin.
10:11Lane and crew were now saddled with the albatross of a novelty song that was full of fruit puns
10:17as their definitive radio tune, and they weren't exactly thrilled from a creative standpoint.
10:28Should artists go all-in with their innuendo, or shoot for subtlety?
10:32Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
