Top 10 Blatant Innuendos In Pop Songs

WatchMojo

They weren't even trying to be subtle! Join us as we count down our picks for the most blatant innuendos in popular music history. Our countdown includes songs from Warrant, Kelis, Cyndi Lauper, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, and more! Which suggestive hit had you raising your eyebrows? Let us know in the comments below!

Transcript

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

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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.

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