Sugar and Cake
When I was younger my dad thought I was crazy because during a 13 hour plane ride all I did was listen to music. No sleep, no movies, just music and occasionally snacking. As a first grader, my options were limited. I rotated through three songs: Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift, and Sugar by Maroon 5. Of these, Sugar was my favorite. Of course they didn't have the actually music video so I watched the Kidz Bop version where four kids were in the kitchen "baking", really more like throwing flour all over the place, which I thought was fitting for the song named Sugar.
Now, as I scroll social media, I come across those reels where they play a song from your childhood and comment on how atrocious the lyrics are, putting into perspective how innocent we were as kids to have jammed to this music. Common ones include Cake by the Ocean, Genie in a Bottle, and Sugar. As kids the meaning of these songs went over our heads because all that mattered was that the songs was catchy. Looking at the lyrics of Sugar now, I cringe at the lyrics,
"Cause I really don't care where you are
I just wanna be there where you are
And I gotta get one little taste
...
Sugar
Yes, please
Won't you come and put it down on me?
...
I want that red velvet
I want that sugar sweet
Don't let nobody touch it unless that somebody's me
I gotta be a man, there ain't no other way"
Cake by the Ocean is another infamous example because what do you mean the "cake" is not actual cake. That one shattered my childhood when I found out. I was pretty disappointed. This song was also very commonly played on Disney channel, which I still don't understand why they would choose that song to play in front of hundreds of thousands of kids. Some of these are tamer than others, but regardless, it shocked me to see all these innuendos in the songs I enjoyed so much as a kid.
Standing on the other side of where I was before, I can now recognize these double meanings. Most recently I noticed them in the second Zootopia movie where there was like at least 20 adult jokes. It makes me wonder why they include them: maybe for the entertainment of the parents who have to watch these movies with their kids, or for the fun of the producers-I don't know. Personally, I still think it's appalling that they use innuendos like this in content for kids.
This is such a good blog and I had the same exprience with Cake by the Ocean. That was literally my favorite song growing up and listening to it back I can’t help but laugh at younger me singing it… great blog Kathy 😛
ReplyDeleteWow this is such an inspirational blog kyp, you were quite a unique kid for listening to these songs for 13hrs straight…It’s so funny watching you cringe while researching the lyrics of these songs and finding out the disturbing double entandres behind them, lol.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a relatable blog because I also remember loving songs as a kid without realizing what the lyrics actually meant. Looking back now, it’s funny to see how many songs we listened to had meanings that completely went over our heads lol, good job!!
ReplyDeleteI really agree, especially with the stuff on like nickelodenon, its so crazy how its all in plain sight, yet went over our heads. I still love cake by the ocena tho!
ReplyDeleteWow wow this is so relatable. I had the same experience with a lot of songs that I listened to as a child! I think it's kind of disheartening to see that many of "children" shows or music, sort of have adult jokes and messages. But I still love some of the songs I listened to when I was a kid ;)
ReplyDeleteonly listening to music on the plane is soo reall!! also this blog! i remember someone saying somethinng about come on eileen not being so innocent and that was devastating
ReplyDeleteKatherine I thought this blog was really interesting since I forgot about how much music is part of this hidden language. I think that’s what made the songs so fun for us as kids though- it definitely represents the innocence and the power of the youth (?) to be able to enjoy everything without taking it too literally. It shows how as kids we focus on the “vibes” and then shift into trying to actually comprehend as we get older, and therefore having less imagination. I agree with your last point for sure- not just in the movies but I’m annoyed at all the innuendos placed in songs that make me unable to listen to anything in front of my parents or in my opinion, even worse, public spaces because now it’s just normalized to not have any popular hits that don’t always allude to something. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way- really informative blog overall!
ReplyDeleteWow there's already a lot of comments on this blog, you sure do have many fans! It's so tragic how your childhood memories were destroyed because of the true meaning of a song.
ReplyDeleteI don't like those innuendos either pkat. I really enjoyed u sharing with the class what sugar was insinuating at because I too liked that song and didn't realize that's what the lyrics were implying.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how a lot of things targeted towards kids had sexual innuendos. I wonder why they felt the need to add those things in. Great perceptive blog Katherine!
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