7 Songs We Probably Shouldn't Have Known the Lyrics to as Children

Do you remember sitting in your car seat at the back of your family's vehicle singing about money, cars, and women?  Your parents laughing and thinking it was so cute that you know all the lyrics to a song on the radio?  I know I do.  And, it probably was cute because we probably had no clue what we were talking about.  And that's a good thing.  But now that we're all grown up (I'm 18 now), when we search for an older song we loved, and read the lyrics, it's clear we may have been just a tad corrupted during those car rides.  It was all harmless and songs are generally really good, but below are a few (clean versions--search up the dirty versions if you so choose to!) that most of us can admit to knowing a bit too much of the words, even if we didn't know their true meanings at the time.

1. It Wasn't Me - Shaggy (2001)

Lucky for you, here is the video with all the lovely lyrics.

I know you know it.  Every single one of you.  You were screaming "IT WASN'T ME", but did you really know what you were denying?  I mean, at the time, it was just a catchy song with a beat you could groove to in your booster seat.  In reality, it's about this guy explaining how his girlfriend caught him "creeping" with the girl next door in...many different places around the house, and Shaggy telling him to say it wasn't him.  Most of us are still unclear about what Shaggy is saying on the track, but the chorus was definitely loud and clear.

2. Ride Wit Me - Nelly (2001)

Watch the official Ride Wit Me video.

Watch this video to hear what I'm talking about!

Along with It Wasn't Me, Ride Wit Me was one of my favourite songs growing up.  I must admit, I didn't reaaally know all the lyrics (and I still don't), but I added this because on the radio, the clean version does this cool inhale and outhale sound that I really enjoyed and would often imitate.  It was a few years later, however, that I realized that those sounds symbolized...well...smoking questionable substances.  Ooops.

3. Mesmerize - Ja Rule ft. Ashanti (2002)

Watch the Mesmerize music video here.

I actually like this song.  Ashanti's sweet R&B voice complements the roughness of Ja Rule's, and it is kind of romantic--Ja and Ashanti confessing what they love about each other--but any song with the word "fetish" in the lyrics may not be the best in molding the minds of young ones.  Not to mention singing "love it when you kiss me baaaaaby" when the only ones kissing us at the time were our parents.

4. In Da Club - 50 Cent (2003)

Watch In Da Club here.

Although this song was remixed by Beyoncé and other artists later on, the original 50 Cent version of In Da Club still takes the cake--possibly because I was just so "hood" as a kid.  Once the intro started, I was ready to belt "GO GO GO GO SHAWTY, IT'S YA BIRTHDAY.....AND WE GONNA SIP A CARDY (Bacardi)......My mom was probably glad that I only had a general idea of the lyrics, while I merely loved that this song made me feel so much cooler than I actually was.

5. Get Low - Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz ft. the Ying Yang Twins (2003)

Watch Lil Jon and The East Side Boyz's video here.

Watch Sandra Bullock's "remix" of Get Low here. Ha!

I'm sure we can all identify with Sandra Bullock's dancing to it in The Proposal, because it's kind of what most of us look like when we start singing "To the windooooooww to the wall, to the wall!  Till the sweat drops down my"--wait what?  Okay, maybe the lyrics aren't particularly inspiring, but it can definitely get a party started.

6.  Candy Shop - 50 Cent ft Olivia (2005)

He'll take you to the, er, "candy shop".  Watch here.

50 Cent returns two years later with this track, and my my my.  Candy and lollipops sound good until, well, the rest of the song.  Because how do candy shops even fit in with the rest of the lyrics...?  I'll let you figure it out.

7. Beep - The Pussycat Dolls ft Will.I.Am (2006)

I love the Beep music video just as much as the song itself!

Okay, it's 2006, and we're a little bit older now.  Old enough for this song to grace our ears and stimulate our brains.  This modern burlesque, dance-pop group had fun with radio censors by playing musical beeping sounds, or laughing whenever it seemed like an appropriate word would be sung.  It's actually really clever and the song is girly and fun, not to mention the girls were getting it with their dance moves in the music video above.  But now that we're truly old enough, I'm sure it's a little easier to "ad-lib", and guess which words would be in place of the entertaining beeps.

There are a ton of other songs most of us sang while growing up that take on a whole different meaning now, but ignorance is bliss, and the kids turned out alright (for the most part)!  But these are some of the best received songs by critics and audiences because of their memorable and risque lyrics, as well as tunes and beats we will always recognize when the radio or DJ throws them back.

What songs did you know all the words to growing up?  And an even bigger question: as songs get even more explicit, sexual, and inappropriate, in 10 years, will you play these types of songs in your car, and laugh while your children harmlessly get all the words wrong (or surprisingly right), or change the station in search for more kid-friendly lyrics?


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