22 Raunchy-As-All-Heck Songs That People Loved As Children Without Realizing What The Lyrics Meant

Y'all already KNOW that "Macarena" is on here.

This week in a viral thread, redditor u/iamsweets asked, "What songs did you sing along to as a kid, only to realize as an adult the lyrics are full of sexual innuendo?" and you better believe people came through with some hilarious answers! So here are just a few of the most awkward tales of lyrical realizations:

1. "2 Become 1," Spice Girls

Virgin / Via youtube.com

"My first-grade teacher called my dad in after school because I used my show-and-tell time to sing this to the class, which was a song my sister had playing all the time. I didn’t get in trouble or anything. My dad thought it was hilarious but told me not to do that anymore and told my sister to be careful what she plays around me. Oh yeah, also, I’m a dude."

—u/boallenbe

2. "Thong Song," Sisqó

Def Soul / Via youtube.com

"I was raised largely by my grandma, who referred to flip-flops as 'thongs,' so I legit thought it was a song about everyone showing off their sweet sandals."

—u/labotomizeme05

3. "Semi-Charmed Life," Third Eye Blind

Elektra / Via youtube.com

"The was my jam in middle school. Still is, but at least now I know it's about meth and sex."

—u/almost_queen

4. "Second Hand News," Fleetwood Mac

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

"I was very young when this song was huge on the radio, and I loved it. I asked my mom what the lyrics meant, and without the slightest pause, she told me it was about a cat going to the bathroom. Her version of the chorus was, ‘Won’t you lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff,’ followed by, ‘Meow, meow, meow, meow!' For years, I thought that song was about a cat taking a shit. It’s not."

—u/t00ncin8r

5. "Macarena," Los del Río

RCA Records / Via youtube.com

"It's about a girl having an affair while her boyfriend is in the military (if I recall correctly)."

—u/Blue_0reo

6. "Californication," Red Hot Chili Peppers

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

"My 7-, 5-, and 3-year-old are all randomly obsessed with this song. They sing it all damn day. There’s nothing quite like the chorus of small children singing, ‘Hardcore, soft porn’ to make you feel like a parenting success."

—u/dissolvedcrayon

7. "Physical," Olivia Newton-John

EMI / MCA / Via youtube.com

"I just thought it was a song about working out at the gym."

—u/editorreilly

8. "Push It," Salt-N-Pepa

Next Plateau / London / Via youtube.com

"We used to skate at the rink and sing that with no clue."

—u/Crunkindatrunk

9. "Milkshake," Kelis

Star Trak / Arista / Via youtube.com

"Six-year-old me just thought she made amazing milkshakes."

—u/roaringdarkness

10. "Lady Marmalade," Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink

Interscope / Fox / Bazmark / Via youtube.com

"In my gym class in middle school, we has a dance assignment that was mandatory to pass the class. Student groups had to get their song choice okayed by teachers first, then make the choreography themselves. My gym teachers approved my group of four girls to do our dance to the remake of this song. Not sure if they didn’t listen to the song when we submitted it or what, but I imagine they saw the name and just assumed it was the older, less explicitly raunchy one."

—u/macfairfieldmill

11. "Side to Side," Ariana Grande Feat. Nicki Minaj

Republic / Via youtube.com

"Not me, but my child. My daughter still sings this song as 'Santa's side.' She thinks it's a song sung by elves who are overworked and have 'been here all night...been here all day...got 'em working Santa's side!'"

—u/rrendezvous

12. "Promiscuous," Nelly Furtado

Geffen / Mosley / Via youtube.com

"When I was younger, my dad told me if I wanted to download music on my iPod, I would have to make a list so that he could manually download it for me. He saw this song on the list and was like, 'Do you even know what this word means?' I was like, 'Uh, no, but I like the song.' He looked at me to see if I was serious, and I guess he knew that I wasn't joking because he downloaded it for me! Now that I know, I’m amazed he actually did that."

—u/miraiqtp

13. "Barbie Girl," Aqua

Universal / MCA / Via youtube.com

"I mean, some of it is pretty obvious, but when you’re a kid, it’s just a song about Barbie!"

—u/willowprince

14. "LoveGame," Lady Gaga

Streamline / KonLive / Cherrytree / Interscope / Via youtube.com

"I remember singing this in the car when I was about 12, and my mother gave me a very concerned look!"

—u/milkystarrgirl

15. "Pour Some Sugar on Me," Def Leppard

Mercury / Via youtube.com

"I could sing the whole thing word for word when I was like 4 years old. I thought it was about adding sugar to your Rice Krispies."

—u/NoCuntryforToldMen

16. "Pony," Ginuwine

550 / Epic / Via youtube.com

"I was like 8 and only heard the radio edit. Just thought it was about some guy riding a horse. Oof."

—u/alwaysmorecumin

17. "Shut Up and Drive," Rihanna

Def Jam / SRP / Via youtube.com

"I legit thought it was just a song about cars, then some dude in a YouTube comment pointed out to me that she is, in fact, talking about sex."

—u/FactoryBuilder

18. "Afternoon Delight," Starland Vocal Band

Windsong / Windlands International / Via youtube.com

"Six-year-old me, singing 'Skyrockets in flight! Afternoon delight!' I thought it was about the 4th of July or something, LOL!"

—u/Cranberry_Glade

19. "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)," Rupert Holmes

Infinity Records / Via youtube.com

"There are still a lot of people who don't know what this song is about. They just know the 'piña coladas' chorus. But yeah, it’s about a guy trying to cheat on his wife using personal ads, but instead responds to a personal ad to meet up with a woman, and she ends up being his wife."

—u/Immediate_Fuel_4836

20. "U & Ur Hand," Pink

LaFace / Via youtube.com

"I absolutely LOVED this song when I was 11. I remember one time it came on the radio when my mom and I were heading somewhere, and she wanted to change it, but I was like, 'No! I like this song!' I heard the song a couple of years ago after not hearing it for a long time, and I was like, 'Oh my god! I get it now!'"

—u/metabrea

21. "Stacy's Mom," Fountains of Wayne

S-Curve / Virgin / Via youtube.com

"It was my favorite song as a little girl. I'd force my parents to repeat it over and over while I screamed the lyrics. Little did I know I was blasting a song about a teenage boy wanting to bang a MILF all those years."

—u/kaless_

22. And finally: "Hallelujah," Leonard Cohen

Columbia / Via youtube.com

"My family’s church used to play it all the time, and my mom loved it. Somehow, none of them realized it wasn’t a Christian song and was actually pretty sexual."

—u/Timberwolf-13

Now it's your turn! What's a song you loved to sing when you were little, only to grow up and realize as an adult that it's 110% about sex? Share yours in the comments below!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. H/T: Reddit.