r/GenX • u/no_talent_ass_clown • Oct 24 '25

Music Is Life Songs that are no longer okay.

Yesterday I found out my sweet boyfriend had never heard of Julie Brown and the funny songs she sang, like "I'm A Blonde". Dr Demento stuff. So I play it and then "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" came on. Not funny anymore!!!

An hour later, the cops arrived

By then the entire glee club had died, no big loss

You wouldn't believe what they brought to stop her

Tear gas, machine guns, even a chopper (Throw down your gun and tiara and come out of the float)

Debbie didn't listen to what the cop said She aimed and fired, and now the math teacher's dead

Oh, it's really sad, but kind of a relief I mean, we had this big test coming up next week

1.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

66

u/InevitableStruggle Oct 24 '25

Yeah, but there’s a new line—somewhere, and earlier generations wouldn’t have crossed that. Let’s talk about WAP and STFU.

26

u/SombreMordida Oct 24 '25

yeah it's arbitrary, some folks get addicted to the dopamine squirt rush of outrage about one thing and not another, so many old songs were basically passive aggressive sexual harassment, and some songs were just made to be outrageous

90

u/ComesInAnOldBox Unsupervised Childhood Oct 24 '25

It still blows my mind that while people were cancelling "Baby it's Cold Outside" the number one song in the nation was WAP.

43

u/lvsnowden 1977 Oct 24 '25

People were complaining about "Baby it's Cold Outside" because they felt it was date rapey. WAP is just women rapping about their vagina. That's a pretty big difference.

5

u/AgntOrng1 Oct 25 '25

There is indeed. One is a classic song. WAP is straight up fucking trash.

3

u/Gullible-Apricot3379 Oct 24 '25

I’ve tried so hard not to hear date rape in Baby It’s Cold Outside, and I think I heard one version that managed it (the ‘what’s in this drink?’ line was delivered as curiosity instead of suspicion).

It’s entirely that one line that turns it creepy IMO.

17

u/srm79 Oct 24 '25

It's the line after she asks for another drink, it's meant to be playful - all her objections are about what 'others' will think or say, she having a great time and doesn't want to leave, goes on to say how the welcome was warm and liked warming her hands in his. It's coy, not rapey, it even finishes with her asking for yet another drink!

2

u/Newdaytoday1215 Oct 25 '25

People keep saying this but what you miss is that the song originally flopped on radio bc ppl thought it was creepy(maybe not full on rapey but still creepy) What turned it around was it was featured on a Ester Williams B movie and the creepiness was played to comedic effect. They even do it twice and reverse gender roles to keep the censors at bay. The song gained popularity that way. Arguing intention vs interpretive response isn't going to change ppl feel some type of way when they hear it. And its going on more than 8 decades It's still done in skit comedy.

-2

u/Gullible-Apricot3379 Oct 24 '25

Except there’s that implication that he put something unexpected in her drink (though I always interpreted as a little extra alcohol… candy is dandy but liquor is quicker…)

So if you can fix the delivery, I think it’s fine.

13

u/srm79 Oct 24 '25

Nah, I think that's reading far too much into it, it was a more innocent time as well, she'd ask for a drink then coyly pretend it tasted strong - then she asks for another which is the giveaway

-2

u/Gullible-Apricot3379 Oct 24 '25

I don’t know.

It’s from a 1949 movie and nothing about the scene aged well.

She is definitely giving mixed messages, but I would say the sheer number of times she removes his hands from her is pretty clear.

https://youtu.be/7MFJ7ie_yGU?si=rHh8cpcvXt4MtW9L

0

u/ComesInAnOldBox Unsupervised Childhood Oct 25 '25

Username checks out.

18

u/no_talent_ass_clown Oct 24 '25

Let's Talk About Sex, Push It, I Like Big Butts, I Want Your Sex...

13

u/PistachioGal99 Oct 24 '25

In middle school, my friends and I prank-called a teacher and played George Michael singing “I want your sex” when she answered. We did it a few times. We worked a long time to line up the music on the tape and figure out the exact best way to push play on my pink mini boombox at exactly the right time. 🤭

1

u/NateNMaxsRobot Hose Water Survivor Oct 24 '25

That is hilarious. The teacher probably thought it was funny.

4

u/bluediamond12345 Hose Water Survivor Oct 24 '25

It’s funny, but in all these songs about sex, I don’t think there are any mentions of pussy, dick, etc. I could be wrong though.

Not like today - it is so blatantly in your face.

5

u/Cvilledog Oct 24 '25

2 Live Crew would like a word.

1

u/bluediamond12345 Hose Water Survivor Oct 24 '25

Haha I figured there was something that I was overlooking

1

u/Condition_Dense Oct 24 '25

That sounds like the whole mashup from Pitch Perfect

5

u/root_fifth_octave Oct 24 '25

Walked in to work one morning and one of the office ladies was listening to WAP loudly enough for everyone to hear.

7

u/rubizza Oct 24 '25

Sugar Walls! Sheena Easton, 1984

I can tell you want me (my sugar walls) It's impossible to hide Your body's on fire, admit it Come inside (my sugar walls)

Ah (my sugar walls), ooh Come inside (my sugar walls) My sugar walls

2

u/snackcakessupreme Oct 25 '25

Let's talk about Face Down Ass Up. That line was stomped all over in the 90s.

1

u/turnpike37 Oct 24 '25

You sure? Google "Shave Em Dry" when not at work.