Top Hits that are pretty strange when you think about them

As I burned up the dance floor at my sister’s wedding last night, I actually took the time to listen to what I was dancing to. A lot of songs that you’ve heard all you life, you don’t necessarily stop to think about, but when you do you wonder what the author might have been thinking when the song was written. Here’s a few that I noticed:

1. “La Bamba”




This folk song made popular by Richie Valens and performed here by Los Lobos has been mystifying listeners for decades with it’s cryptic lyrics and groovy beat. If you know every word of this song, chances are you were around back in the day when it was most popular, you grew up listening to it, you got married and subjected your children to it’s infectious beat and next thing you know, it’s played on your daughter’s wedding night. It’s that kind of song. But the question is, can you tell what it means?

First off, the title of the song directly translated from Spanish, means “The Bomb.” As this is supposed to be the name of a dance, we’d suggest keeping it in Spanish just so that it sounds more interesting. Lyrics translated in full for the first few lines actually say “In order to dance ‘The Bomb,’ you need to have a small quantity of grace.” I don’t know how or why dancing like a graceful bomb sounds groovy in Spanish, but it does. Also noteworthy is how later on in the song when the lyrics say “Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan” (I am not a sailor, I’m a captain.) Once again, sounds interesting in Spanish, not English.

And no, I don’t know why the music video above opens up with a dramatic movie scene and a shot of two planes crashing together.

2. “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls



The above video is definitely not the official music video, but I just posted it because it encapsulates the atmosphere into which this song entered the world. You either really love the song or you really hated it and if you loved it, you were deemed as being “gay” by the latter. That’s what happens though when you’re in middle school and the crowd you’re surrounded with treated Hanson with the exact same level of respect.

So what advice do these Spicy young women have to give us about being their lover? You have to give them a…zigazig-ah. Or something. I never figured out that part and neither has anyone else I know. Kinda makes you wonder if there are linguists out there that study this stuff.

3. “Mambo #5” by Lou Bega



One of the most obvious questions anyone might have about this is, whatever happened to Mambos 1-4? According to an interview I read yeas ago, there are no mambos preceding the fifth. Lou Bega just skipped to the fifth one, like Beethoven skipped to his Fifth. Well, not exactly.

The original “Mambo #5” I have no problem with. It’s groovy, it’s singing about partying with these gorgeous women and all that, but it’s the Disney version I have a problem with. After the song became a hit, Lou Bega did a version for the kiddies under the Disney image. Certain lyrics like “gin and juice” are replaced with more family friendly treats like “ice cream” and Bega sounds significantly less enthusiastic when not singing about beautiful women, but Disney characters instead. For the most part, the softening of the lyrics works for kids, but “Pluto in the sun” just doesn’t sound right no matter who you are.