lyrically speaking

Do you ever stop and actually listen to the words of songs or just sing along without knowing what you are singing?  I do both. Well, I do the former after doing the latter and thinking 'hmmmm is that really what I think it means?'

I bring this up because I'm jamming out to a little Ace of Base right now. Yup. Total 90's jam session in my lovely, little cube on this frigid, Wednesday morning. So I'm all tapping my pen and moving my head to "all that she wants" - and if you were wondering, yes I feel very cool when I do this. I always thought the song was about a girl that wants to have more kids. Like maybe she meets guys with good qualities and therefore derives they must have good sperm. So she wants a baby then she's gone. Then it happened. I saw the sign (bahahahaha I crack myself up). I had an epiphany. The girl wants a baby as in a boy toy, then she's gone tomorrow. She doesn't want a kid! This song came out in 1993 and I just now (well about 19 minutes ago) realized what the song is actually about. Ha. Sweet life.

I remember going to the Mall of the Bluffs and getting my first CDs. I think this was probably in 1995, which would have made me 9. I was so excited to take them home and put them in my walkman (or was that for tapes?) or discman...whatever it was called.  I imagine I saved up Christmas or Birthday money to buy these all on my own.  I picked TLC's CrazySexyCool, which might I add is still a pretty f'n sweet CD, and Joan Osborne's Relish.  As soon as we got home my mom sat me down at the kitchen table and took out the little CD insert to talk to me about the songs. She was THOROUGHLY impressed by the images of T-Boz, Left Eye and Chili naked and only their private parts being covered by burlap sacks. I told her Waterfalls was my favorite song in the entire world (at the moment, of course). So she asked me what it was about because I clearly knew all the words. I remember looking at her blankly and thinking 'wow you are so dumb mom!' I replied in a snotty and slightly bratty tone "um waterfalls, duh!"  BUZZZZZZ wrong. She read the lyrics line by line and explained the song was about a drug dealer and someone that had AIDS and they both died. So I was a little off thinking it was about going on vacation and seeing pretty waterfalls. Thanks Mom. 

This summer I rediscovered Eazy-E's Gimme That Nutt. To my surprise, I still remembered most of the words. As I was driving home one day jamming out and singing, ahem rapping, a little too loudly with the windows down, I realized what I was actually saying. Perhaps I would be wise to know the meaning behind the words I say. Not such a big deal now, but in sixth grade my friends and I thought this was the coolest song ever. Not so sure at sixth grade my friends and I should have been talking about all that business! I hadn't even open mouth kissed a boy at that point!! I was wise beyond my year's...or something like that... 

Okay, back to work.