— u/kurdtpage “I used to sing it with friends as a little kid. I didn’t have a clue it wasn’t just a load of silly words.” — u/Pmabbz — u/No-Letterhead3158 “Katy Perry is dirty as hell. It clicked when I was driving somewhere with my daughter and Katy blasting. The two of us singing aggressively, I thought, ’this might not be appropriate.’” — u/poser765 — u/Redditdenier “I had this epiphany about 2 years ago. I am in my 40s with two kids.” — u/sarabeara12345678910 — u/DeathbyGlimmer “I thought it was about online gambling.” — u/Midnight-Dipper — u/Upbeat-Membership-45 — u/Dumptruck_yourlove “It’s about a lady getting with, like, a dozen different guys while her boyfriend is off serving in the military.” — u/UnderlordZ — u/stealth_mode_76 — u/ilikemilkypuff “The whole thing is a giant metaphor for sex, and I didn’t realize it until I was a teen. It definitely made me see things in a different light.” — u/crashinqdovvn — u/Illustrious-Mix9904 “Fun fact: It is the only song on that album not tagged ‘EXPLICIT.’” — u/QWaxL “There’s a scene in Glee where a teacher sings this thinking it’s about having dessert in the afternoon.” — u/ammezurc “My husband loves telling the story about how in kindergarten, he brought the 45 to class for show and tell. I imagine the teacher must have been ready to burst.” “TIL that’s not about a dude getting dumped.” — u/eddmario “Even though I was learning French as a teenager when this song came out (and knew what la petit mort meant), I would never have twigged it except I read an interview with Cutting Crew, and the interviewer asked them straight out if that’s what it meant. They laughed and said, ‘100%! Housewives and grandmothers across the country are singing along to it right now, totally unawares!’” — u/The_Dark_Presence “I just thought 50 Cent really liked sweets. Then I realized he was talking about a brothel. And the lollipop he will let them lick doesn’t have sugar in it.” — u/Slow_Tonight5260 — u/Hewballs “I swear my brain bypassed all the fun parts. 🥲😭” — u/Dry_Lie8495 “As a kid, I never heard the song and thought it was about an actual car. Then, when I was around 12-ish, I had my MJ/Prince phase and listened to the song. It got hella awkward, and I rarely listened to it, but I remember thinking, ‘it’d be better if it were about cars.’” — u/berrys_a_ghost — u/sirNataz “This is me finding out this song is apparently sexual. I suppose it’s about delaying ejaculation now I’ve read up on it, but this lyric is confusing. Chew it? “Originally, when questioned on the matter, the press was told that theline that sounds something like ‘when you want to suck to it’ was really’when you want to sock it to it.’ Later, once the song was successful, Holly Johnson confessed the line is, ‘When you wanna suck it, chew it.’” — u/realchairmanmiaow “I remember those days well. Doing all the warm-up exercises in third grade while the headband-wearing lesbian gym teacher led us. Good times!” — u/TrixicAcePolyamEnby “Last line before it clued me in. I was a kid when the original by Melanie came out. There was something in that line I wasn’t so sure was just pure lyrics. ‘I’m okay alone, but you got something I need.’” — u/kat-deville — u/smallemochick — u/PlasticBroccoli1977 — u/Kindly-Brick-5835 “I imagined a cowboy giving piggyback rides as a kid.” — U/LucyFaruqah — u/peacegrrrl “When I was a little kid I use to tell people (who were older than me at the time) that that song taught me how to whistle. I regret it so much now.” — u/VisitSecure “I really enjoyed it as a kid, and it stuck with me. I never really thought about it since then, but when I started to grow older and learn english properly, once I happened to read the text I was laughing my arse off at my innocence. 🤣” — u/EvBismute “I always thought it was just a song about some girl leaving her guy.” — u/kwunschel316 “In Germany at that time, prostitutes had to get a ticket/certificate showing they were disease-free. ‘Ticket to Ride’ is a reference stating that she has a ticket and is safe for a “ride.” — u/BigWhiskeyTime — u/emeliz1112 “I was singing that as like a 10-year-old had no clue the whole song was about a boner. I mean it’s quite obvious but my young brain didn’t get it for sure.” — u/LilMsCurtainTwitcher
