Random Song Titles We Just Now Realized We’ve Been Getting Wrong (13 items)

(#11) Baby Got Back
- Musical Recording
Although it might seem like the real title, “I Like Big Butts" is only a lyric in Sir Mix-A-Lot's immensely successful song "Baby Got Back.” At the time, this was an intensely controversial and misunderstood song that Sir-Mix-Alot did not think would be successful. He even said:
I hated “Baby Got Back.” I thought, “This song will never make it.” I thought it was going to p*** everybody off.
The song was also believed to be taboo and sexual because of its reference to women with big butts, but according to Sir Mix-A-Lot, that wasn’t his intention:
When I did the song… it was supposed to be something serious. But I was being tongue-in-cheek about it. People think I wrote it as a novelty song, but I really didn’t. If you listen to the lyrics, it’s actually saying some real sh*t but I’m having fun with it. It was basically me mocking what, at that time, was the establishment’s idea of what beauty was. That’s what that song’s about.
(#8) Tubthumping
- Musical Recording
“Tub-thumping” means to express yourself in a loud, public, possibly violent, rant. That makes this one-hit wonder from Chumbawamba aptly named, though many people probably refer to it by its declamatory chorus: “I Get Knocked Down.”
According to Boff Whalley (founding member of Chumbawamba), the song is a drinking song inspired by an often inebriated neighbor that would always sing "Danny Boy” when drunk and falling over. Yet, it's also about the struggles of the middle class, which is in line with the UK band's anarchist and anti-establishment messaging featured in their other songs.
(#13) Hollaback Girl
- Musical Recording
One of Gwen Stefani's most famed club songs is “Hollaback Girl,” released in 2005 on the singer's album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. The song itself is about fighting or confronting those who bad mouth you instead of hiding behind meaningless words.
In fact, Stefani's song “Hollaback Girl” is a response to negative comments made by Courtney Love. Love once said,
Being famous is just like being in high school. But I’m not interested in being the cheerleader. I’m not interested in being Gwen Stefani. She’s the cheerleader, and I’m out in the smoker shed.
In response, Stefani said:
Y’know, someone one time called me a cheerleader negatively, and I’ve never been a cheerleader. So I was, like, “OK, f*** you. You want me to be a cheerleader? Well, I will be one, then. And I’ll rule the whole world; just you watch me.”
(#9) Nope, It's Not 'Apple Bottom Jeans,' It's 'Low'

Flo Rida's debut single “Low,” featuring T-Pain, is widely known by its most prominent lyric, “Apple Bottom Jeans.” The song was a massive success, being the most-downloaded digital song of the 2000s.
Fun fact: The “Apple Bottom Jeans” are not a reference to the shape of a woman's backside, but the brand started by rapper Nelly in 2003.
(#7) Proud Mary
- Song
The song “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival is often called “Rollin’ on the River” because of its chorus and because people believe it is about weed.
In the chorus, the band sings: “Big wheel keep on turnin’… Proud Mary keep on burnin’... Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.”
Because Mary Jane is slang for marijuana, some believe the “rollin'” is referencing rolling joints. In actuality, the song is about a riverboat named Proud Mary, and like all riverboats, she is powered by a huge water wheel that “rolls” the boat up the river. Additionally, according to John Fogerty (who wrote the song), the song is “a metaphor about leaving painful, stressful things behind for a more tranquil and meaningful life."
(#10) Wannabe
- Musical Recording
According to one study, “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls is the catchiest song in the United Kingdom in recent history. It's been almost 27 years since this debut song was released and went to the number-one spot in many countries worldwide, including the UK, Australia, and the US.