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

(#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.
(#6) Breakfast in America
- Musical Recording
“Breakfast in America” is less well known by its title than by its opening lyrics: “Take a look at my girlfriend.”
The song is about a British person who dreams of living in America - but an idealized, stereotypical America. As Supertramp band member Roger Hodgson explained,
…when I wrote “Breakfast in America,” I mean obviously, I had a lot of dreams. One of them was to go to America, and the America that we saw on the television was very different to the America that we’re very much more connected to today. I mean, it was very archetypal in a way…
(#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.
(#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.”
(#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.
(#1) Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
- Musical Recording
Yep, the “Pina Colada” song is titled “Escape.” And if this comes as a surprise, it may gratify you to know that the word “escape” only appears in the song four times.
Of course, the much more prominent “pina coladas” only appear in the song five times, so…
Rupert Holmes has expressed some disdain for the song, believing it has overshadowed the rest of his songwriting career:
I have a feeling that if I saved an entire orphanage from a fire and carried the last child out on my shoulders, as I stood there charred and smoking, they’d say, "Aren’t you the guy who wrote the piña colada song?"