A Favorite Song from the ’70s – I Had No Idea

July 31, 2014 Off By Lisa

I couldn’t pass up this week’s Writer’s Workshop at Mama Kat’s. The prompt made me laugh too hard.

A song I loved as a kid but when I hear the lyrics now…

Hmm, yes, well, this particular favorite was just completely inappropriate.

This song hit the radio waves in early 1976. The group was new and their sound was…unique. I loved this song. My Uncles used to play the radio when they cleaned my Grandparents’ swimming pool on summer mornings. When this one came on, I sang it like crazy.

OK, I didn’t actually sing all of it. I mostly grabbed a few words here and there…

Something something something something appetite…

looking forward to a little afternoon delight…

something sticks and stones together make the sparks at night…

something something something something something so exciting…

skyrockets in flight nnnnneeeeeaaaarrrrrrrrwwwwwwww (FABULOUS SOUND EFFECT)

afternoon delight…

aaaaaaaaa-ha-hafternoon deli-hi-hight

I was six years old – what the heck did I know? I thought it was about fireworks and frozen ice cream pops – you know the red white and blue rocket ones? Yeah, those.

Take a trip back to 1976 with me and enjoy the Starland Vocal Band performing their Song of the Year hit “Afternoon Delight” at the nineteenth annual Grammy Awards. (Yeah, nineteenth.)

 

Ice pops and fireworks, indeed. And that line about “the thought of rubbin’ you…”? Yeah, so never heard that. Like, ever. Learned that one about a year ago. (OK, yesterday.)

How embarrassing.

OK, now it’s your turn – I can’t be the only one! What favorite songs surprised you when you grew up and learned the real lyrics?

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Mama’s Losin’ It

CategoryLife
Tagsfunny stuff memories music

About The Author

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

14 Comments

  • madamdreamweaver says:
    August 1, 2014 at 12:44 am

    LoL, funny. I was in the Air Force when Afternoon Delight was top 40 and on 8-track. Yup. I think the CCR song, “there’s a bathroom on the right,” was the one that got me. (Bad Moon on the right.)

  • Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes says:
    August 1, 2014 at 8:02 am

    It took a while before I figured ‘Pull up to the Bumper’…

  • Sarah says:
    August 1, 2014 at 9:46 am

    Yeah, I didn’t know the meaning of that song for a long time either. I was a huge fan of Judy Collins when I was a kid. Not exactly inappropriate, but certainly more mature listening. I would play my parents’ records over and over. They held on to that technology and didn’t make the switch until CDs appeared.

    • The Meaning of Me says:
      August 1, 2014 at 12:02 pm

      Ah, another oldie but goodie!
      Sometimes I wish I hadn’t bought cassettes and held out for CDs. But I had a cassette deck and bought many things in that format. Now I can’t find some of those things on CD and it’s frustrating.

  • Phoebe Wulliman Graber says:
    August 1, 2014 at 11:21 am

    Ammahzing! When you started off I immediately thought of the song “Afternoon Delight” in my head! I was even older than you were by about 4 years and still had no idea what the words were or meant! Loved. That. Song. It’s still a catchy tune :)!

    • The Meaning of Me says:
      August 1, 2014 at 12:04 pm

      It absolutely is – I listened to it about twenty times yesterday when I was doing my post. I am certain that I drive my Hub crazy. Can’t say he’s a huge fan of cheesy ’70s pop tunes.

  • Mo says:
    August 1, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    HAHAHAHA! This made me laugh out loud! Great stuff! I had many songs that began with something something something something. Actually, I hate to admit, but I still do. Lol!

  • Tammy says:
    August 3, 2014 at 11:57 am

    I remember Afternoon Delight coming on! There is an excellent episode of Arrested Development that covers the inappropriateness of that song in a hilarious way.

    I, too, was a kid in the 70s. Throughout my childhood, “I am woman” was playing on the radio. I remember singing out the chorus one day, “I am strong, I am invisible, I am woman.” My mom asked me to repeat it, which I did. She said, “That’s about right.” It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that Helen Reddy was actually saying “invincible.” It made me laugh, more about my mom’s comment than the mistake I’d made.

  • May says:
    August 10, 2014 at 12:07 am

    I remember my mom being horrified by the Who’s –mama’s got a squeezebox; daddy never sleeps at night. Then later my sister and I were horrified by her eight year old belting out—like a virgin, touched for the very first time. Yikes! Not right.

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