The True Meaning Behind Rihanna's 'SOS' Is Shocking

Social media is collectively dumbfounded over this revelation from Rihanna's 2006 hit single, "SOS."

The track's songwriter, Evan "Kidd" Bogart, recently broke down the process of writing the single during an interview on Daniel Wall's Behind the Wall podcast. He claimed to be directionless during the process, getting creative by using '80s song titles as lyrics. "When I wrote it I had no idea what I was doing. The whole second verse of that song is '80s song titles strung together as sentences because I thought it would be clever."

The second verse contains the lines, "Take on me, you know inside you feel it right / Take me on, I could just die up in your arms tonight / I melt with you, you got me head over heels / Boy, you keep me hangin' on, the way you make me feel."

Unbeknownst to listeners, the lyrics reference "Take on Me" by a-ha, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" by Cutting Crew, "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears, "You Keep Me Hanging On" by Kim Wilde and "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson.

The single also samples Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," another hit from the '80s.

Thanks to the clever songwriting and Rihanna's execution, the song ended up becoming the then 17-year-old's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Skyrocketing her career and building the foundation of her current pop reign, it remains one of the most iconic tracks in her catalog.

Tags

Rihanna, Michael Jackson