A Brief History of the Blowjob in Pop Music

By Luke Winkie Tue., Aug. 28 2012 at 4:00 AM

Flo Rida

Currently dominating charts, Flo Rida's "Whistle" recycles the wholesome Disney chorus "whistle while you work" as a blowjob instructional. Like many before him, Flo Rida enjoys receiving oral sex, and like almost as many, he has turned the practice into a popular song. Over the years, tracks discussing the "beej" have been performed in every era of pop. Chuck Berry was singing about his dick all the way back in 1972, and, while it's only gotten more misogynist from there, there's no denying that bjs are a huge and, dare we say, important part of popular music history. And so without further ado behold our brief, incomplete history of blowjobs in music.

1974
Leonard Cohen - "Chelsea Hotel #2"
There are surely older songs about fellatio, but this is the earliest, most concrete example. Like the good plainspoken folk singer he is, Leonard Cohen starts the song with "I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel /you were talking so brave and sweet /giving me head on the unmade bed /while the limousines wait in the street." "Chelsea Hotel #2" is certainly not just about blowjobs, but the subject is right there in your face. Bwahahaha.

1980
Prince & The Revolution - "Head"
In which our hero encounters a bride on the way to her wedding, who is so taken aback by the glamour of Prince's presence that she decides to abandon her wedding plans and go down on him right there. "I think you like to go down / you wouldn't have stopped / but I came on your wedding gown." Unlike most songs about BJs, this one is almost entirely euphemism-free.

1980
AC/DC - "Giving the Dog a Bone"
Lots of metaphors going on here, what with the dogs and bones and, well, "she blowin' me crazy til my ammunition is dry." Not sure we'd be up for getting one of those "crazy" blowjobs.

1981
Def Leppard - "Let It Go"
It's still unclear to us why Def Leppard wants some sugar poured on them, but the lyrics from "Let It Go" are more clear: "Slow down, hold on /you're too fast, you're too strong /take it easy, take it slow /make it last, don't let it go." Easy tiger!

1984
Judas Priest - "Eat Me Alive"
Before coming out of the closet, Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford was penning some quite raunchy, one might say "fetishistic" lyrics. "I'm going to force you at gun point /eat me alive," he sings on "Eat Me Alive." How romantic!

1990
NWA - "Just Don't Bite It"
"Just Don't Bite It" was written by MC Ren, and is found on the NWA EP 100 Miles and Runnin'. It suggests that gentlemen interested in first-rate fellatio purchase their ladies a new book called "The Art of Sucking Dick." (It was written by NWA themselves, which is a bit gay.) The best part of the song is where Ren says his dick is harder than a totem pole.

1992
Peter Gabriel - "Kiss That Frog"
Yes, there was a time when we were letting Peter Gabriel write songs about blowjobs. Still, "Kiss That Frog" is a bit much. "He's all puffed up /wanna be your king /oh you can do it /c'mon lady kiss that frog." It's important to remember two things about blowjob songs: 1) Don't talk about your dick in the third person and 2) Don't use a frog as a dick metaphor.

2003
Kelis - "Milkshake"
We'll never know for sure if Kelis means fellatio when she talks about her titular milkshake, but it seems quite likely. We can all be glad to know that "Damn right it's better than yours /I can teach you, but I'd have to charge" is still quoted in middle schools across the country.

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tedkane

2nding the Lou Reed comment, also what about Funkadelic? While I can understand how you might have missed the line "why frown?/even the sun goes down" in "Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him," it's doesn't get much more direct than "No Head, No Backstage Pass."

kevindgrant

Let's not forget Madonna's "Like a Prayer."

gottaknow247

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How can you write this article without mentioning Lou Reeds, "Take a walk on the wild side"? Probably the most blatant, unedited, and frequently played song in the bunch.

Candy came from out on the island, In the backroom she was everybodys darling, But she never lost her head Even when she was given head - she said

topcatuptown

An early reference can also be found in Dr. John's "Right Place, Wrong Time" hit tune released in January, 1973, which contained the following suspect lyric: "Just need a little brain salad surgery/Got to cure this insecurity." Later that year, "Brain Salad Surgery" was quickly adopted as the title of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's fourth studio album after the record company suits freaked over the working title "Whip Some Skull on Yer." Both the working title and the one used are slang for fellatio. The classic fold out album cover, an early work of H. R. Giger of "Alien" fame, is also quite suggestive, featuring Giger's wife and a phallus that was airbrushed out in the original release, also at the insistence of the ever-anxious record execs.