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I still remember the Gym Class Heroes, “Cupid's Chokehold” in particular, turned up to the max volume on my mp3 back in the day. Some songs get stuck with us, but it’s incredible how little we truly know about them.
You see, it turns out the “Ba ba da da, ba ba da da, ba ba da da, Take a look at my girlfriend” song is not about just any girl. I mean, the woman whom it’s about is now a celebrity worth US$125 million with 13 Grammys and 5 MTV music video awards, among a sea of others.
You’re not the only one who had no clue that some of our all-time fave pop songs were really written for or about other celebrities. Let’s take a look at the illuminating list down below which reveals that some music pieces have whole stories behind them.
(h/t Buzzfeed)
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Phil Collins's Song "You’ll Be In My Heart," Which He Wrote For The Movie Tarzan, Was Actually Meant For His Daughter Lily Collins And He Referred To Her Throughout The Track
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Bowtechie Bowtechie Community Member Follow
I was today years old when I learned Lilly Collins is related to Phil Collins
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#2
Singer John Legend Wrote And Dedicated The Track "All Of Me" To Wife Chrissy Teigen
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glowworm2 glowworm2 Community Member Follow
Aw!
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#3
It Turns Out, Lily Allen's "F**k You" Was Written About The Former Us President George W. Bush
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kjorn kjorn Community Member Follow
i sure people miss george bush now. anyone but Trump i guess
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It’s no secret that the music industry is full of the most legendary power couples ever. I mean, how wouldn’t it be, when love has been an endless source of inspiration since the dawn of art? But it turns out, some of the singing lovebirds started their romance in the studio while recording. For example, the world-famous “Crazy In Love” Jay Z and Beyoncé fell for each other while collaborating on the 2002 track “Bonnie and Clyde.” Meanwhile, J.Lo and Diddy met in the studio while working for Lopez' album “On the 6.” They proceeded to date for two years until calling it quits due to Diddy’s arrest in connection with a shooting.
#4
Coldplay's Lead Singer Chris Martin Wrote "Fix You" For His Wife At The Time, Gwyneth Paltrow, After Her Father Died
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Pepper Pots Pepper Pots Community Member Follow
thats a beautiful song, always makes me cry
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#5
Christina Aguilera Wrote "Can't Hold Us Down" As A Response To Eminem's Negative Comments About Her
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Miss Cris Miss Cris Community Member Follow
Finally one that hasn't been written for a boyfriend/girlfriend! :)
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#6
Pink And The Indigo Girls Wrote A Song Called "Dear Mr. President" Which Was A Message To George W. Bush While He Was In Office. The Song Criticised His Position On Homelessness, Lgbtq Rights, And The Iraq War
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Verena Heisenberg Verena Heisenberg Community Member Follow
BEST.SONG.EVER! Love her, the song, the message etc.
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While Ariana Grande was working on her debut album “Victorious,” Mac Miller offered to sing a duet with her. Their piece “The Way” ended up debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another teen favorite singer Selena Gomez is also said to have had a romance with her former producer Zedd while collaborating on the 2015 song "I Want You to Know." This line “I want you to know that I'm all yours" in particular sparked romance rumors that the singer later confirmed were, in fact, true.
#7
Katy Perry Said That Her Single "I Kissed A Girl" Was Inspired By Scarlett Johansson
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JuJu JuJu Community Member Follow
I totally understand that!
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#8
Bon Iver's Song "Perth" Was A Tribute To Heath Ledger After He Died In 2008. Heath, Who Was Born In Perth, Australia, Was The Best Friend Of Lead Singer Justin Vernon
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JessG JessG Community Member Follow
Aw :(
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#9
Justin Timberlake Wrote "Cry Me A River" After Breaking Up With Britney Spears
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miten sasmita miten sasmita Community Member Follow
Ahh if only she ended up with him... She'd be much happier. They looked genuinely in love together that time.
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#10
"Something" By The Beatles, "Layla" By Derek And The Dominoes, And "Wonderful Tonight" By Eric Clapton Were Written About Model Pattie Boyd
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Caroline 3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017
Popular lady!
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#11
Not Many Know That Nirvana's Legendary Song "Heart-Shaped Box" Is About Courtney Love And... Her vagin*
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True Blue True Blue Community Member Follow
O_O
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#12
While Katy Perry Was Dating The Lead Singer From Gym Class Heroes Named Travie Mccoy, He Wrote Her The Famous "Cupid’s Chokehold"
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Ellen Ellen Community Member Follow
Her old song "Circle the drain" is also about him, & how his addiction tore their relationship apart.
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#13
"Ms. Jackson" By Outkast Was An Apology To Erykah Badu And Her Mother After Badu And Andre 3000 Broke Up
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CatWoman312 CatWoman312 Community Member Follow
I never knew that!
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#14
A Verse In Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" Is About Warren Beatty
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Bowtechie Bowtechie Community Member Follow
He probably thinks the song is about him anyway
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#15
After Jay-Z And Alicia Keys Released "Empire State Of Mind," Katy Perry Wrote "California Gurls" Because She Wanted There To Be A Song To Represent California
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BringOnTheDownvotes BringOnTheDownvotes Community Member Follow
You mean besides the literal HUNDEREDS of songs about California?
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#16
"Colors" By Halsey Was About Her Ex-Boyfriend Matty Healy, The Lead Singer Of The 1975
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Linda May Linda May Community Member Follow
Colors by Halsey is a wonderful song. But it's going to escalate *really* quickly from wow to wut when you watch the music video 😂 Still, she is amazing person.
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#17
Fans Believe That Taylor Swift Wrote "I Knew You Were Trouble" With Her Ex-Boyfriend Harry Styles In Mind
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JuJu JuJu Community Member Follow
Aren't all her songs "Ex-Songs"?
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#18
Ed Sheeran Wrote "Don't" After Ellie Goulding Cheated On Him With Niall From One Direction
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miten sasmita miten sasmita Community Member Follow
Glad ed sheeran is happily married with a baby daughter now.
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#19
After Miley Cyrus Got Engaged To Liam Hemsworth, Her Ex Nick Jonas Wrote Her A Song Called "Wedding Bells"
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postboredom postboredom Community Member Follow
They aren't together anymore though.
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#20
"Madness" By Muse Is About Matt Bellamy's (The Lead Singer) Relationship With Kate Hudson. It Was Inspired By A Fight They Had
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JessG JessG Community Member Follow
Cool song though
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#21
The Weeknd Was Going Through A Painful Breakup With Selena Gomez When He Wrote "Call Out My Name"
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CatWoman312 CatWoman312 Community Member Follow
She still was suffering from Beiberitis
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#22
"Killing Me Softly" By Norman Gimbel Was Inspired By A Young Singer Named Lori Lieberman Who Had Seen Don Mclean Perform And Told Gimbel That It Was An Intensely Moving Experience. So In Essence, It's About Don Mclean
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JessG JessG Community Member Follow
"A long long time ago, I can still remember, how that music used to make me smil..."
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#23
Justin Bieber Wrote "What Do You Mean" About His On-Again Off-Again Relationship With Selena Gomez
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CatWoman312 CatWoman312 Community Member Follow
He wrote several songs about her. “Sorry” was about her as well.
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#24
While We Can All Agree That Hollaback Girl Is A Total Tune, It's Safe To Say That Its Origins Are Well And Truly Rooted In Famous Feuding. Dissing Gwen In An Interview With Seventeen Magazine, Courtney 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."
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Eraldo Ferreira Eraldo Ferreira Community Member Follow
Why Do You Have To Write All Of Your Titles With Every Damn First Letter Of Every F*****g Word On Capslock?
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#25
Lily Aldridge, The Victoria's Secret Angel Who Is Married To Kings Of Leon Lead Singer, Caleb Followill, Is Said To Have Inspired The Band's Track Sex On Fire
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JessG JessG Community Member Follow
LOVE this song!
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#26
"Dear John" By Taylor Swift Is About Her Ex, John Mayer. Mayer's Song "Paper Doll" Was Allegedly His Rebuttal
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Janine B. Janine B. Community Member
I will never understand how this not really attractive guy seems charme so many women.
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#27
Florence Welch From Florence + The Machine Wrote A Song "Patricia" For The Singer Patti Smith
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Saico Hipe Saico Hipe Community Member Follow
I love Florence so much! She actually got to randomly meet Smith on day in a restaurant, and says she was super nice and down to earth.
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#28
"Cinderella" By Mac Miller, A Song That Has Lyrics About Very Intimate Bedroom Moments, Is About Ariana Grande
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Jessica Friend Jessica Friend Community Member Follow
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#29
And "You're Never Over" By Eminem Was A Tribute To His Friend, The Rapper Proof. Proof Was Shot And Killed In 2006
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik Marlowe Fitzpatrik Community Member Follow
Duh. It says his name in the first line!
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#30
"Circle The Drain" By Katy Perry Was About Travie Mccoy's Drug Addiction
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yes. yes. Community Member Follow
She's honestly amazing
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Troux Troux Community Member
Celebrity gossip. Neat...... In other news, a national park in Thailand has been shipping rubbish back to the visitors who left it behind.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54200833
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manon M manon M Community Member
excellent initiative 👏👍👍
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N000dle N000dle Community Member Follow
I'm missing the most mind blowing one! "You oughtta know" from Alanis Morissette is about David Coulier (uncle Joey from Full House)
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CatWoman312 CatWoman312 Community Member Follow
Wow I didn’t know that! I couldn’t picture her dating Uncle Joey either. She also use to date Ryan Reynolds
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glowworm2 glowworm2 Community Member Follow
What I learned here was don't date Taylor Swift because she'll probably write a song about you when it doesn't work out anymore.
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Elem F Elem F Community Member Follow
What a long and self-centered way to say you read the title and skipped the article. Sure, Taylor has become something of a dating trope, but she is only on here twice and one of those is clearly stated as fan speculation only haha. Katy Perry, on the other hand, makes it on here thrice.
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Troux Troux Community Member
Celebrity gossip. Neat...... In other news, a national park in Thailand has been shipping rubbish back to the visitors who left it behind.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54200833
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manon M manon M Community Member
excellent initiative 👏👍👍
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N000dle N000dle Community Member Follow
I'm missing the most mind blowing one! "You oughtta know" from Alanis Morissette is about David Coulier (uncle Joey from Full House)
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CatWoman312 CatWoman312 Community Member Follow
Wow I didn’t know that! I couldn’t picture her dating Uncle Joey either. She also use to date Ryan Reynolds
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glowworm2 glowworm2 Community Member Follow
What I learned here was don't date Taylor Swift because she'll probably write a song about you when it doesn't work out anymore.
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Elem F Elem F Community Member Follow
What a long and self-centered way to say you read the title and skipped the article. Sure, Taylor has become something of a dating trope, but she is only on here twice and one of those is clearly stated as fan speculation only haha. Katy Perry, on the other hand, makes it on here thrice.
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