‘SOS’ was the first single from Rihanna’s second album ‘A Girl Like Me’
The composer Evan ‘Kidd’ Bogart revealed in an interview on October 11, 2024, on the podcast Behind the Wallof Daniel Wallthat the song SOSthe first great success of Rihanna to reach the top of the charts, contains song titles from the 80s hidden in its lyrics.
Evan Bogartwho wrote the lyrics to the 2006 single, explained that the song’s second verse is made up of a series of popular 1980s song titles connected to form sentences.
When I wrote it, I had no idea what I was doing. The entire second verse is made up of 80s song titles because I thought it would be clever.
In the section in question, Rihanna sings: “Take on me (a-ha), 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.”
These lines reference several songs from the 80s, such as “Take on Me“ of a-ha, “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” of Cutting Crew, “Head Over Heels” of Tears for Fears, “You Keep Me Hanging On” of Kim Wildeand “The Way You Make Me Feel” of michael jackson.
Still according Bogartmost listeners do not notice these references when listening SOS. The song also uses a sample from another famous track from the 80s: Tainted Loveoriginally written by Ed Cobb and popularized by Soft Cell. Cobb even receives credit as a composer on SOS due to the use of the sample.
SOS was the first single from Rihanna’s second album, A Girl Like Me.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
