Music | Pop Culture | 90s
Britney's K-Mart Costume and 14 Other Facts You Didn't Know About The Biggest Hits Of The '90s
There are tons of songs that we've heard about a million times back in the 90s, but a lot of them have interesting stories behind them that usually don't go public until years later. Here are just a few examples.
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
The title of the song came from Bikini Kill member Kathleen Hanna, who wrote "Kurt smells like teen spirit" on the singer's apartment wall while completely drunk. She was referring to a brand of deodorant that he had never heard of.
Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Ever wonder how rap videos get all of their booty-shaking dancers? In this case, the video's director took pictures of each dancer's butt and sent them to Mix-A-Lot himself, who got final approval. Some people demand pictures of Spiderman, but he demanded pictures of butts.
Garbage - "#1 Crush"
The female moans you hear in the background are actually Madonna's. They're sampled from her song "Bedtime Story."
Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy"
Turns out the band didn't think they were actually that sexy; the whole song was a parody of people they would see while at the gym.
Celine Dion - "My Heart Will Go On"
Arguably the singer's biggest hit of all time thanks to the immense popularity of Titanic. Turns out she had no interest in the song whatsoever and had to be coaxed into it by producer Tommy Mottola. She nailed it in a single take.
Sinéad O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U"
The song was actually written and recorded by Prince for a side project. Somehow we're less than surprised.
Green Day - "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)"
One of the most overplayed songs of all time thanks to people interpreting it as nostalgic, turns out it was actually about Billie Joe Armstrong's bitterness over his girlfriend breaking up with him and moving to Ecuador.
These next couple are pretty surprising...
Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time"
All of the outfits used in the video were bought at K-Mart. ALL OF THEM.
Oasis - "Live Forever"
The song was meant to be a happier, more optimistic response to Nirvana's "I Hate Myself and Want To Die."
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
The song was released on Buddy Holly's birthday, because of course it was. Also, the original chorus to the song was "Oo-wee-oo, you look just like Ginger Rogers/Oh, oh, I move just like Fred Astaire."
No Doubt - "Just A Girl"
Gwen Stefani asked women in her life to tell her stories of the casual sexism they encountered every day, which ended up inspiring the song's lyrics.
Vanilla Ice - "Ice Ice Baby"
The song was the first rap song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, proving definitively that we had garbage taste in music in the 90s.
Blur - "Song 2"
The song was meant as a parody of grunge, but just ended up becoming one of the most iconic rock songs of the 90s.
Lisa Loeb - "Stay"
Loeb actually didn't have a recording contract when "Stay" was released as a single. This changed very quickly.
Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris"
The band thought the song would never be a hit as it was part of the City of Angels soundtrack, which featured much bigger bands like U2 and Alanis Morissette. Personally, we'd have preferred if they were right.