Inverse Bubblegum

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So bubblegum incaration #1 used kiddie lyrics to talk about dirty topics -- cf. "yummy yummy yummy" and "sugar, sugar" and soforth. 112 did the same thing with "Peaches & Cream". But I suspect that Britney in particular does the opposite, in a fashion similar to Wu-Tang. "I was born to make you happy" isn't about sex at all, but very chaste loning. "Slave 4 U" is about being a slave to *the beat*. She's sold on sex, but delivers something much more innocent. The Wu do the same thing, as ppl. have noted -- the violence is metaphorical.

On the other side, we have Christina whose genie in a bottle was a classic thinly veiled metaphor for sex. Mandy Moore who took it to the limit with "Love Shot (Hit me with your)".

And then there's Dream, who you think are singing about love but are rilly singing about marketing.

Is this a valid category? What are your examples of "inverse bubblegum"? & what does this mean about "target audience"?

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And o-town seems to be the only boyband who's dirty either way & they're just icky.

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hit Me With Your Love Shot? I can't answer this question, I'm too busy sitting here thinking about how gross and disgusting that is. Did you make that up? No wonder NYLPM had the Mandy Moore "review" that was a thinly veiled wank fantasy, that's what she's singing about. Mandy Moore = completely disgusting and freaky. Plus, way too tall. Arrrrgh.

I think you are thinking too much about Britney's lyrics. They aren't very good.

― Ally, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

mandy moore is 5'10? I think i'm in love...

― Cryosmurf, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ally, don't try and blame Fred's behaviour on an amorphous "NYLPM".

― Tim, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Josh is always asking for more porn in NYLPM and I think we ought to, hur hur, give it to him.

― Tom, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Inverse of bubblegum is mugelbbub, which would be pronounced "mugglebub". Some sort of Harry Potter / beelzebub reference to mortals, I guess.

― Nude Spock, Thursday, 29 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

But Mandy Moore is 5'10... 5'10!

How tall is Ally, lest she be jealous of the Moore...

― Cryosmurf, Friday, 30 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I just realized there's a Britney-Wu comparison here so I am tempted to say something without mentioning Mandy Moore. I'm not sure I understand this all completely though... would 2pac's "Me and My Girlfriend" song be to Christina what Wu-tang's metaphors are to Britney? What about a song like "Boys" where Ms. Spears delivers lines such as "What would it take for you to just sleep with me?". That doesn't sound like thinly veiled anything.

I guess to a degree lyrics can be broken down to kiddie disguised as dirt or dirt disguised at kiddie (or kiddie and dirt as left alone). I'm not sure any of this has much to do with target audience though as the inverse-line can be pretty thin on the surface.

― Honda, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hey all you britney-hatas! If you don't find some other "inverse bubblegum" examples, this will proov by science that she is culturally unique & thus infinitely more innovative and important!

― Sterling Clover, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

1910 Fruitgum Company = Chekhov [filthy desire coated w/schmaltz; "Goody Goody Gumdrops" <--> "The Kiss"]
Britney = Schnitzler [schmaltz coated w/filthy desire; "Slave 4 U" <--> "La Ronde"]
Tupac = Shakespeare!! [filthy desire, schmaltz in consistent endless coatings, like an everlasting gobstopper; there is no 'hidden intention' or 'chocolate center'; "I'm Fucking You Tonight" <--> "12th Night"]

what does this mean about Britney's target audience? that they're all about 11 years old.

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh yes -- boys isn't about sex -- it is about role-playing & control, as in "when a girl's with one, she's in control"! Boy crazy != sex craxy.

― Sterling Clover, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

sorry, "Tupac" = "Biggie" ! cripes..

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

twenty-four years pass...

Fascist bubblegum - "Adolf Says" by the 1933 Fruitgum Company

― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 26 March 2026 00:13 (two months ago)

two months pass...

The Grapefruit boxset Pour A Little Sugar On It (The Chewy Chewy Sounds Of American Bubblegum 1966-1971) includes a couple of songs by acts who are not generally associated with the genre:
Velvet Underground, Who Loves The Sun
Halfnelson (Sparks), Fa Fa Fa Lee

CAVEAT: There are some selections on the box that I would simply call varieties of pop, tangential to bubblegum:
Neil Diamond, Cherry Cherry (no more bubblegum than "Brown Eyed Girl" by his label mate on Bang)
The Electric Prunes, Everybody Knows You're Not In Love (Turtles-esque)
Lobo, Me And You And A Dog Named Boo (AM Gold)
The Box Tops, Cry Like A Baby (pop soul)
Melanie, Brand New Key (dunno if I would call this bubblegum or not)

QUESTION: I'm trying to think of some other "serious" acts from the period that released one or two bubblegum songs:
Gordon Lightfoot, May I
John Cale, Cleo
Some Mothers of Invention, say Wowie Zowie

Something like "Big Yellow Taxi" doesn't entirely commit to the genre, though it's obviously geared towards AM radio play.

― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 30 May 2026 15:13 (one week ago)

"Fa La Fa Lee" of course

― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 30 May 2026 15:14 (one week ago)

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