• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Songwriter for Rihanna's SOS track reveals mind-altering fact about its lyrics almost 20 years later

Home> Music> News

Published 15:41 16 Oct 2024 GMT+1

Songwriter for Rihanna's SOS track reveals mind-altering fact about its lyrics almost 20 years later

Rihanna's hit song 'SOS' was released in 2006

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

Any Rihanna fans out there will know that the songstress' first number one hit was 'SOS'.

Released in 2006 as part of her album A Girl Like Me, the catchy pop song quickly shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks.

Fast forward 18 years and Rihanna's had a total of 14 number one singles in the US, performed at the Super Bowl, won nine Grammy Awards and 13 American Music Awards, and has had over 12 billion streams on Spotify.

Advert

But Rihanna may not have achieved her superstar status without the success of 'SOS' - which was written by Evan 'Kidd' Bogart.

Speaking on the Behind the Wall podcast, hosted by Daniel Wall, Bogart lifted the lid on 'SOS' and its origins.

"I wrote it and I had no idea what I was doing," he admitted. 'SOS' marked one of the first pop songs written by Bogart.

"If you really look at how that song was written, it's not written by someone who knows anything about writing pop music," he went on.

"I was just going on instinct."

Rihanna is one of the biggest names in the music industry (Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Rihanna is one of the biggest names in the music industry (Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

Bogart went on to note that the lyrics were 'crafted out of clever word play'.

Further elaborating on this, the composer - who has also written songs for the likes of Beyoncé, Leona Lewis, Jason Derulo and Madison Beer - explained: "The whole second verse of [SOS] is 80s song titles strung together as sentences, because I thought it would be super clever."

He named top tunes like Aha's 'Take On Me', Cutting Crew's '(I Just) Died In Your Arms', Tears For Fears song 'Head Over Heels', and 'The Way You Make Me Feel' by Michael Jackson.

"They're all number one songs from the 80s," Bogart concluded.

Adding to the 80s vibe, 'SOS' samples Soft Cell's 1982 hit 'Tainted Love'.

In light of his revelations, people have hailed Bogart as a 'genius'.

One person penned on TikTok: "He’s a genius. Song titles as lyrics?? He created a masterpiece from masterpieces."

"I love idea of this and the execution is perfect," raved another of the 2006 track.

A third went on: "I never knew this the man is a genius!!!"

Others shared how mind blown they were about where Bogart drew inspiration from for 'SOS'.

"My brain just exploded. I never noticed this," a music fan penned.

A second said: "My jaw is being scraped off the floor."

Me too, guys. Me too.

Featured Image Credit: Rihanna/YouTube/danielswall/TikTok

Topics: Music, Rihanna, TikTok

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

8 hours ago
a day ago
3 days ago
  • Monica Schipper/Getty
    8 hours ago

    Bad Bunny shares huge hint about what people should expect during Super Bowl halftime show

    The Puerto Rican hitmaker won big at the Grammys this year

    Music
  • Brett Carlsen/Getty
    a day ago

    Disturbing Kid Rock lyric resurfaces after he's revealed to headline Turning Point USA alternate halftime show

    Kid Rock's 1997 'Cool Daddy Cool' song has made a resurgence

    Music
  • Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
    a day ago

    Justin Bieber fans think they've figured out 'symbolic' reason why he performed half-naked at Grammys

    The singer performed his song 'YUKON' for the crowd on Sunday evening

    Music
  • Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
    3 days ago

    Sabrina Carpenter is slammed by PETA over 'cruel' Grammys performance

    The 'Manchild' singer sparked backlash after bringing a feathered friend to the stage

    Music
  • A$AP Rocky makes rare remarks about his and Rihanna's three children as he reveals who the 'strict' parent is
  • Jenna Ortega praised for pronouncing Rihanna's name and 'correcting 95% of us'
  • Jenna Ortega praised for pronouncing Rihanna's name and 'correcting 95% of us'
  • Akon doesn't 'regret' extremely sexual song and explains why he'll never change lyrics nearly 20 years later