Thong Song or Fat Bottom Girls of the 21st Century
The song is about women who wear thong underwear. The first verse is an invitation to women to allow them to know what "what guys talk about"[2], with the implicit belief that we are living in a social order where men and women never interact. Thus Sisqo is generously allowing women into the private halls of male conversation where men speak of everything from economics to social mores to business. Sisqo is promising a feminist discourse in the context of Neo-Marxist Conflict Theory which notes that "Until relatively recently, women in Western cultures could not vote or hold property, making them entirely dependent on men. Men, like any other group with a power or wealth advantage, fought to maintain their control over resources (in this case, political and economic power)." [3]. In the Information Age, one of the most valuable resources is information, particularly private information.
However, verses two and three do not deliver on the promise of private male conversation as Sisqo talks to the subject of his song directly concerning her scandalous outfit and her shaking of that thing. The lyrics take an interesting turn before the bridge as he notes that she is "Not just urban she likes the pop / Cuz she was livin la vida loca"[4]. Livin' La Vida Loca was a popular song by Ricky Martin at the time. Ricky Martin presented himself as a straight man extolling the virtues of mentally ill women and was a closeted homosexual at the time. He came out of the closet in 2010 after years of speculation.[5]. By referencing a homosexual icon's most renown song, Sisqo is signaling to gay men that they can also enjoy the spectacle of watching dancing men in thongs.
The most fascinating part about the song happens in the chorus where Sisqo states that "She had dumps like a truck truck truck"[6] which provides a fascinating counterpoint to the celebration of buttocks revealing clothing and the ability to dance in it. Yet the word dump reminds the listener of scatological implications by referencing the phrase "taking a dump" which is an accepted euphemism to empty one's bowels through the anus[7]. Thus even in the midst of buttocks fetishization, the specter of the most common usage for the buttocks comes to the forefront.
Apparently the singer is unable to cope with the contradiction of sexuality and uncomfortable bodily functions as the rest of the song is reduced to repetition with the final cry of "That thong th thong thong thong"[8] echoing in the listener's mind like the cry of the Ancient Mariner who uses similar repetition in "Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."[9]
However, verses two and three do not deliver on the promise of private male conversation as Sisqo talks to the subject of his song directly concerning her scandalous outfit and her shaking of that thing. The lyrics take an interesting turn before the bridge as he notes that she is "Not just urban she likes the pop / Cuz she was livin la vida loca"[4]. Livin' La Vida Loca was a popular song by Ricky Martin at the time. Ricky Martin presented himself as a straight man extolling the virtues of mentally ill women and was a closeted homosexual at the time. He came out of the closet in 2010 after years of speculation.[5]. By referencing a homosexual icon's most renown song, Sisqo is signaling to gay men that they can also enjoy the spectacle of watching dancing men in thongs.
The most fascinating part about the song happens in the chorus where Sisqo states that "She had dumps like a truck truck truck"[6] which provides a fascinating counterpoint to the celebration of buttocks revealing clothing and the ability to dance in it. Yet the word dump reminds the listener of scatological implications by referencing the phrase "taking a dump" which is an accepted euphemism to empty one's bowels through the anus[7]. Thus even in the midst of buttocks fetishization, the specter of the most common usage for the buttocks comes to the forefront.
Apparently the singer is unable to cope with the contradiction of sexuality and uncomfortable bodily functions as the rest of the song is reduced to repetition with the final cry of "That thong th thong thong thong"[8] echoing in the listener's mind like the cry of the Ancient Mariner who uses similar repetition in "Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."[9]