Rihanna's "SOS" songwriter reveals hidden ’80s song titles in verse

Evan “Kidd” Bogart, who composed the song’s lyrics with Edward Cobb and Jonathan Rotem, revealed that when it came to writing the second verse, they took inspiration from the '80s: “The whole second verse of that song is ’80s song titles strung together as sentences, because I thought it would be super clever,” he said.

@danielswall Replying to @N A N Z Why Rihanna’s First #1 Song Has a Secret In our conversation with Evan ‘Kidd’ Bogart, he reveals the surprising secret behind one of the biggest songs he wrote for Rihanna years ago—a detail no one ever noticed. Here’s a clip from our full conversation @kiddbogart @Rihanna #singer #songwriter #rihanna #sos #hitsong #80smusic #songwriting #demo #viralsong #popmusic #musicproducer #singing #secret #trendingsong #2000s #lyrics ♬ original sound - Daniel Wall

Breaking the entire verse down, he mentioned that the lyric “Take on me, ah-hah,” is a reference to 1985 smash “Take On Me” by A-ha. Other songs mentioned are Cutting Crew’s 1986 track, “(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight,” Modern English’s 1982 hit, "I Melt With You".

Referenced in the lyric: “You got me head over heels / Boy, you keep me hanging on, the way you make me feel” is “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by Kim Wilde and “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson.