“She Bop” is a thinly-veiled celebration of masturbation. Released in 1983, it reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, the third hit single from Cindy Lauper’s She’s So Unusual LP. In 2021 on the 37th anniversary of the song, Lauper posted on Instagram, “Most people didn’t get what ‘She Bop’ was about until much later, when I went on Dr. Ruth’s radio show. I was playing along with her, making believe I was in a psychiatrist’s office, but then everything I said was blown up later by the press. 

“Suddenly ‘She Bop’ was on the Parents’ Music Resource Center’s Filthy Fifteen list of songs that they said should be banned, like ‘Let Me Put My Love Into You’ by AC/DC. I was so mad, because I had made sure that I never mentioned certain things so that little kids would never know. 

“And then I was found out because of my big mouth. Now every kid knew what it was about, and it wasn’t supposed to be that way. Oh, c’est la vie. That’s French for ‘whatever.’ Anyway, happy 37 to my scandalous song!”