The sweaty lyrics to Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj’s Soul Cycle commercial jingle “Side to Side” aren’t exactly subtle. The chorus goes, “I’ve been here all night / I’ve been here all day / And boy me walkin’ side to side.” Grande’s proudly boasting that she’s been with her man for hours, and they’ve been having so much sex, she’s having trouble walking. And just in case Nicki’s “ride dick bicycle” wasn’t obvious enough, Grande confirmed to reporters at the VMAs, “That whole song is about riding leading to soreness.”
Still, some people (read: dorks) are very confused.
Girls creator Lena Dunham recently tweeted, “Jack just explained that the song Side to Side is about getting railed so hard you can’t walk. SO MANY EMOTIONZ.” (Speaking of E•MO•TIONs: the “Jack” in Lena’s tweet is Bleachers/fun. member Jack Antonoff, who wrote “Sweetie” for Carly Rae Jepsen. Unless “sweetie, sweetie” is code for something I’m not aware of, that song is not about post-coital limping.) She’s not the only one to have her world rocked.
https://twitter.com/dooonjet/status/771049811072122880
Mind blown after hearing what Ariana/Nicki's "Side To Side" is actually about… but not mad about it.
— Alex Thielen (@alexxthielen) September 1, 2016
It's reeeally funny for me to hear all the girls in my school singing side to side so loud that they don't even understand the meaning
— eternal sunshineᯓᡣ𐭩 (@arianaistoocute) September 1, 2016
Everyone is just realizing the meaning behind Side to Side just now lmfao that's hilarious
— Stephen Tay Smith (@lookitstaylorrr) September 1, 2016
Finding out the real meaning of Side to Side just makes me like it even more tbh @ArianaGrande
— sandy (@sandysep) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/chaoticney/status/770568833069420544
Loooool when you find out the real meaning of Side to Side😳😂 @ArianaGrande keeping us on our toes 24/7 #SideToSide #ohnoshedidnt #ohyeshedid
— Lucinda Evans (@lemonadeluce) September 1, 2016
OH MY GOD I JUST UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF SIDE TO SIDE OH FUCK
— chiara (@jemcarstairsv) September 1, 2016
I just found out what side to side is about I'm pic.twitter.com/ydIv7eG0xZ
— maddie☁️ (@wtrmlnsugarcri) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/RokRobin/status/771425263091486720
https://twitter.com/manansalathena/status/771363734556069889
I just realized that Ari's side to side is about getting so much🍆 that it leads to soreness and you can't walk. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MUSIC
— ❤️🔥 (@noortwakkal) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/chanelnumbertwo/status/731969663614210048
The beautiful simplicity of “Side to Side” can be summed up through emojis.
https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/770697531349086208
It’s a shame Twitter wasn’t around when “Brick” and “Here’s to the Night” were released. Ben Folds and Guy from Eve 6: the original Ariana and Nicki.
