Fans apparently have been misunderstanding the meaning behind the hit song It Wasn’t Me for a long time now!
For years, many people believed the iconic 2000 track was all about cheating. However, that turns out not to be the case – at least, according to Shaggy! In an interview with People on Friday, the 54-year-old singer swears he isn’t encouraging listeners to not hold themselves accountable for being unfaithful to their partners. Instead, he explained that it is an “anti-cheating song”:
“It was a big misconception with that song because that song is not a cheating song. It’s an anti-cheating song. It’s just that nobody listened to the record to the end. There’s a part in the record where it’s a conversation between two people and you have one guy, which is me at that point, giving that bad advice, like, “Yo, bro, how could you get caught? Just tell her, ‘It wasn’t me.’”
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Hmmm. Shaggy went on to note that there’s a twist “at the end” that everyone seems to miss because they’re “caught up” in the hook of the song:
“The guy says, ‘I’m going to tell her that I’m sorry for the pain that I’ve caused. I’ve been listening to your reasoning, it makes no sense at all. Going to tell her that I’m sorry for the pain that I’ve caused. You might think that you’re a player, but you’re completely lost.’ Nobody hears that part! That’s what the song says. But everybody’s just caught up on that, ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me.’ It’s an anti-cheating song. No one ever really buys into that, and I keep explaining it to people. Then, they go listen to it back and be like, “Oh dude, I totally missed that.”
Despite the confusion over the song, Shaggy admitted that it has “helped in the life of the song,” noting:
“What’s so good about that song is that it was relatable throughout the years. People do have this whole situation with cheating, and the thing about that is that you could be young, old, Black, white, straight, gay, whatever it is, it’s still relatable.”
It’s definitely relatable. You can listen to the throwback piece (below):
Did you catch the twist at the end, Perezcious readers? Do you agree with Shaggy that it’s an “anti-cheating song?” Let us know in the comments below!
[Image via MEGA/WENN, Timeless Sounds/YouTube]
