“SOS” by Rihanna stands out as one of the most iconic tracks released in the past twenty years. It has everything a pop enthusiast could want: attitude, a catchy beat, and, of course, Rihanna herself. Now, 15 years after its release, the songwriter behind this legendary tune has disclosed a secret about crafting the second verse.

In a conversation with Daniel Wall on his podcast Behind The Wall, songwriter and composer Evan “Kidd” Bogart shared that he crafted the second verse of “SOS” by weaving together the titles of numerous chart-topping songs from the 1980s.

“The entire second verse of that song consists of 80s song titles linked together as sentences because I thought it was incredibly clever,” Bogart explained.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we? Below are the lyrics to the second verse.

(Image: Google / Rhianna, “SOS”)

There’s “Take On Me” by A-Ha — notice how he cleverly integrates the “uh-huh”. Truly ingenious.

Additionally, there is “(I Just) Died In Your Arms” by Cutting Crew, “I Melt with You” by Modern English, “Head Over Heels” by Tears For Fears, “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Kim Wilde, and “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson.

CLASSICS!!! (Image: PEDESTRIAN.TV / Spotify)

During the interview, Bogart also discussed his approach to creating the track and revealed that it was, in fact, the first pop song he had ever written for an artist.

“Before that, I wrote a lot of rap songs,” he mentioned to the host.

“If you really examine how that song was written, it doesn’t come from someone familiar with writing pop music. I was purely relying on instinct. If you look at the verses, they’re full of clever wordplay and internal rhyming schemes, much like a rapper’s style.

“‘You got me stressing, incessantly pressing the issue, ‘cos every moment gone you know I miss you’ — It’s structured like a rap song.”

Bogart also noted that the section where Rihanna sings “SOS” is technically the pre-chorus, while the “This time please someone come and rescue me” part serves as the actual chorus!

FACTS! I’ll never listen to it the same way again.

What a delightful little nugget for a Thursday.