Blah Blah Blah

Album: Animal (2010)
Charted: 11 7
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This track, which features the American electro pop-rock band 3OH!3, showcases Kesha's flair for storytelling. "I'll go out, have an insane night, stumble home, and scribble down a few words," she said. "The next morning I'll wake up and be like, 'Whoa, this story needs to be told.'"

    The song finds Kesha deflecting the advances of all the guys trying to pick her up at the club. To her, all the game they run just sounds like "blah blah blah."
  • The song was used in an episode of the CW TV series Melrose Place.
  • "Blah" or "blah-blah" is a representation of words that are too obvious or tedious to give in full. It originated in the US during the early years of the 20th century. More recently the tripartite version has become more frequent as another way of saying "and so on." Ira and George Gershwin wrote a song called "Blah, Blah, Blah" for a film called Delicious in 1931 and in 1986 a David Bowie and Iggy Pop penned tune, commentating on the uselessness of much of modern communication, was the title track of the latter's Blah Blah Blah album.
  • This is one of several tracks in which Kesha addresses men in the same sexist way that male performers have traditionally done concerning women. She explained to Jam! Music there's a double standard at work: "I have very empowering lyrics for women. I kind of take how guys talk to women all over this industry and throw it back at them. And they're all getting their panties in a wad, and I think that's hilarious. I'm literally just talking to a man the way any rapper talks about women in every rap song on the radio."
  • Kesha explained that the club anthem originated from a conversation she had in the studio on the politics of male-female relationships. She told MTV News: "The song came about when the people that wrote it - me, Benny Blanco, Neon Hitch and [3Oh!3's] Sean Foreman - all got in a room, and they were talking about how chicks talk too much.

    And me and Neon were like, 'No, no, no, guys talk too much.' So, we had this war of who were more obnoxious, chicks or dudes. And the song kind of came around from that conversation. I think I make a pretty fair point both in this video and in the song, that dudes are way more annoying."
  • The song's music video features the boys of 3Oh!3 as well as Kesha. She told MTV News: "The whole concept of the video was a bunch of douche-y guys macking on me as usual, and me making them eat their toupees or other various items. At one point, I get to be strapped to this harness and bouncing around everywhere, and it was really cool."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

The Real Nick Drake

The Real Nick DrakeSong Writing

The head of Drake's estate shares his insights on the late folk singer's life and music.

Guy Clark

Guy ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.