Music | Pop Culture | 90s
Mel C Revealed What 'Zig-A-Zig-Ah' Actually Means And You're Gonna Regret Singing It Out Loud
Twenty years ago, we were introduced to the most amazing, iconic, and basically magical group ever known as the Spice Girls, and our lives changed for the better.
We learned that platform shoes were the coolest of the cool. We were taught that girl power was a way of life. We experienced a sense of community that came from finding out which of your friends identified with the same Spice Girl that you did. They brought us a lot of joy, and made us feel like we could do anything while we wore really tall shoes.
Well, the latest rumors of a Spice Girl reunion have been swirling around, and while we are obviously so excited for that (believe me, I've already decided that I will sell everything I own if it means I can see them reunite), we still have some questions.
Most importantly, what the heck does "zig-a-zig-ah" mean anyways?
Well, after 20 years, we finally have an answer courtesy of the one and only Sporty Spice herself, Melanie C
There have been rumors in the past, false rumors, that "zig-a-zig-ah" was written as a reference to their studio mate.
The source claimed that the 80s pop star who shared the studio space with them "had this nasty habit of taking a dump in the shared khazi while smoking a cigar, so we took to referring to him as 's*** and cigars.' During the recording this phrase was thrown around a lot and must have worked its way into Mel B's subconscious who pretty much wrote all the lyrics. She may have considered 's*** and cigar' for a minute - but eventually settled on 'zig-a-zig-ah' instead."
However, this was not at all true, according to one of the Spice Girls themselves.
Mel C., aka Sporty Spice, recently appeared on BBC Radio 1 with Greg James, who found this false rumor and decided to ask her about it. Her response cleared it all up. While she called the rumor "very creative," she explained the truth behind the catchy phrase.
"We used to always say that it's whatever you want it to mean," Mel C said. "But, in all honesty, it just meant sex. Yeah."
So there you have it. While we were little kids, yelling about how what "we really, really want was a zig-a-zig-ah" was even more inappropriate than we could have hoped for.