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Beyonce, &#;1 + 1&#;
Source: YouTube
The Frisky staff is thoroughly enjoying Beyoncé‘s new album, 4. In fact, we spent the majority of yesterday jamming to it and, as we listened, we found ourselves especially drawn to the song “1 + 1,” which includes the line, “I don’t know much about algebra/ but I know one plus one equals two.” Correct, Beyoncé! But, really, why rest on that base knowledge? As a proud math nerd—and former mathlete—I’d be happy to teach you about polynomials and vectors anytime. Algebra ain’t so scary.
Radiohead, &#;2 + 2 = 5&#;
Source: YouTube
Radiohead gets an A for awesome but an F for fail (ing in accuracy) on their track “2 + 2 = 5.” See, cause that isn’t actually true.
Spice Girls, &#;Say You&#;Ll Be There&#;
Source: The Media Brew
Maybe Thom Yorke should have cribbed off the Spice Girls’ test because they had it right on “Say You’ll Be There.” If you put 2 and 2 together you will see that our friendship is 4. That’s some nice double meaning.
Britney Spears, &#;3&#;
Source: YouTube
Britney Spears certainly loves the first odd prime number. In “3” she sings, “1, 2, 3/ Not only you and me/Got one eighty degrees/And I’m caught in-between.” Detention for that sentiment, Britney!
Gloria Estefan, &#;1, 2, 3&#;
Source: YouTube
Counting is an age old tradition in music. Gloria Estefan did it beautifully in “1, 2, 3” as did the New Kids on the Block in “Step by Step” and the Violent Femmes in “Kiss Off.” As for Feist in her hit “1, 2, 3, 4”? The lyric: “One, two, three, four, five, six, nine, or ten.” My question: what did seven and eight do to deserve such disdain?
Mos Def, &#;Mathematics&#;
Source: Medium
Pay attention to today’s lesson from Mos Def in his song, “Mathematics.”
Sam Cooke, &#;Wonderful World&#;
Source: YouTube
Like Beyoncé, Sam Cooke must’ve been asleep in math class. On “Wonderful World,” he sings, “Don’t know much trigonometry/ Don’t know much about algebra/ Don’t know what a slide rule is for/ But I do know one and one is two.” Luckily, slide rules went bye-bye a long time ago circa the age of the computer. Though I still think they’re pretty cool.
Pet Shop Boys, &#;Two Divided By Zero&#;
Source: YouTube
As the Pet Shop Boys must have discovered, the equation “Two Divided By Zero” really whigs out your calculator. Error!
Hilary Duff, &#;The Math&#;
Source: Glamour
The chorus of Hilary Duff’s song “The Math” goes: “If you can’t do the math/ Then get out of the equation/ I am calling you back/ This is * 69.” That lyric seems a little risque for Hilary. You’re cleaning the chalk boards with Britney after school, young lady!
The Beatles, &#;Come Together&#;
Source: Vogue
On The Beatles’ “Come Together,” the mysterious dude they sing about “says one and one and one is three.” Correct! One point for Paul.
Spice Girls, &#;2 Become 1&#;
Source: YouTube
The Spice Girls apparently are going for extra credit here with “2 Become 1.” Brown nosers.
Meat Loaf, &#;Two Out Of Three Ain&#;T Bad&#;
Source: Pinterest
Meatloaf is so good with statistics. He knows that “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.” But did he know that is the same as 66.66666667 percent?
2gether, &#;Calculus&#;
Source: Reddit
And we’ll end with 2gether, the fictional MTV boy band who spoofed this whole phenomenon in the song “Calculus.” “I know you my calculus/ It says you + me = us.” There’s even a faux rap that goes: “Girl, algebra or trigonometry could never equal up/ to what you do to me.” Makes me want to polish my pocket protector.
Original by The Frisky
