“One-hit wonder” describes many bands that have enjoyed a moment in the spotlight before fading into near-obscurity. One of these was The Knack, whose 1979 hit “My Sharona” became known as “the song of the decade.” However, the band never produced another No. 1 hit and broke up three years later.
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“My Sharona” remains the essential song of The Knack’s discography. It has been tributed and parodied countless times. But more importantly, it spurred a change in music at the turn of the decade, leading to the New Wave rock movement of the 1980s and leaving disco solidly in the past. Its explicit lyrics describing a teenage girl were shocking and contributed to the mainstream distrust of “satanic” rock and roll bands corrupting young people.
But while almost everyone is familiar with the song’s iconic stuttering chorus, they may not know the true meaning behind the track. Sharona was a real person—and she was only 17 when Doug Fieger composed the immortal song in her honor. Read on to learn about the meaning behind “My Sharona” and how it continued to affect music up to the present day.
The Real Sharona
Knack frontman Doug Fieger wrote the song about Sharona Alperin, a teenage girl he met and fell in love with. Fieger and Alperin would go on to date for four years and were even briefly engaged. However, they eventually called off their engagement and parted ways but remained friends for many years. Alperin even visited Fieger several times while he was dying of lung cancer in 2010.
Fieger later described that he fell in love with Alperin when they met in a clothing store. He immediately invited her to a concert; he would later spend two months in a songwriting frenzy. She was dating someone else at the time and was eight years younger than Fieger. Even in 1979, the song drew criticism for its references to “preferring younger women” (Fieger was 25 when he met Alperin, who was 17).
“I was about 16 or 17 at the time,” Alperin told NPR after Fieger’s death. “He was nine years older than me. And within a month or two later, he told me that, ‘I’m in love with you, you’re my soulmate, you’re my other half, we’re going to be together one day.’”
Ooh, my little pretty one, pretty one is the song’s first line. Some people have speculated that this may be a reference to Lolita, another story about a relationship with an underage girl. Fieger later defended the song by saying he wrote it from the perspective of a teenage boy. However, this seems to be contradicted by the following line: I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind.
The lyrics include the lines When you gonna give me some time, Sharona? and Never gonna stop, give it up. These refer to Fieger’s fixation on Alperin even before they began dating. He pursued her for nearly a year before she broke up with her previous boyfriend and agreed to go out with him. In fact, “My Sharona” was already on the radio before their relationship even started.
Fun Facts About “My Sharona”
One of the most iconic aspects of the song is the stuttering chorus: “Muh-muh-muh-my Sharona!” The instrumentalization is unique, with many aspects that hearken back to the early rock n’ roll music of the 1960s. Several musical riffs and rhythms were based on Smokey Robinson’s and The Who’s songs.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, “My Sharona” sparked many song parodies due to the similarity between “Sharona” and “corona.” To acknowledge the parodies, Knack guitarist Berton Averre and bassist Prescott Niles released a YouTube tutorial for how to play the song.
Impact Of “My Sharona”
“My Sharona” was the most popular song of 1979 and was later called the “song of the decade.” From another point of view, it has also been called “the death of disco.” It ushered in the rise of the New Wave era, leaving disco music firmly in the 1970s.
The song’s lyrics also made waves due to their sexual content and the references to Fieger’s preference for younger women. Many parents refused to let their children listen to the track. “My Sharona” contributed to the distrust of rock and roll music throughout the 1980s, which was related to the “Satanic panic” of the time.
“My Sharona” would go on to inspire Michael Jackson’s iconic song “Beat It.” His producer challenged him to write a song that was rhythmically and stylistically similar to the Knack’s hit. “Beat It” became one of Jackson’s first major solo hits and is considered one of the best rock songs of all time.
Legacy
“My Sharona” is remembered as a punchy song that is impossible to resist singing along to—even if the lyrics are a bit scandalous. Sharona Alperin said she was thankful for the song, as it changed the course of her and Feiger’s lives. It also undoubtedly changed the course of music history, signaling the end of the disco era and the start of the harder rock era of the 1980s.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
