The Knack, My Sharona | Controversial Songs

In the 18th edition of Controversial Songs (2025), we explore the controversy behind “My Sharona” by The Knack.

Bring on the controversy! Controversial Songs is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows, stirred the pot, or were banned. The more censorship censor$hit, the better! The records that grace Controversial Songs are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  In the 18^th edition of Controversial Songs (2025), we explore the controversy behind “My Sharona” by The Knack.

“Ooh, you make my motor run, my motor run / Gun it coming off of the line, Sharona.” The Knack was not referencing a car on “My Sharona”.  Back up a couple of lines in the first verse of the seventh track on the band’s 1979, double platinum album, Get The Knack, and it’s clear that singer Doug Fieger (1952 – 2010) was lusting heavily for Sharona, who is a real-life person. Doug, 25 at the time, was taken by Sharona Alperin, who was 17 … and had a boyfriend… let that set in.  Controversial already, right? Right! When the song was written, Fieger and Alperin were not dating, but eventually, they were a couple for a while, and they remained friends up until Fieger’s death from lung cancer in 2010.  But, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the age range, at the time, was troubling… According to Fieger, in the song, he chose to write from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy.  Fieger and The Knack guitarist Berton Averre (1953 – ) wrote “My Sharona.” Mike Chapman produced it.

“My Sharona” was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Ultimately, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America®. It is ear-catching for various reasons. One reason is the sexual innuendo. “Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind / I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind,” Fieger sings in the chorus.  I’m speechless 😶 …  Even if this song is from a 14-year-old boy’s perspective, it seems Fieger let his penchant for younger women slip out…  Another reason that “My Sharona” stands out is the stuttering: “My, my, my, I, yi, woo / M-m-m-my Sharona / M-m-m-my Sharona.” Fieger also ‘kills it’ with the stuttering in the third verse: “Is it j-just destiny, d-destiny /  Or is it just a game in my mind, Sharona?” Years earlier, stuttering in music stoked controversy. Ask The Who with their beloved, stuttering classic, “My Generation”.  Of course, with “My Sharona,” there were bigger fish to fry 😳 (“Keeping it a mystery gets to me / Running down the length of my thighs, Sharona”).  The sound of “My Sharona” is another selling point. The drums pummel, the guitar cooks, while the bass line anchors. Berton Averre brings it 🎸 on during the instrumental before the outro 🤘.  And, of course, our horny frontman is hella excited vocally, among other places, regarding his Sharona.  How controversial should “My Sharona” be considered? I mean, it’s not innocent… The age gap – where it landed at the time – wouldn’t fly today.  Still, this is an ultra-successful, certified rock classic.