Is Marky Mark’s ‘Good Vibrations’ an ode to… urethral sounding?

Before he was Mark Wahlberg—Hollywood leading man, devout Catholic and serial entrepreneur—he was Marky Mark, a white rapper known for his washboard abs, white Calvin Klein briefs, and a brief hit song titled “Good Vibrations.” 

Released in 1991 under “Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch,” “Vibrations” became a certified cultural hit thanks to an infectious blend of hip-hop and house music. Not to mention Wahlberg’s sex appeal certainly didn’t hurt to unite the masses.

But if you’re of a certain subset of gay men who love and practice urethral sounding, the song might strike a special, sexy chord. 

To give an abridged explanation, urethral sounding involves working a small metal bar (AKA sounding rod) down your urethra. When the end of the rod is tapped, kind of like a tuning fork, it sends a vibration to your prostate that can be intensely pleasurable for men and women. And so when Wahlberg aggressively grunts out his rap about feeling the vibration, it feels like he could be talking directly to this group.

“It’s such a good vibration/It’s such a sweet sensation,” goes the chorus.

Of course, the song could also just be about sex; the video certainly suggests so. Filmed in grainy black and white—à la Madonna’s “Justify My Love,” released a year earlier—we see lots of modelesque women suggestively biting their lips, tugging, unzipping and kissing on Wahlberg.

There are also supercuts of him pumping iron, boxing, which is meant to drive home that he is a bad boy. It’s a helluva ’90s vibe, which could explain why he often seems embarrassed whenever his past becomes a talking point.

In a 2018 interview on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” Wahlberg told a story about his son ducking out of sight when “Good Vibrations” started playing at one of his football games.

In another interview for “The Dan Patrick Show,” with his daughter in tow, Wahlberg went on a cringe-inducing “clean” rap, resuscitating his Marky Mark days. And the results were… well, at least he’s still pretty!

Wahlberg and his brother Donnie reportedly wrote “Good Vibrations” with Amir “Spice” Shakir. Spice also wrote and produced three other songs for Wahlberg’s debut album and four other songs for Wahlberg’s follow up LP. But there’s a reason most people only remember “Good Vibrations.”

The song samples Loleatta Holloway’s “Love Sensation,” and the music icon even makes an appearance in the accompanying black and white video. However, the video and accompanying buzz was as high as the song and Wahlberg’s music career were meant to go.

Marky Mark’s follow up music efforts all flopped, but of course Wahlberg hit it big as an actor thanks to his big breakout role in “Boogie Nights.” 

“There was no discipline with music,” said Wahlberg about his musical beginnings. “And when I found movies I became more disciplined.” 

Still, Wahlberg has said in many interviews that he will never say never to dusting off his rhyming chops once more—even if it is simply giving us one last performance of “Good Vibration.” But until that day comes, we will always have legendary lyrics such as, “The vibrations good like Sunkist” and “Many wanna know who done this.” 

And our personal favorite of the song, “And I’m here to prove to you/That we can party on the positive side/And pump positive vibes.”

So watch below to come along for the ride, and “feel the vibration.”