Songs you used to like until you really listened to the lyrics

[Ponch8]

I used to enjoy listening to the song "Temperature" by Sean Paul until I took a closer listen to the lyrics. The last couple lines of the chorus are "Oh lord, and gal I got the right tactics to turn you on, and girl I wanna be the Papa, you can be the Mom, oh oh!" I enjoy suggestive lyrics as much as anyone, but the talk about actually conceiving a baby just nauseates me. I don't know why; perhaps it has something to do with my dislike of babies. The complete lyrics (or an approximation thereof) are at http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sean-paul-lyrics/temperature-lyrics.html

[Electric Warrior]

I'm not sure Sean Paul is literally talking about conceiving a baby! It seems more like he's just being cheeky, like 'let's play mommy and daddy' as a euphemism for sex.

For me that song is Los Angeles (http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/x/losangeles.html) by X. I think the racial slurs and offensive language is supposed to reflect the way living in Los Angeles damaged the mindset of the character in the song, but it still kind of bothers me to listen to it.

[Krokodil]

I always kind of liked "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me," not realizing that it was solely about a gay man seducing a straight man.

[BigT]

I don't dislike the song, but I stopped wanting to sing it for church when I looked up the lyrics for Hallelujah by Cohen.

[Magiver]

I was going to say "outside" by StainD but after looking at the meaning of the song it doesn't mean what I thought it meant.

[Koxinga]

More of a personal interpretation, but I used to get very teary-eyed at Elton John's "Your Song" as it made me think of my daughter: you know, "how wonderful life is now you're in the world." But it only says "now" in the first instance of the chorus. Later I realized that the later instances of the chorus said "how wonderful life is while you're in the world," as if anticipating a time that the person won't be in the world. So I don't like to think about that in conjunction with my daughter any more.

[KinkiNipponTourist]

There's this ballad by the Japanese group Southern All Stars entitled "Just a Little Bit" that I thought was so lovely I wanted it played at my wedding.

Then I studied up some Japanese, and realized that "some nights you're not even wet for me" might not be a sentiment I'd want expressed at the wedding. Oh well.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Summertime or In the Summertime, by MungoJerry. "If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal, if her daddy's poor, just do what you feel".

[DivineComedienne]

I always kind of liked "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me," not realizing that it was solely about a gay man seducing a straight man.

Huh? I completely missed this one, although I admit I can't make out most of the words anyway. What part makes it about a seduction?

[thirdname]

Birthday (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noXYiNo5TOo&feature=related) by the Sugarcubes, the band Bjork was in before she went solo. It sounds great and I never listened to lyrics much. It turns out it's either about a five-year-old girl having a sexual relationship with an older man, or possibly just dreaming of doing so.

Today Is A Birthday
They're Smoking Cigars
He's Got A Chain Of Flowers
And Sows A Bird In Her Knickers
Ohhh...

They're Smoking Cigars
They Lie In The Bathtub
A Chain Of ... Flowers

Here Bjork tries to explain: http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/FT/cubes/sykur.html

"It's a story about a love affair between a five year old girl, a secret and a man who lives next door. The song's called Birthday because it's his fiftieth birthday, but not many people can figure that out of the lyrics 'cos it's more about the atmosphere around it and how they touch. It's a tasteless pop song - not even that. A pop song - very unusual"

"I was always changing my mind about what the lyrics should be about. I had the atmosphere right from the start but not the facts. It finally ended up concentrating on this experience I remembered having as a little girl, among many other little girls' experirnces. It's like huge men, about fifty or so, affect little girls very erotically but nothing happens... nothing is done, just this very strong feeling. I picked on this subject to show that anything can affect you erotically; material, a tree, anything." -- Björk, about Birthday

[cjepson]

Summertime or In the Summertime, by MungoJerry. "If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal, if her daddy's poor, just do what you feel".

Funny, I always thought the line was "just do what she feels", but the lyrics sites don't seem to agree. (By the way, metrolyrics.com (http://www.metrolyrics.com/in-the-summertime-lyrics-mungo-jerry.html) has a laughably inaccurate version of the lyrics. This version (http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/inthesum.htm) seems a lot closer.)

[cjepson]

Sometimes when I go to learn a song so I can play it, I discover that the lyrics weren't quite as wonderful as I'd thought. One example is the Rolling Stones' "Child of the Moon". I still really like the song, but somehow it seemed that it was about more than just driving a highway at dawn in the rain.

[Mr. Excellent]

The Cure's "Killing an Arab." It's an adaptation of the first chapter of Camus' "The Stranger", and it's really well-done. I'm a sucker for a dark story set to a happy beat, and this thing evokes the tone of the novel quite well. We listened to it in high school English, for Ford's sake.

But even though I know it's not a racist song, it's really hard not to feel like an asshole whilst rocking out to it.

[PoorYorick]

The classic example for me will always be "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan, where a man laments his crappy life before jumping to his death, all to a snappy beat.

ETA: Although I admit I still liked the song even after learning the lyrics. I'm sick.

[SykoSkotty]

I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen. At first it seems like a ballad about being in love with a married woman (as the video suggests) but I think the lyrics border on pedophilia:

"Hey little girl is your Daddy home? Did he go away and leave you all alone? I got a bad desire. Ohh, I'm on fire."

[Scumpup]

I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen. At first it seems like a ballad about being in love with a married woman (as the video suggests) but I think the lyrics border on pedophilia:

"Hey little girl is your Daddy home? Did he go away and leave you all alone? I got a bad desire. Ohh, I'm on fire."

Not only that, he's a bedwetter.

[Baal Houtham]

Summertime or In the Summertime, by MungoJerry. "If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal, if her daddy's poor, just do what you feel".

Eh? If the girl has money, do something that costs some money. If the girl has no money find something you can do that doesn't cost money.

To put an objectionable spin on it would require some odd mental contortions. IMO, or course.

The classic example for me will always be "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan, where a man laments his crappy life before jumping to his death, all to a snappy beat.

ETA: Although I admit I still liked the song even after learning the lyrics. I'm sick.

Nothing sick about it, unless any song about suicide is inherently sick. (Which I don't think is the case.) The lyrics are the best part of the song. Robert Christgau (http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=3456&name=Gilbert+O%27Sullivan) says, "...its tossed-off structure matches its casual, crucial equation of filial and romantic affection."

He lists the reasons for his sadness, but doesn't get bathetic. The bridge focuses on the world's problems rather than his own.
I love the casually devastating lines,
Left standing in the lurch, at a church
Where people 're saying,
"My God that's tough, she stood him up.
No point in us remaining."

[Ludovic]

Eh? If the girl has money, do something that costs some money. If the girl has no money find something you can do that doesn't cost money.

To put an objectionable spin on it would require some odd mental contortions. IMO, or course.

MO varies, of course. To me it's pretty clear that that line refers to the idea that there are two types of girls, the type you want to court or marry (with rich daddies), and the type you just want to fool around with. You could read it another way, but like you, I feel it would require mental contortions to do so.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Yeah, if the girl's father is rich, she's worthy of being taken out and shown respect. If her daddy's poor, you can do whatever you want with her, she doesn't deserve to be taken to dinner or anything, she's just a cheap fuck.

[Morgyn]

I always kind of liked "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me," not realizing that it was solely about a gay man seducing a straight man.I'm not getting that from the lyrics at all, and I went and looked them up (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elton+john/dont+let+the+sun+go+down+on+me_20046440.html).

The one I really grew to dislike after really listening to the words is the Stones' Under My Thumb (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/under+my+thumb_20117884.html).

[Dung Beetle]

The one I really grew to dislike after really listening to the words is the Stones' Under My Thumb (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/under+my+thumb_20117884.html).

Yeah, I worry about that girl…but then I wonder if Mick’s got her quite as tight as he thinks he does. :)

[Tim R. Mortiss]

John Lennon's Imagine. At first, it sounded like a bit of idealistic optimism. Then I realized it's just a Communist Manifesto masquerading as pop music!

[dolphinboy]

[QUOTE=Morgyn;13884810]I'm not getting that from the lyrics at all, and I went and looked them up (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elton+john/dont+let+the+sun+go+down+on+me_20046440.html).QUOTE]

Don't forget that it was written by a straight man (Bernie Taupin) and was sung by a gay man (Elton John) who at the time hadn't come out yet... so I think you missed the boat on that one. :dubious:

[Mr. Excellent]

The one I really grew to dislike after really listening to the words is the Stones' Under My Thumb (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/under+my+thumb_20117884.html).

Yah, the Stones really enjoy their misogyny - fine singers, but I suspect they go there for the shock value. "Time Is On My Side" is pretty bad, too.

[Superdude]

I'm not getting that from the lyrics at all, and I went and looked them up (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elton+john/dont+let+the+sun+go+down+on+me_20046440.html).

I remember, when I was a young adult (the remake/duet was released in 1991, and I would have been all of 18), there was an immature joke making the circles that the song was actually called "Don't Let Your Son Go Down On Me."

While I'm not saying that this is true in Krokodil's case, it could certainly cause some misinterpretation of the meaning of the song.

[tumbleddown]

Don't forget that it was written by a straight man (Bernie Taupin) and was sung by a gay man (Elton John) who at the time hadn't come out yet... so I think you missed the boat on that one. :dubious:
No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs.

It's pretty clear, to me, that it's about a man who's fallen in love with another man who was unsure, then began to return the affections, then got scared.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs.

It's pretty clear, to me, that it's about a man who's fallen in love with another man who was unsure, then began to return the affections, then got scared.I don't see it either. It's really ambiguous, and "in love, unsure, got scared" fits a bunch of my hetero relationships. I don't think the song is specifically gay or straight, it's just about a complicated love story, which is universal.

[from_a_to_z]

Bernie writes the words. See for example

http://www.berniejtaupin.com/discography.bt
http://www.eltonjohn.com/about/bio.jsp

[Scarlett67]

No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs.

I think you've got that backward . . .

[Irishman]

Not only that, he's a bedwetter.

No, the sheets are soaking wet from sweat.

Too many to list, but off the top of my head:

Spirit in the Sky (http://www.metrolyrics.com/spirit-in-the-sky-lyrics-norman-greenbaum.html)

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Yah, the Stones really enjoy their misogyny - fine singers, but I suspect they go there for the shock value. "Time Is On My Side" is pretty bad, too.

"Time Is on My Side" is misogynist? Especially given that the Stones' version is a cover of the Irma Thomas recording?

[Lamia]

I used to enjoy listening to the song "Temperature" by Sean Paul until I took a closer listen to the lyrics. The last couple lines of the chorus are "Oh lord, and gal I got the right tactics to turn you on, and girl I wanna be the Papa, you can be the Mom, oh oh!" I enjoy suggestive lyrics as much as anyone, but the talk about actually conceiving a baby just nauseates me.Funny, that same line is why I like this song, despite it not being my usual style of music. The first time I heard it then I expected Sean Paul to refer to the woman as a baby or little girl, as is fairly common in popular music. SykoSkotty mentioned Springsteen's "I'm On Fire", a good example of this, and I think Sean Paul even says something about "baby girls" early in this same song. But "I wanna be the Papa, you can be the Mom" suggests that both parties are adults and equals, which struck me as a refreshing change.

I don't think there's any deep or subtle meaning to this particular choice of phrasing, though. Like Electric Warrior, I think the intended meaning of the line is basically "Let's 'play house'...by which I mean 'have sex'." It seems unlikely that a man would be talking about actually wanting to impregnate a woman in this context.

[tumbleddown]

I think you've got that backward . . .
You're right. Taupin = lyrics, Elton = music. I typed faster than my brain worked.

Another song I can't get behind: Brown Sugar by the Stones. I mean, wow.

[Khadaji]

I kind of still like it, because it is catchy, but until I really listened I didn't realize that Unkle Kracker's Follow Me was about adultery.

[PoorYorick]

Yeah, if the girl's father is rich, she's worthy of being taken out and shown respect. If her daddy's poor, you can do whatever you want with her, she doesn't deserve to be taken to dinner or anything, she's just a cheap fuck.
Maybe I'm just an innocent, but I think it's interesting that everyone apparently thinks that "do what you feel" means "fuck like jaded monkeys." To me, it meant that since you didn't have any money, you'd have to do something that didn't, you know, cost money. Didn't any of you guys ever go on a date when you were broke?

[Lynn Bodoni]

Yes, I went on plenty of dates that didn't involve spending a lot of money. Or any money. The man I almost married was chronically broke. He was an orphan, and working his way through college. We went to a lot of free events that the college offered, lectures and movies and whatever. The man I DID marry was also basically broke when we were dating, so we did things like visit the Water Gardens in the evening (back then the Gardens were well-maintained), which cost nothing but were a lot of fun.

The thing is, though, that when the song was written and sung, it was almost always the boy or man who paid for the date. If the girl's father was rich, then the guy would spend money on her. If her father wasn't rich, then he didn't need to spend money. He'd court the rich girl and have fun with the poor girl, in other words. Back when I was dating, it was pretty well known that a guy could drive over to the poor part of town and be able to pick a girl who'd probably fuck with no strings attached. Oh, not all the girls in the bad neighborhoods would do it, but a lot of them would, especially if there was alcohol or drugs involved. The song says it's OK to treat women differently based on whether or not they come from a rich or poor family.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Yeah, if the girl's father is rich, she's worthy of being taken out and shown respect. If her daddy's poor, you can do whatever you want with her, she doesn't deserve to be taken to dinner or anything, she's just a cheap fuck.

Wow, that is quite a stretch. I think you've over-thought that one a bit there, Lynn. :)

What is interesting to me is that I actually like almost all the songs mentioned in this thread, and the lyrics do not change that.


mmm

[mattwan]

Maybe I'm just an innocent, but I think it's interesting that everyone apparently thinks that "do what you feel" means "fuck like jaded monkeys." To me, it meant that since you didn't have any money, you'd have to do something that didn't, you know, cost money. Didn't any of you guys ever go on a date when you were broke?

I think a lot of the implications lie in "take her out for a meal", which suggests the singer will be picking up the tab himself--generally if you are taking someone else out, you are going to be paying, yeah? So the singer could afford to buy the poor girl a meal if he wanted to, but he doesn't feel the need to do that. And if he could buy her a meal but instead just wants to do what he feels...well.

Looking at the rest of the lyrics, though, I think the more innocent interpretation might be preferred. Since they're pretty much unintelligible, though, it's not surprising that many people (including myself) assumed he'd fuck his date like a jaded monkey if he didn't need to impress her daddy.

Edit: Ninja'ed by Lynn. Should've previewed, but I'm new to posting. Be gentle? But I don't think she's stretching or overreading at all; what she describes is a pretty well-known cultural convention, I'd thought, and is exactly what I'd always assumed whenever I heard the song. It can hardly be a stretch if it's the first thing that comes to mind. :)

[Lynn Bodoni]

But I don't think she's stretching or overreading at all; what she describes is a pretty well-known cultural convention, I'd thought, and is exactly what I'd always assumed whenever I heard the song. It can hardly be a stretch if it's the first thing that comes to mind. It MIGHT be a generational thing. This song came out in 1970, and that's when I heard it. And just about all the kids in my age group assumed that a girl with a poor father would be an easy, cheap screw, and that's how they interpreted the song. The guy always chose what sort of date it would be, unless the girl requested something special, and girls were cautioned to be considerate of their dates' wallets. So, a guy could choose to take his date to a fancy restaurant (and going out to eat was a much bigger thing then) or he could choose to just go riding around (and gas was much cheaper then, and cruising was pretty common among teens).

[Wheelz]

Too many to list, but off the top of my head:

Spirit in the Sky (http://www.metrolyrics.com/spirit-in-the-sky-lyrics-norman-greenbaum.html)I love Spirit in the Sky! I sing along, loudly, every time I hear it: "I never been a sinner, I never sinned... I got a friend in Jesuuuus!!"
Even though, you know, I have and I don't. :D It's still a kick-ass song.


Speaking of In the Summertime, which I also love, how about telling everybody to "Have a drink, have a drive"? Nice.

[John DiFool]

It took me lo 20 years or so (yes I can be slow on the uptake on some things), but REM's "Man on the Moon" apparently implies that a faked moon landing would be more "cool" than the real one (which was indeed the coolest event of my lifetime). Now perhaps I am taking the lyrics too literally (this is Michael Stipe we're talking about, after all), but I can no longer listen to it without it seriously bugging me.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I love Spirit in the Sky

Me too, probably my favorite song mentioned in this thread. I remember buying it on 45 the week it came out in 1969 (:eek:), and I still have it somewhere.

Pretty funny that it was written and recorded by a Jewish dude.


mmm

[Peremensoe]

Too many to list, but off the top of my head:

Spirit in the Sky (http://www.metrolyrics.com/spirit-in-the-sky-lyrics-norman-greenbaum.html)

How do you possibly miss the lyrics to that? What did you think it was about?

[Marley23]

It took me lo 20 years or so (yes I can be slow on the uptake on some things), but REM's "Man on the Moon" apparently implies that a faked moon landing would be more "cool" than the real one (which was indeed the coolest event of my lifetime). Now perhaps I am taking the lyrics too literally (this is Michael Stipe we're talking about, after all), but I can no longer listen to it without it seriously bugging me.
He also makes some uncited claims about Mott the Hoople playing the board game Life. Seriously, it's a mistake to read his lyrics that literally and he definitely does not say a faked moon landing would be cooler than the real one.

[No umlaut for U]

Brown Sugar. Ugh. And ditto on Under my Thumb.

[Pliny the younger]

My entry is The Seed 2.0 by the Roots. Love the beat but what is up with the lyrics?

I only wanna fertilize another behind my lover's back
I sit and watch it grow standin' where I'm at
Fertilize another behind my lover's back
And I'm keepin' my secrets mine

[Annie-Xmas]

Box Tops Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/the_box_tops/sweet_cream_ladies_forward_march.html).

Did ANYONE look at the lyrics before giving it so much airplay in the innocent 1960's? They are not implying or infering anything. This song is about prostitutes.

[BubbaDog]

Box Tops Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/the_box_tops/sweet_cream_ladies_forward_march.html).

Did ANYONE look at the lyrics before giving it so much airplay in the innocent 1960's? They are not implying or infering anything. This song is about prostitutes.

That's pretty much why it got the airplay it did.

The funny thing is using that song years later to sell cream pies.

[Crafter_Man]

John Lennon's Imagine. At first, it sounded like a bit of idealistic optimism. Then I realized it's just a Communist Manifesto masquerading as pop music!
Same here. I used to like the song until I started paying attention to the lyrics. It's pretty obvious the song is an ode to communism. :(

[Hampshire]

Happy Boy by the Beat Farmers.

A local radio station always plays just the first verse and my 5 year-old son liked it:

I was walkin' down the street on a sunny day
hubba hubba hubba hubba hubba
Feelin' in my bones that I'll have my way
hubba hubba hubba hubba hubba
Chorus:
Well, I'm a happy boy (happy boy)

So I downloaded the full version. The rest of the song is about how the guys dog got hit by a car, he put the dead dog in a drawer, forgot about it for a month, then when he found it again laughed about it.

[Speak to me Maddie!]

I was a big Bowie fan as a young teen, then I grew up a little and realized that many of his songs I loved (Velvet Goldmine, Queen Bitch, etc.) were essentially about gay sex. It squicked me out to listen to them. Then I grew up a little more and wasn't bothered by it anymore, and I started listening again.

I'm glad John Lennon got a mention. I loved his solo work as a teen as well. Then I started to really listen to his lyrics and it slowly dawned on me that he was just a shallow, hubristic, narcissistic prick who could write good melodies. I can't listen to any of his stuff anymore without being repulsed.

[Wheelz]

Happy Boy by the Beat Farmers.

The rest of the song is about how the guys dog got hit by a car, he put the dead dog in a drawer, forgot about it for a month, then when he found it again laughed about it.A month and a half.

That makes a difference.

[Tranquilis]

"Follow Me" by Uncle Kraker.

Nice catchy song, good hook. But then I really listened to the second verse. Killed it for me.

[Tranquilis]

Too many to list, but off the top of my head:

Spirit in the Sky (http://www.metrolyrics.com/spirit-in-the-sky-lyrics-norman-greenbaum.html)Well, you can't be too shocked at Greenbaum getting his evangelical theology wrong - IIRC, he's Jewish.

*shrug*

Still a dang catchy tune, though I find myself wanting to yell at the radio occasionally that he's got it wrong.


Oh, and I see that Khadaji called out Uncle Kracker before I did. ;)

[WordMan]

Happy Boy by the Beat Farmers.

That's just a weird song all around - I remember when it first came out.

I have to add Possum Kingdom by the Toadies - cool, rocking song until you realize it is about a serial killer luring a victim to their death.

[PoorYorick]

I'm glad John Lennon got a mention. I loved his solo work as a teen as well. Then I started to really listen to his lyrics and it slowly dawned on me that he was just a shallow, hubristic, narcissistic prick who could write good melodies. I can't listen to any of his stuff anymore without being repulsed.
It's interesting you say that, just about everyone else goes on about his artistic vision. I always thought that he had one hell of a toxic personality, which makes Paul McCartney kind of a genius to just be able to work with him. He seems to have mellowed a bit as he got older, though. Hell, didn't he give David Chapman an autograph?

[ministryman]

No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs.

It's pretty clear, to me, that it's about a man who's fallen in love with another man who was unsure, then began to return the affections, then got scared.

I was going to disagree with you, but then I put in my contacts and carefully read the lyrics. +1

One more song I won't be singing in the shower.

[salinqmind]

I will pile on In The Summertime. It obviously states the rich daughter of the rich family is going to be taken out for a meal. If the other girl is poor, she (who would appreciate/could probably use a meal), will be subjected to whatever the man singer feels like doing. I thought this the first time I heard it eons ago, and I think this today. Unfair. Unfair to the poor girl. Why doesn't SHE get taken out to a restaurant? It's unfair, and cruel. Miss Bigbucks is a spoiled rich bitch who could very well pay for the male singer and her meal ten times over. Miss Poorgirl lives on food stamps. Which one deserves a date involving eating in a restaurant most?

[Apollyon]

The song says it's OK to treat women differently based on whether or not they come from a rich or poor family.I agree with your interpretation Lynn. The song also says it's OK to drink-and-drive. :)

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

One more song I won't be singing in the shower.

Just keep a firm grip on the soap and you'll be fine.

[Sam A. Robrin]

Maybe I'm just an innocent, but I think it's interesting that everyone apparently thinks that "do what you feel" means "fuck like jaded monkeys." To me, it meant that since you didn't have any money, you'd have to do something that didn't, you know, cost money. Didn't any of you guys ever go on a date when you were broke?

The same song also encourages the listener to "Have a drink, have a drive," which is kind of irresponsible advice to casually stick into a pop number.

[beartato]

The one I really grew to dislike after really listening to the words is the Stones' Under My Thumb (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/under+my+thumb_20117884.html).

I always thought it was a kind of cheeky little song where we were supposed to assume he didn't have nearly as much control over her as he thought. The girl was pushing him around, but then goes all subservient? I don't think so. The singer is convincing himself that the difference in the clothes she wears, etc., is because of him; the listener can figure out that it's actually him who's under her thumb.

[panache45]

It's pretty clear, to me, that it's about a man who's fallen in love with another man who was unsure, then began to return the affections, then got scared.
Even if your interpretation is correct, it's a common situation regardless of the genders involved. And anyway, nobody's gender is even mentioned in the song.

[WOOKINPANUB]

I always thought it was a kind of cheeky little song where we were supposed to assume he didn't have nearly as much control over her as he thought. The girl was pushing him around, but then goes all subservient? I don't think so. The singer is convincing himself that the difference in the clothes she wears, etc., is because of him; the listener can figure out that it's actually him who's under her thumb.

Agreed. I never thought of it as anything but false bragging or wishful thinking out loud. Maybe because the music is so , I don't know, nuanced? Complex? Sorry, I don't know the correct word but something about the music doesn't match such a simplistic message.

Also, to those commenting on the "take a drinke take a drive" lyric, I don't think he's listing them as related activities; I think they're just two examples of what one can do in the summertime. Besides, MADD had not yet gotten it's hands around the collective conscious of society. Nobody was particularly concerned about drinking and driving.

[StusBlues]

My entry is The Seed 2.0 by the Roots. Love the beat but what is up with the lyrics?

I only wanna fertilize another behind my lover's back
I sit and watch it grow standin' where I'm at
Fertilize another behind my lover's back
And I'm keepin' my secrets mine

Yeah, that song's pretty fucked up IMHO.

[Irishman]

How do you possibly miss the lyrics to that? What did you think it was about?

Well, to be honest, I really wasn't much aware of the song. Heard the cool opening and all. But later encountered the song after becoming an atheist, and it just rubs me wrong. It wasn't the song that changed, it was me.

I love Spirit in the Sky! I sing along, loudly, every time I hear it: "I never been a sinner, I never sinned... I got a friend in Jesuuuus!!"
Even though, you know, I have and I don't. :D It's still a kick-ass song.

Well, I just have a problem with that kind of message. It's a personal thing.


I have to add Possum Kingdom by the Toadies - cool, rocking song until you realize it is about a serial killer luring a victim to their death.

Agreed.

[beartato]

Agreed. I never thought of it as anything but false bragging or wishful thinking out loud. Maybe because the music is so , I don't know, nuanced? Complex? Sorry, I don't know the correct word but something about the music doesn't match such a simplistic message.


Exactly. When I hear people claim the song is misogynistic, I just think they're not giving the guys enough credit. A song about a deluded guy who's dating a powerful, self-directed women but tries to brag to his buddies about how he's really the one calling the shots is a far more interesting song than a straight reading of the lyrics, simply "some jagwagon tells his girlfriend how to dress", would be. And I'm pretty sure Mick and Keef were aware of that.

The music's and Mick's tone are really important to getting it. I once heard a wannabe punk band, some "modern rock" artists, cover the song, spitting out the lyrics and sneering throughout. Without the marimba, without the playfullness of Mick's singing and that swagger, without any tongue-in-cheek feel, it just sounds like the nastiest meanest song you've ever heard. Context is key.

[pakalolo]

I have to add Possum Kingdom by the Toadies - cool, rocking song until you realize it is about a serial killer luring a victim to their death.

While I admit that after listening to those lyrics I found the song a little bit disturbing, it does not keep me from enjoying it.
After all, I enjoy watching movies about serial killers. It does not mean I condone their actions, does it? How is enjoying a song about serial killers any different?

Slayer's "Silent Scream" I am told, is an anti-abortion song. In spite of that, I still think it rocks. I don't skip over it when I am listening to slayer, but it does disappoint me a bit somewhere in the back of my mind whenever I hear it.

[Baron Greenback]

It MIGHT be a generational thing. This song came out in 1970, and that's when I heard it. And just about all the kids in my age group assumed that a girl with a poor father would be an easy, cheap screw, and that's how they interpreted the song. The guy always chose what sort of date it would be, unless the girl requested something special, and girls were cautioned to be considerate of their dates' wallets. So, a guy could choose to take his date to a fancy restaurant (and going out to eat was a much bigger thing then) or he could choose to just go riding around (and gas was much cheaper then, and cruising was pretty common among teens).

I wonder how much of this applies to Britain in 1970, where Mungo Jerry are from? I was just a toddler at the time.

[Electric Warrior]

Well, you can't be too shocked at Greenbaum getting his evangelical theology wrong - IIRC, he's Jewish.

In what way is it wrong? (I too have very little knowledge of evangelical theology, considering my family's religious background is Reform Jewish and Greek Orthodox.)

With regard to Under My Thumb, I respectfully disagree. I think Jagger/Richards are trying to create a portrait of a really despicable person, and the song is intended to make you uncomfortable when you realize you're being given the view from that person's eyes. Cf. The Beatles - Run for Your Life.

EDIT: My interpretation of In the Summertime is a little more charitable. I think it's slightly less that poor girls are cheap fucks, and more that if you don't take a girl with a rich father out for nice meals, you won't get to see her anymore, because Daddy will disapprove.

[filling_pages]

How I have always interpreted In the Summertime: we are a group of friends with no money who want to have a good time. If one of us is dating a gal with money, he'll go out to dinner and she'll pay. If not, we'll just do whatever we feel like - maybe drink a few beers, maybe go for a drive - that doesn't cost much. The final lyrics pretty much set it out:

If she's rich, if she's nice, bring your friends and we'll all go into town.

That is, if she's rich and too nice to say no, they'll all go out on her (daddy's) dime. Basically, a bunch of hippie guys who'd rather let their dates pay than get jobs when they'd rather go swimming.

[WordMan]

While I admit that after listening to those lyrics I found the song a little bit disturbing, it does not keep me from enjoying it.
After all, I enjoy watching movies about serial killers. It does not mean I condone their actions, does it? How is enjoying a song about serial killers any different?

I internalize music at a whole 'nother level vs. watching a show. Immersing myself into the persona in the song squicks me out in a much squickier way than if I saw the movie version. YMMV.

[tumbleddown]

Even if your interpretation is correct, it's a common situation regardless of the genders involved. And anyway, nobody's gender is even mentioned in the song.
This is very true, and there is a cover by Oleta Adams (from the Two Rooms tribute to Taupin & John) that is absolutely gorgeously heart wrenching.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

With regard to Under My Thumb, I respectfully disagree. I think Jagger/Richards are trying to create a portrait of a really despicable person, and the song is intended to make you uncomfortable when you realize you're being given the view from that person's eyes.

I'm not sure that's what they intended. "The whole idea was that I was under HER, she was kicking ME around. So the whole idea is absurd, all I did was turn the tables around. So women took that to be against femininity where in reality it was trying to 'get back' against being a repressed male."

[salinqmind]

How I have always interpreted In the Summertime: we are a group of friends with no money who want to have a good time. If one of us is dating a gal with money, he'll go out to dinner and she'll pay. If not, we'll just do whatever we feel like - maybe drink a few beers, maybe go for a drive - that doesn't cost much. The final lyrics pretty much set it out:

If she's rich, if she's nice, bring your friends and we'll all go into town.

That is, if she's rich and too nice to say no, they'll all go out on her (daddy's) dime. Basically, a bunch of hippie guys who'd rather let their dates pay than get jobs when they'd rather go swimming.

:rolleyes: This is the very last time I'm going to harp on this, but...this is just absurd.
1) Forty years ago, it was unheard of for any girl, no matter how rich, to pay, out on a date. (exception: a couple in a real, intimate relationship, who arrived at an arrangement, not just casually dating, and she might slip him a few bucks under the table.) 2) It just didn't happen, no matter how much the hippie guys wished for handouts from a rich girl. Who weren't even hanging around with hippie guys, they were out dating rich boys. They may have gone slumming on occasion with a poor guy, but even so, they did not take him to the country club, hand him a menu, and say, "order anything you want, Daddy has an account here". 3) Any self respecting man forty years ago would feel like an impoverished loser, letting some woman pay.

Which leads back to: "if her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal". He will spend money on a date at a restaurant with a rich girl, because he wants to look like a nice young man who knows how to show a girl a good time. That - showing his daughter a good time - will also impress her rich Daddy, and that will come in handy should thoughts of marriage or a job offer at rich Daddy's business crop up in the future. Rich Daddy will be more inclined to welcome him to the family or give him a job. That would NOT happen if rich girl ponied up for the both of them, he would be seen as poor, shiftless, a leech, and a lazy bum.......So the poor girl doesn't get money spent on a restaurant meal - because he doesn't have to ingratiate himself with her poverty stricken father! The poor girl should just be grateful she's got a date at all, getting out of her shabby house, right?

[Lamia]

Re: "Spirit in the Sky"

Well, I just have a problem with that kind of message. It's a personal thing.If it makes you feel any better about it, there was no serious religious intent behind the song. Norman Greenbaum apparently just wrote it to see if he could write a "gospel song" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_in_the_Sky#Original_version_by_Norman_Greenbaum) -- it could be taken as a sort of parody of none-too-deep religious pop music.

In what way is it wrong? (I too have very little knowledge of evangelical theology, considering my family's religious background is Reform Jewish and Greek Orthodox.)The song's narrator says he's not a sinner and that he's never sinned, while Evangelicals are generally big on the idea that everyone is a sinner and thus doomed to suffer hellfire unless they open their hearts to Jesus. I think almost every Christian denomination would disagree with the narrator's claim that he has never committed a sin.

By denying that he has ever sinned the narrator may actually be committing the "unforgivable sin" (in some denominations, at least) of rejecting the redemption offered by God. If he does not believe himself to be a sinner, then he's presumably not repenting of or asking to be forgiven for his sins.

[Tranquilis]

In what way is it wrong? (I too have very little knowledge of evangelical theology, considering my family's religious background is Reform Jewish and Greek Orthodox.)

Lamia basically nailed it.

My (ex) brother-in-law was lead guitar in a modestly successful Christian rock band. Their cover of "Spirit in the Sky" solved the theological issue very neatly. Instead of "I'm not a sinner / I've never sinned / I've got a friend named Jesus," his band sang "I'm a sinner / I know I've sinned / (but) I've got a friend named Jesus." Completely alters the theology of the song, and brings it into mainstream evangelism.

[Edwardina]

Summertime or In the Summertime, by MungoJerry. "If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal, if her daddy's poor, just do what you feel".

Yep. I used to love that song, until I parsed that part of it, since then I have never been able to enjoy it the same way.

Same for "Under My Thumb" as well.

I still kind of like "Follow Me," but it did take a hit when I found out what it was about.

As for "Possum Kingdom," I thought that song was about a vampire. Not that different from a serial killer, I suppose, they're both gonna kill ya. But at least with the vampire you (may) have eternal "life" to look forward to afterward.

[Edwardina]

Oh, and how about Pumped Up Kicks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ldsF65cLM&feature=related) by Foster The People? Sounds like just a cute little pop song until you really listen ... :smack:

[Argent Towers]

I used to think the title/chorus of the song Strange Overtones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whRRR08A3Ac) by David Byrne and Brian Eno was actually "strange are the tones."

I don't dislike the song, but I liked it a lot more when I wrongly thought it was called "Strange Are The Tones." That phrase is much more poetic and interesting to me than the real line.

[FordTaurusSHO94]

As for "Possum Kingdom," I thought that song was about a vampire. Not that different from a serial killer, I suppose, they're both gonna kill ya. But at least with the vampire you (may) have eternal "life" to look forward to afterward.

That's the way I've always interpreted it.

[Askance]

Billy Thorpe's Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy. Loved it (and suited the artist) until the last line.
John Lennon's Imagine. At first, it sounded like a bit of idealistic optimism. Then I realized it's just a Communist Manifesto masquerading as pop music!
Same here. I used to like the song until I started paying attention to the lyrics. It's pretty obvious the song is an ode to communism. :(
Well yes, but if anything to the idealistic vision of early communist thought, not as it panned out to "communist" dictatorships. It's basically wishing that everyone got on with each other and didn't feel a need to subject themselves to authority, whether nationalistic, theistic or militaristic. Unrealistic hippy idealism, yes, but in no way condoning communism as practised.

[foolsguinea]

John Lennon's Imagine. At first, it sounded like a bit of idealistic optimism. Then I realized it's just a Communist Manifesto masquerading as pop music!As a Communist, I'm offended at being lumped in with that daffy utopian! :p

Seriously, though:
George Michael's "Father Figure" would be so much cooler without the phrase from the title. But I later came to understand what he was getting at.
"Jenny (867-5309)" is not commonly understood to be as creepy as it is.

[Khadaji]

Re: "Spirit in the Sky"

If it makes you feel any better about it, there was no serious religious intent behind the song. Norman Greenbaum apparently just wrote it to see if he could write a "gospel song" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_in_the_Sky#Original_version_by_Norman_Greenbaum) -- it could be taken as a sort of parody of none-too-deep religious pop music.

The song's narrator says he's not a sinner and that he's never sinned, while Evangelicals are generally big on the idea that everyone is a sinner and thus doomed to suffer hellfire unless they open their hearts to Jesus. I think almost every Christian denomination would disagree with the narrator's claim that he has never committed a sin.

By denying that he has ever sinned the narrator may actually be committing the "unforgivable sin" (in some denominations, at least) of rejecting the redemption offered by God. If he does not believe himself to be a sinner, then he's presumably not repenting of or asking to be forgiven for his sins.Here is how it was explained to me by my ultra-Christian church: The blood of the lamb [Jesus] is so powerful it washes away our sins as if they never were.

When he says that he has never sinned it is because he accepted Jesus as his savior and his sins have been wiped clean.

As I no longer believe, I won't debate the interpretation, I'll just pass on what was told to me at the time.

[Miss Mapp]

As for "Possum Kingdom," I thought that song was about a vampire. Not that different from a serial killer, I suppose, they're both gonna kill ya. But at least with the vampire you (may) have eternal "life" to look forward to afterward.

Me too. I liked it much more when I thought it was about a vampire asking his sweet angel to join him among the undead.

[digs]

As a Communist, I'm offended at being lumped in with that daffy utopian! :p

Seriously, though:
George Michael's "Father Figure" would be so much cooler without the phrase from the title. But I later came to understand what he was getting at.
"Jenny (867-5309)" is not commonly understood to be as creepy as it is.

I wonder if my wife'll ever scroll through the contacts on my phone... and wonder that I've got one just listed as "Jenny". Could be trouble.

(Since my wife never listens to lyrics, I don't think my heartfelt plea of "But just look-- her number's 867-5309!" will help my case...)

[filling_pages]

:rolleyes: This is the very last time I'm going to harp on this, but...this is just absurd.
1) Forty years ago, it was unheard of for any girl, no matter how rich, to pay, out on a date. (exception: a couple in a real, intimate relationship, who arrived at an arrangement, not just casually dating, and she might slip him a few bucks under the table.) 2) It just didn't happen, no matter how much the hippie guys wished for handouts from a rich girl. Who weren't even hanging around with hippie guys, they were out dating rich boys. They may have gone slumming on occasion with a poor guy, but even so, they did not take him to the country club, hand him a menu, and say, "order anything you want, Daddy has an account here". 3) Any self respecting man forty years ago would feel like an impoverished loser, letting some woman pay.

Which leads back to: "if her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal". He will spend money on a date at a restaurant with a rich girl, because he wants to look like a nice young man who knows how to show a girl a good time. That - showing his daughter a good time - will also impress her rich Daddy, and that will come in handy should thoughts of marriage or a job offer at rich Daddy's business crop up in the future. Rich Daddy will be more inclined to welcome him to the family or give him a job. That would NOT happen if rich girl ponied up for the both of them, he would be seen as poor, shiftless, a leech, and a lazy bum.......So the poor girl doesn't get money spent on a restaurant meal - because he doesn't have to ingratiate himself with her poverty stricken father! The poor girl should just be grateful she's got a date at all, getting out of her shabby house, right?

40 years ago my dad and all his friends were shiftless, poor hippies. To hear them tell it, they regularly went out with girls whose parents had plenty of cash, and those girls were paying for dinner, drinks, etc. Dad wasn't trying to look like a nice young man or get a job. He was trying to get someone to buy him a sexpack and a lid of weed and, if he was lucky, throw him a little action. That was why those gals were going out with dirty hippies (and, in the case of my dad and his friends, rock'n'roll musicians) - to piss off their parents and to feel like part of the cool scene.

When they went out with fellow poor hippies, they hopped in someone's car and rode down to the beach or all went and drank out of coolers at the drive in because they couldn't afford to go out on the town.

Maybe I'm off the mark. Could well be. But that's exactly what that song's always sounded like to me.

[MeanOldLady]

"Under My Thumb," eh? I never knew that song was misogynistic until people told me it was. It had always given me the sense of that sick bit of triumph you feel when the lover who used to jerk your heart around is now your bitch.

[Ferret Herder]

My usual contribution, which I still haven't beaten in terms of WTF-ness, is Sugar's "A Good Idea" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5cPlRV4pPc). It starts out with a guy and a gal taking a walk down to the river, and deciding it'd be 'a good idea' to lay down in the water. Chorus plays, and then the second verse starts thus:

He held her head high in his hands
He held her down deep in the stream
He saw the bubbles and matted hair
Mixed in with seaweed
She started to scream
:eek:

Yup, that rockin song is about a guy murdering some girl.

I still really like the song, though it probably wouldn't be a karaoke night pick!

[Made in Macau]

My usual contribution, which I still haven't beaten in terms of WTF-ness, is Sugar's "A Good Idea" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5cPlRV4pPc). It starts out with a guy and a gal taking a walk down to the river, and deciding it'd be 'a good idea' to lay down in the water. Chorus plays, and then the second verse starts thus:


:eek:

Yup, that rockin song is about a guy murdering some girl.

I still really like the song, though it probably wouldn't be a karaoke night pick!

Don't know this song, but river, stream...seaweed?

MiM

[Baal Houtham]

Re: "Spirit in the Sky"

(...) it could be taken as a sort of parody of none-too-deep religious pop music.

(...)I think almost every Christian denomination would disagree with the narrator's claim that he has never committed a sin.


Just wanted to give yet another endorsement to this interpretation.

Is it deliberate parody? I wouldn't be surprised, but imagine that Greenbaum wanted the ambiguity. The charm is the way he doesn't tip his hand, just puts out his blatantly incorrect theology with a proud voice... but without winking.

The notion that he's singing after having his sins washed away is a possibility, but doesn't really match up with the idea that he has "never been a sinner." And even after the purification, you accumulate new sins almost immediately.

And of course the central idea of "going up to the Spirit in the Sky" is a unique explanation of the Christian afterlife. Again, it seems like Norm's just tossing out anything that occurs to him, without a care how true or untrue it is.

Great song.

[NotBob13]

My two cents on in the Summertime.
Veronica will snerl her nose at you if you suggest you grab a slaw burger at the drive-in, then wonder over to the river and watch the sun set. Betty is accustomed to similar low cost entertainment, probably. And Mr. Lodge is a bigwig', a VIP, probably freinds with the sherriff, and stiffnecked. Betty's dad is protective of her, but a cool guy, you'd share a beer with him, if the comics code would let you. That's always been my interpretation. In other words, you take out rich girls, you hang out with poor girls.

[elfkin477]

Me too. I liked it much more when I thought it was about a vampire asking his sweet angel to join him among the undead.Me as well, and wiki claims that it's based on folklore from where they grew up. Vampires are part of folklore, are serial killers? It's more subtle than say "Closer (http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858739041/)" by Kings of Leon but vampires make sense. Corpses rot, vampires stay beautiful forever.


I guess I like "Bone of Contention" by Spirit of the West a little less for knowing what it's about, but that's the only song I can think of like this.

[Irishman]

Re: "Spirit in the Sky"

If it makes you feel any better about it, there was no serious religious intent behind the song. Norman Greenbaum apparently just wrote it to see if he could write a "gospel song" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_in_the_Sky#Original_version_by_Norman_Greenbaum) -- it could be taken as a sort of parody of none-too-deep religious pop music.

Doesn't matter what his religious intent was, he wrote it as a gospel song. And that's what gospel songs are. So he screwed up the theology a tad - that comes from being an outsider and not caring too much. It's still a gospel song.

And I can't take it as a parody.


"Under My Thumb," eh? I never knew that song was misogynistic until people told me it was. It had always given me the sense of that sick bit of triumph you feel when the lover who used to jerk your heart around is now your bitch.

Yep. "The change has come, she's under my thumb." That Siamese Cat of a girl is now his bitch - my the tables have turned.