# Deceiving Song appreciation thread -- share your deceptive songs with others! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2001, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044 "2001-10-02T20:49:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/21 "2001-10-03T18:22:17Z")
Esteemed author Wilson Bryan Key quite convincingly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the songs “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Hey, Jude” were about drug use. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/22 "2001-10-03T18:42:12Z")
**Follow Me** by **Uncle Cracker**. Heroin again. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/23 "2001-10-03T18:45:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dlb \* > \*\*“Every Day a Little Death”, from _A Little Night Music_. The tune is light and carefree, and the lyrics talk about being killed, piece by piece, by love. > > “He talks softly of his wars, > and his horses and his whores, > a humiliating business!” \*\* Interesting. FWIW, “little death” is a literal translation of the French word used to denote orgasms. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/24 "2001-10-03T18:50:52Z")
I was shocked to discover that Led Zeppelin’s _The Lemon Song_ is not in fact about citrus fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Muslim\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Muslim\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muslim_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/25 "2001-10-03T19:26:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whitetho \* > \*\* I don’t know if you are just being ironic, but if you listen carefully to the lyrics of Springsteen’s song, it is obviously an very bitter review of how various individuals have been betrayed by their own country: [Link to lyrics](http://www.xs4all.nl/~maroen/engels/lyrics/bornusa.htm) \*\* [/QUOTE] Dear **whitetho** , of course I am conscious of what “Born in the USA” really means. There has been extensive discussion of it in the SDMB recently. I cited that as one more example of a song that has been widely misunderstood. When I heard “Born in the USA” suddenly blasting from radios everywhere, I thought, “They want patriotic songs? Then play ‘With God On Our Side’, they’ll really love that!” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trillian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trillian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/26 "2001-10-03T22:09:45Z")
Green Day’s “Time of Your Life” was constantly playing after McGuire’s record-breaking season. Didn’t anybody realize the bitter and hateful nature of the song? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/27 "2001-10-03T23:19:40Z")
i know this is so obvious as to not really be deceptive, but about half of ZZ Top’s songs are about blowjobs. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/28 "2001-10-03T23:29:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*Perfect Day - Lou Reed: Another cosy love song? Heroin again. > > Heroin by the velvet underground is really about a fluffy bunny. > \*\* Actually, both of these are as true as each other (and I’m guessing that the second one was _meant_ to be a joke). **Perfect Day** had nothing to with heroin until a certain movie came along and used it for an overdose scene. So strangely, **Perfect Day** is the opposite of what this thread is about - an innocuous song reinterpreted as a drug song, like **Puff the Magic Dragon**. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/29 "2001-10-03T23:56:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AudreyK \* > \*\* > I heard it’s the same with Sarah McLachlan’s **Angel**. \*\* Not meth, but Heroin. Everyone thought that was such a nice song, SO MANY people never got it. I once went to a camp church service and that song was sung. I was astounded that only a few people in the entire group got the idea that this was not your typical, heaven-type angel. > [@](#): > > \*I need some distraction > Oh, a beautiful release > The memories seep through my veins > They make me empty > oh and weightless and floating > I find some peace tonight > In the arms of the angel - LC ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/30 "2001-10-04T00:06:36Z")
There’s always _More Than Words_ by Extreme. Everyone was on about “what a sweet love song from such a hard-rocking band.” But it’s not a love song, it’s a sex song. He wants herto do more than just _say_ that she loves him, he wants her to _show_ him! It would be " so easy!" Totally deceptive. I’m sure that there are more, but I can’t think of any. Phoo. ---
**Author:** ![Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeremy_s_Evil_Twin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/31 "2001-10-04T00:48:57Z")
“I Believe in Father Christmas” by **Greg Lake** comes across as a traditional Christmas song, but the lyrics are actually a scathing attack on Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/32 "2001-10-04T01:32:12Z")
A Harvard University dormitory administrator stopped the Beatles’ song “Revolution” from being played from a dormitory window when they were having their first 60’s sit-in and admin building takeover demonstration. I’ve also heard it played loud 'n proud from boom-boxes during leftist-flavored marches, often right before or after Tracy Chapman’s song of the same subject. (Anyone care to speculate on what “you can count me out” might mean??) Another Beatles offering: the song Helter Skelter, if I recall correctly, is a song about playing on a child’s swing set or teeter totter or some such playground equipment. Then there is always Pink Floyd’s magnum opus “The Wall”, the double album that is NOT about the alienation of a rock star named “Pink” from his fans. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/33 "2001-10-04T02:03:46Z")
Despite its title and its chorus, REM’s “The One I Love” is most definitely not a love song. I think “Losing My Religion” also counts. According to their Storyteller’s episode, “losing my religion” is an old Southern expression for not knowing what to do, and the song is about not knowing what do when you have a crush. It has nothing to do with religion, but I had never heard the expression and so I didn’t get it. The video didn’t help clarify matters. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/34 "2001-10-04T02:04:26Z")
_Champagne Supernova_ by **Oasis**. I think this may fall also under misheard, not heard, unheard lyrics, as I was so happy hearing it, with my little innocent mind. Then a classmate made a paper on how it is about drug use. Then a close friend explained it to me phrase by phrase, this time saying it was about masturbation. I can not listen to it the same way as before. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/35 "2001-10-04T02:13:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milo\_minderbinder \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Anal Scurvy \* > > I won’t tell you what the song is about, because I want you guys to download it and try to guess what it’s about. > > A comedian caught whacking off in public while on a drunken bender? > > milo \*\* Did you guess that? I’m mucho impressed if you did. Folks, it’s about PeeWee Herman and his porn theatre escapade. Someone mentioned Sarah McLachlan’s song Angel. Her song Hold On is about a wife coping with life now that her husband is HIV positive, i.e. “Is this any better than the real thing?” What’s Angel about? It’s not one of my faves. Is it even on Fumbling Towards Ecstasy? ---
**Author:** ![milo\_minderbinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@milo\_minderbinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milo_minderbinder)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/36 "2001-10-04T12:11:33Z")
\ I hadn’t heard of this band before but I liked Bone of Contention so I got some more of their songs from Audiogalaxy. They’re pretty good, remind me a bit of the Wonder Stuff, who I’ve allways had a soft spot for. Thanks for the tip. 🙂 milo ---
**Author:** ![katiekilldare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@katiekilldare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katiekilldare)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044/37 "2001-10-04T12:42:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anal Scurvy \* > \*\*What’s Angel about? It’s not one of my faves. Is it even on Fumbling Towards Ecstasy? \*\* I think it’s about someone forcing themselves off heroin. I was pretty sure “Perfect Day” was about heroin, long before it was used on the “Trainspotting” soundtrack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deceiving-song-appreciation-thread-share-your-deceptive-songs-with-others/85044.md?page=1)