# Lyrical Issues. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831 "2005-10-19T00:08:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/1 "2005-10-19T00:08:58Z")
Considering how much I love pop music-- especially old stuff-- you’d think I’d have a better handle on what the hell they’re talking about in the songs. But I mostly don’t. Although I must say I’ve got a better grasp on things than the guy in my office who thinks George Michael’s Monkey is about a love triangle featuring George, some girl and a black guy. Anyway, I’ve got some lyrical issues with many songs. Please help me work through them and, if you have issues too, I’ll see what I can do for you. What does Carly Simon mean when she says she dreamed there were clouds in her coffee? In Right Through You, what does Alanis mean when she sings “Your shake is like a fish” Or maybe “You shake it like a fish”. Not sure which she says. Not sure what either of them would mean. Love Me Like a Rock. How does one love like a rock? What does that mean? Has anyone ever figured out what The B-52s were yelling when they yelled, “Tin roof! Rusted!”? Don’t get me started on “Toe jam football”. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/2 "2005-10-19T00:20:19Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Has anyone ever figured out what The B-52s were yelling when they yelled, “Tin roof! Rusted!”? The story goes that the line was made up on the spot and is meaningless. For some bizarre reason, some people thought is was a Southern euphemism for being pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/3 "2005-10-19T00:23:37Z")
Well, from the ‘You’re WHAT?’ immediately preceding I can see how that could be mistaken. “Your shake is like a fish” I always interpreted as a slam at a slimy music industry guy. His shake is cold, slimy, and vaguely repulsive. Like a fish. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/4 "2005-10-19T00:27:44Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Well, from the ‘You’re WHAT?’ immediately preceding I can see how that could be mistaken. It’s “Your what?” which makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/5 "2005-10-19T00:34:20Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > What does Carly Simon mean when she says she dreamed there were clouds in her coffee? I remember hearing somewhere that this line was written while she was on a flight, and there was a reflection in her coffee from the clouds outside. Not sure how likely that is, but there you go. > [@](#): > > In Right Through You, what does Alanis mean when she sings “Your shake is like a fish” Or maybe “You shake it like a fish”. Not sure which she says. Not sure what either of them would mean. Maybe it refers to the guy’s hand shake? Slimy, like a wet fish or something? > [@](#): > > Love Me Like a Rock. How does one love like a rock? What does that mean? Rock-solid? > [@](#): > > Has anyone ever figured out what The B-52s were yelling when they yelled, “Tin roof! Rusted!”? Well presumably they were describing that little old shack in the middle of a field. (It’s just a funky old shack.) Apparently the line that preceeds it came about when the band were jamming and Cindy Wilson yelled out “I’m pregnant!!”, the music stopped and Fred Schneider screamed “You’re WHAT!?!”. Nick ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/6 "2005-10-19T00:37:35Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Love Me Like a Rock. How does one love like a rock? What does that mean? “Love me like the Rock of Ages”-- IOW, God. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/7 "2005-10-19T00:46:40Z")
> [@mojave66](#): > > “Love me like the Rock of Ages”-- IOW, God. The Rock of Ages is God? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/8 "2005-10-19T02:42:11Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The Rock of Ages is God? See _Matthew 16:14-20_: > [@](#): > > Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare’a Philip’pi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli’jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/9 "2005-10-19T03:20:30Z")
No, silly. Rock of Ages is a track off of Def Leppard’s _Pyromania_. Gunter gleepen glauben globen. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/10 "2005-10-19T03:53:00Z")
Okay, can anyone help me with Elton John? Or I guess Bernie Taupin. I’ve never understood what [“Daniel”](http://www.eltonography.com/songs/daniel.html) is all about. Listening to the song I get that Daniel is the singer’s brother; Daniel is flying to Spain; and that the singer is incredibly upset about this. My brother flew off on a vacation today but you don’t see me crying at the airport. So am I missing some metaphorical meaning here? Something about his eyes dying? Is Daniel dead? If he’s dead why is his body being flown to Spain? And how is he waving goodbye? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/11 "2005-10-19T05:50:30Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Okay, can anyone help me with Elton John? Or I guess Bernie Taupin. I’ve never understood what [“Daniel”](http://www.eltonography.com/songs/daniel.html) is all about. I saw an interview with Elton a few years ago when Daniel came up. Elton was saying that the agreement he had with Bernie Taupin was that he (Elton) had total freedom to chop and change Taupin’s lyrics - no discussions between the two. The example he used was that Daniel had a final verse which explained the whole song. Elton said that it would have made the song too long so he just cut it. If I recall correctly, Daniel had returned from the Vietnam War and was going to Spain to try to recover. With this extra piece of information the lyrics do make more sense. He was clearly psychologically damaged by the war (“scars that won’t heal,” “your eyes have died, but you see more than I,” etc.), and the singer (his brother) is upset about it and concerned for him. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/12 "2005-10-19T07:26:25Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Okay, can anyone help me with Elton John? Or I guess Bernie Taupin. I’ve never understood what [“Daniel”](http://www.eltonography.com/songs/daniel.html) is all about. Listening to the song I get that Daniel is the singer’s brother; Daniel is flying to Spain; and that the singer is incredibly upset about this. My brother flew off on a vacation today but you don’t see me crying at the airport. So am I missing some metaphorical meaning here? Something about his eyes dying? Is Daniel dead? If he’s dead why is his body being flown to Spain? And how is he waving goodbye? Brother Daniel is dead & loved Spain so much that he is going to be buried there. Elton is watching the plane lights taking off in the night & sees Daniel waving goodbye in his imagination or in a spiritual sense. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrical-issues/326831/13 "2005-10-19T07:30:35Z")
Thanks - I’ve been waiting for this thread. “Somebody Told Me” by the Killers. I love the way it sounds - I have no idea how to make any sense of any of the lyrics. I understand all of the individual words - but strung together in that order … what’s going on? And “toe jam football” doesn’t even begin to scratch the weirdness of “Come Together.” Is that another one of those songs that makes sense when the artists and audience are all stoned? Is there more?