# Songs from your youth ... which you didn't understand until you were an adult **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100 "2015-10-19T04:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/61 "2015-10-23T03:46:23Z")
That Raspberries song is NOT called “Don’t Go Away”. Really. Listen to it. It isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/62 "2015-10-23T04:00:04Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I’m still not following. He’s asking “where can I find a woman like Jessie’s girl?” Jessie is a man (admittedly, with a nonstandard spelling) who has a girlfriend–Jessie’s girl. The singer wishes he himself could be with Jessie’s girl instead. How does that imply Jessie is a transvestite? > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I was wondering the same thing. And, actually, I just remembered a skit (maybe on SNL, or a similar show) I saw back in the 1990s that depicted Rick Springfield attempting to revitalize his career by hitting the stage in a dress and singing, “I wish that I **was** Jessie’s girl …” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/63 "2015-10-23T04:05:06Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And “Jessie’s Girl”? I have always heard that the line “Where can I find a woman like that?” is indeed a reference to Jessie being a transvestite. 😕 Did you perhaps “always” hear this from the same person? Because while I can certainly believe that individuals have come up with their own wacky interpretations of pop hits, I’ve never heard this one before and it doesn’t make much sense. The song is about the narrator’s interest in Jessie’s _girlfriend_. The lyrics refer to Jessie as “him”, but even if Jessie were a transvestite or a lesbian then “woman like that” would obviously be referring to Jessie’s girl and not Jessie. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie%27s_Girl#Background) tells me that Rick Springfield has revealed that the song was inspired by a real life situation: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Springfield was taking a stained glass class along with his friend Gary and Gary’s girlfriend. He initially wanted to use the actual name of the friend he was singing about, but instead decided to go with a different name — “Jessie”. He was wearing a T-shirt with the name of football player Ron Jessie on it and changed the name from Gary to Jessie, then recorded the song. > > Springfield says that he does not remember the name of the girlfriend, and believes that the real woman who inspired the song has no idea that she was “Jessie’s Girl”, telling Oprah Winfrey, “I was never really introduced to her. It was always just, like, panting from afar.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/64 "2015-10-23T12:31:12Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > “woman like that” would obviously be referring to Jessie’s girl and not Jessie. Indeed. I think the song makes that pretty clear and unambiguous. > [@](#): > > You know I wish that I had Jessie’s girl > I wish that I had Jessie’s girl > I want Jessie’s girl > Where can I find a woman like that? > Like Jessie’s girl ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/65 "2015-10-23T12:46:29Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > How is this song misinterpreted? Seems fairly straightforward. A woman who apparently has never heard of sperm banks goes out and gets some careless young idiot to (oh, be still my nausea filled stomach) “walk in the garden and plant a tree”. Because apparently if you’re looking for a surrogate dad, then picking up some schmuck from the side of the road will practically ensure genetic fitness. Especially if they’re good in bed. Yeah, but her method is free, and can be done without her husband’s knowledge. The idea is that her husband thinks the baby is his. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/66 "2015-10-23T13:00:48Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Hah! Yes, when I was a naive teen I had an image of someone with a teaspoon shoved up their nose. 😃 That’s hilarious, so did I! ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/67 "2015-10-23T13:32:23Z")
Seven year old me always thought that the baseball part of _Paradise By the Dashboard Light_ was about, well, you know…baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/68 "2015-10-23T13:36:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That Raspberries song is NOT called “Don’t Go Away”. > > Really. Listen to it. It isn’t. I mentioned this one in another thread awhile ago. As a Little Miss in the 1970s, I couldn’t understand why she was telling him to “Please, go-oh away!” when the rest of the lyrics seemed to indicate that she liked him. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/69 "2015-10-24T19:15:02Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I think I was the last person in the known universe to figure out The Kinks’ _Lola_. At least you figured it out; I had to have it explained to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/70 "2015-12-21T14:01:23Z")
Okay, I had t o revisit this thread, because “that guy’s” grandson showed up on American Idol:’ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_GM8_N5cEH8/maxresdefault.jpg "Daniel Seavey Audition (San Francisco)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GM8_N5cEH8) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/71 "2015-12-21T14:06:40Z")
He played that awful “Hallelujah” on the piano, then picked up a guitar and nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/72 "2015-12-21T20:27:43Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > \*\*The Who - Squeeze Box \*\* It’s a catchy tune. Did not realize until I was a teenager that it’s not an accordion we’re talking about. Hee. I still wouldn’t know if my Mom hadn’t turned red when my brother mentioned this song. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/73 "2015-12-21T20:41:00Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Seven year old me always thought that the baseball part of _Paradise By the Dashboard Light_ was about, well, you know…baseball. I thought they were listening to a baseball game on the car radio. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/74 "2015-12-21T20:56:51Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I thought they were listening to a baseball game on the car radio. That wasn’t all they were doing. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/75 "2015-12-22T14:56:20Z")
When I was a kid, we always listened to and sang a lot of old Irish folk songs. At the time, I had no idea that most of them were about booze, death, sex, or some combination of those three. “The Black Velvet Band,” for instance, was about a Belfast prostitute who plies a guy with liquor, gives him some stolen property, and gets him shipped off to a prison colony in Australia. Perfect song for an 8 year old to be singing, right? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/76 "2015-12-22T16:15:36Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I forget what it was called, but that "song’ that featured a woamn moaning and groaning in orgasm puzzled me…until i found out about sex. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Which one, “Love To Love You Baby” or “More More More”? > [@bup](#): > > _Hungry Like the Wolf_ (not _Rio_) by Duran Duran. “[Je t’aime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_t'aime..._moi_non_plus).” It was quite a big deal at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/77 "2015-12-22T16:32:13Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > When I was a kid, we always listened to and sang a lot of old Irish folk songs. At the time, I had no idea that most of them were about booze, death, sex, or some combination of those three. > > “The Black Velvet Band,” for instance, was about a Belfast prostitute who plies a guy with liquor, gives him some stolen property, and gets him shipped off to a prison colony in Australia. > > Perfect song for an 8 year old to be singing, right? Maybe someone should revive the old “Gangster Rap or Folk?” thread. Those old folk songs are full of murder, rape, robbery, prison, drinking, objectifying women, glorification of material wealth, and bloody revenge. Makes “Straight out of Compton” look tame. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/78 "2015-12-23T02:57:25Z")
When I was nine years old, while we were listening to the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women,” I asked my father why the woman was blowing the man’s nose. He laughed and told me he’d tell me when I turned twenty-one. Unfortunately, he passed away a year later. So…fight my ignorance, folks! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/79 "2015-12-23T04:45:44Z")
My parents had a couple of EPs by Nina and Fredrik. I didn’t need to become an adult to understand that The Worm Song was an earthworm trying to hook up with itself, but Little Boxes… wow :eek: Yeah, that’s one which didn’t just need the ability to understand each word, in order to truly comprehend it. A lot of the songs my father liked praised things that he would have considered unacceptable in other contexts: those where the lovers are either married or intending to marry are a definite minority. Then again, his favorite movie was Seven Brides and I’m sure he was not truly in favor of kidnapping women, merely in favor of any movie featuring dancing, music and a certain tall brunette whose name I can’t find… ([dancing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TygmMPbwfjA) with Mr Orange Shirt) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100/80 "2015-12-23T05:07:09Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > When I was nine years old, while we were listening to the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women,” I asked my father why the woman was blowing the man’s nose. Because Mick is allergic to roses, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-from-your-youth-which-you-didnt-understand-until-you-were-an-adult/735100.md?page=5)