Hmmm, there’s that. Also, his beats per minute have never been the same, so you might be right.
When I heard Hoyt Axton’s “Della and the Dealer” on “WKRP” as a kid, I assumed the song was about actual animals:smack:.
On a less clueless front, this song was one of my favorites because it seemed so romantic. I mean it’s got “will you marry me” as its refrain. Listening to it as an adult and actually listening to the lyrics, oh no it’s not.
I was embarrasingly grown up before I got why Frankie said Relax “when you want to come”. I was a very naive child (and teen) in some ways!
My son would hate me for sharing this, but when he was a kid, he once asked me why the lady in Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” was yelling at her boyfriend to mow the lawn at midnight. He heard “more more more” and thought it was “mow mow mow”. Still cracks me up.
1969’s Cherry Hill Park. I was 10 and my brother had the 45. When my father heard me playing/singing it in my room he took it away from me and gave my brother a good talking to. I really didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics until he took it away. That’s when I really gave it a good listen. :eek:
I’ll have to look that up.
I have heard the story behind Barracuda … apparently, in the early days of the band’s career, some record company marketing genius thought it would be cool to play up some sort of imagined lesbian incest between Ann and Nancy. Ann wrote Barracuda to tell him what she thought of that idea.
Heart has the ultimate misinterpreted song in “All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You.”
:dubious:
On a lighter note, I didn’t care much for Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” when it came out. Now, I can really hear the joy in the song. 
Which one, “Love To Love You Baby” or “More More More”?
M3 was on the charts when I had my first crush on a boy, who played trumpet in the band, and I would listen to that song and imagine that he was playing that trumpet for me.
I wouldn’t go back to being 12 years old again for all the money in the world.
I love it!
Heard “Young Girl” on an oldies station recently, the lyrics are just awful to hear now.
“In My Little Town” by Simon and Garfunkel. Back in the 70s, before kids had any access to the internet, reading the lyrics to songs was kind of difficult to do. I didn’t have liner notes or sheet music, and I thought it was just an American version of “Penny Lane,” fond reminiscences of a town you can’t go back to for whatever reason. So when I finally looked up the lyrics about 10-15 years ago, I saw a much angrier song about environmental degradation, suppressed creativity, fake patriotism and strong-armed conformity to a kid not well-suited to any of these.
I felt incredibly stupid to realize I had been listening to CSNY’s “Wooden Ships” for 30+ years before I realized it was about two people connecting after a nuclear war has destroyed the planet.
And it’s not like it’s all that hard, given these lines:
Hungry Like the Wolf (not Rio) by Duran Duran.
It was the officer who drowned for his idiocy.
Which has to be one of the few times an idiot leader got what was coming to him.
Oh, thank goodness, I’m not the oldest one!
I didn’t get it until this past summer, at 40 1/2, at a karaoke event. At least I wasn’t the one singing the song, because I don’t think I was able to pick my jaw up off the floor the entire time!
One day, my wife and I were in the car when the Bow Wow Wow version of “I Want Candy” came on the radio. I hadn’t heard it in years. Halfway through the song, I said, “Candy is a metaphor, isn’t it?” My wife just laughed at me.
Considering it’s George Michael, it’s probably before he takes care of himself.
I’m so ashamed, but just today I realized that “Last Dance with Mary Jane” could have multiple meanings. Smack!
Hall & Oates - “One on One”. For a while I thought it was about playing catch or somehow baseball related. But in my defense, I was 9 when the song came out.