# Songs that have been misinterpreted. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049 "2020-04-04T12:27:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/81 "2020-04-05T17:35:00Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > The title “Good Riddance” puts that spin on it for me before the first note. > > Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road (Here we go again) > Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go (He doesn’t have a choice) > So make the best of this test and don’t ask why (he’s unwilling but it doesn’t matter) > It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time (again, no choice) > > So take the photographs and still frames in your mind (how should we remember things) > Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time (nostalgia?) > Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial (or unpleasant/unfinished business?) > For what it’s worth it was worth all the while (no choice…try to see it in positive light) > > Overall, it was inevitable so “Good Riddance”—glad this is over. But if you had a good time, more power to you. > > Your mileage may vary.😃 The song was also used as a farewell for the Seinfeld series, while they showed a bunch of nostalgic clips and photos. Wrong choice, or very right? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/82 "2020-04-05T17:59:59Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Yes, but as I think I remember it, at the time “people over 30” who apparently didn’t really listen to the lyrics assumed it was a counterculture pro-drugs song. Didn’t notice it was pointing out that the older/straight people also had their own drug abuse problems. Ok, thanks, I can see that the older generation was blind to the hypocrisy pointed out in the song. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/83 "2020-04-05T18:54:57Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > There was a phenomenon in the late 60s/early 70s where popular bands wrote songs that were explicitly about drugs, but would (to avoid getting banned from the airwaves) insist in interviews that it was about everything but drugs. Lennon was the very definition of this. The Cowsills broke up over an internal dispute over whether they could use drug references or not. I cringe when I hear Blue Swede’s “High on a Feeling.” I’d like to think John Prine is made of sterner stuff, but ultimately, what do we know about the guy? Do you mean “Hooked On A Feeling” written by Mark James? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/84 "2020-04-05T20:21:09Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > You’d be shocked by how many innocent-sounding songs are really about _stapling_. I used to think “Happy Together” by The Turtles was a love song. I was so naive… Happy Together was sooo about staplers. So was I’ll Take You There by the Stapler Singers. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/85 "2020-04-05T20:34:14Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > jeeze… he wrote the song…he EXPLAINED the song, yet you refuse to believe it. I’ve heard more than a couple of artists not only tell disingenuous stories about the meanings of their songs including Pearl Jam, CCR, Joni Mitchell but then go on to laugh about it later. Also there have been a few artists who lie about meanings _because_ it was about taboo subjects. Not offering an opinion on this particular song, just saying a writers public explanation can’t always be taken as gospel. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/86 "2020-04-05T20:46:27Z")
**Everything I Own** by David Gates > [@](#): > > Although initial listeners may have interpreted it as a song about a broken relationship, Gates revealed that it was written in memory of his father who died in 1963 before he achieved his success with Bread. [(Source)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_I_Own) **Brandy** by Scott English (later processed to anodyne mush by Barry Manilow as “Mandy”) > [@](#): > > The suggestion that Scott English wrote the song about a favorite dog is apparently an urban legend. [(Source)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandy_(Scott_English_song)) An urban legend believed by me for many years, anyway. Finally, and partially, **The Bewlay Brothers** by David Bowie > [@](#): > > Bowie himself is said to have told producer Ken Scott that it was a track for the American market, because “the Americans always like to read things into things”, even though the lyrics “make absolutely no sense”. [(Source)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bewlay_Brothers) So however you interpreted it, you’re wrong. j I would just like to apologise for the seriousness and lack of imagination in this post. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/87 "2020-04-05T20:59:07Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > **Everything I Own** by David Gates > [(Source)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_I_Own) “3am” by Matchbox Twenty was also a memorial song, in this case Rob Thomas’ mother. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/88 "2020-04-05T21:33:58Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > [In case you never heard it before, here’s the original version.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Gh1wQEe1I) It was seriously considered for Springsteen’s folkish album “Nebraska”, but shelved until the much more bombastic version on “Born in the USA”. I actually had no idea this version existed. Very interesting. Nice and dark, with the point of the song very clear in the atmosphere of the song. That said, I do like the cutting irony of the more bombastic version that sounds like it’s an “AMERICA FUCK YEAH” kind of patriotic hymn, but subverts it completely with the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/89 "2020-04-05T21:44:42Z")
Who are you by the Who is partly about Meher Baba. "I know you walked where love falls from the trees " is about the Meher Center in Myrtle Beach, a place I visited 2 times. Anyone can visit there. [https://www.mehercenter.org/](https://www.mehercenter.org/) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/90 "2020-04-05T22:02:12Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Kinda surprised Extreme’s “More Than Words” hasn’t been brought up yet. The lyrics are clearly saying “you are so emotionally distant, I don’t think I can be with you anymore, this is your last chance.” But people think it’s a sweet love song. I had a friend and coworker that said she always heard it as a sleazy guy singing to some girl in a van to get into her pants. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/91 "2020-04-06T15:23:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’m calling bullshit on this. As has repeatedly been pointed out, Springsteen was perfectly aware of the meaning of his song. If you know anything about Springsteen you would know the message he was trying to get across was what was in the lyrics. Your argument with regard to Springsteen’s intent is absurd. When the very first words screaming out of Springsteen’s mouth are: > [@](#): > > Born down in a dead man’s town > The first kick I took was when I hit the ground. > You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much > Till you spend half your life just covering up I don’t care how anthemic the chorus sounds, the intent of the song is pretty f-ing clear. This isn’t a happy or traditionally patriotic song. Some time back in the '80s someone in the New Jersey legislature proposed making, by law, “Born to Run,” the state song. Now, as a born-and-bred New Jerseyan, I kind of supported the notion, but only because the song really captured how I was feeling about my home state at the time. Clearly, the legislator in question listened to, “Born to Run,” about as closely as some people listen to, “Born in the U.S.A.,” but in neither case can you blame The Boss for the cursory listening habits of some people. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/92 "2020-04-06T16:22:04Z")
Last Friday NPR’s _Fresh Air_ re-ran an old [interview](https://www.npr.org/2020/04/03/826654716/fresh-air-remembers-fountains-of-wayne-co-founder-adam-schlesinger) with Adam Schlesinger, since he died of COVID-19 last week. While this might not be the kind of misinterpreting the OP was thinking of, in the interview he mentioned that people mistakenly assume that when a songwriter writes a song from a first person point of view, it must be the songwriter confessing his innermost thoughts. Most of the time it’s just a character the songwriter created and is telling a story from that character’s perspective. The specific song they were talking about in the interview was “Leave the Biker”, and the fact that Schlesinger wrote it doesn’t mean that he himself was a shy guy who couldn’t get a date to the prom. But that same thing could apply to lots of songs. Many people mistakenly think Johnny Cash was actually an inmate in Folsom Prison because he wrote a song from the point of view of an inmate there. And Dire Straights did a song from the perspective of a working class appliance store employee who calls the drummer he sees on MTV a “little faggot” – that doesn’t mean Mark Knopfler was literally calling anyone that. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/93 "2020-04-06T16:27:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I actually had no idea this version existed. Very interesting. Nice and dark, with the point of the song very clear in the atmosphere of the song. That said, I do like the cutting irony of the more bombastic version that sounds like it’s an “AMERICA FUCK YEAH” kind of patriotic hymn, but subverts it completely with the lyrics. My take is the “Born in the USA” version significantly changes the meaning of the song from “America did me wrong” to “the government did me wrong, but I still love being an American”, a pretty common attitude. The song, especially that goofy “cool rocking daddy” line (which isn’t in the original version) is delivered with way too much enthusiasm for me to totally buy the strictly ironic interpretation of the song. It’s kinda like how omitting the “private property” verse of “This Land Is Your Land” totally alters the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![tafinucane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@tafinucane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tafinucane)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/94 "2020-04-06T18:24:00Z")
Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight by Spinal Tap. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/95 "2020-04-06T19:42:09Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Another classic - “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. Sort of misunderstood. Anyway you slice it the song is a drug trip, but Lennon maintained until his dying day that he didn’t title it to spell out LSD. I think he was bullshitting about that. > > And then there’s “Hey Man Nice Shot” by Filter which most people - myself included - interpreted as a dark tribute to Kurt Kobain when it was actually about Philadelphia State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer who committed suicide on live TV in 1987. A few years ago, Sir Paul de-bunked Lennon’s assertion about Lucy. He said, essentially, that of course it was about LSD. One still has to wonder about Peter Paul, and Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon”, though. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/96 "2020-04-06T19:43:48Z")
> [@tafinucane](#): > > Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight by Spinal Tap. Assuming one knows that it parodies a genre, what is to misinterpret about that one?? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/97 "2020-04-06T20:54:25Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > When the very first words screaming out of Springsteen’s mouth are: > I don’t care how anthemic the chorus sounds, the intent of the song is pretty f-ing clear. This isn’t a happy or traditionally patriotic song. > > Some time back in the '80s someone in the New Jersey legislature proposed making, by law, “Born to Run,” the state song. Now, as a born-and-bred New Jerseyan, I kind of supported the notion, but only because the song really captured how I was feeling about my home state at the time. Clearly, the legislator in question listened to, “Born to Run,” about as closely as some people listen to, “Born in the U.S.A.,” but in neither case can you blame The Boss for the cursory listening habits of some people. Songs are 80% music and 20% lyrics. A happy song can have a sad lyric and vice versa. It is about how it makes you feel not how the song writer was feeling when he wrote it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/98 "2020-04-06T21:22:46Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Another classic - “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. Sort of misunderstood. Anyway you slice it the song is a drug trip, but Lennon maintained until his dying day that he didn’t title it to spell out LSD. I think he was bullshitting about that. > … I believe him. Also puff the Magic Dragon. But I am dubious about [Lake Shore Drive (song) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Shore_Drive_(song)). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Brother\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_brother_1/32/3513_2.png) [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/99 "2020-04-06T21:30:59Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > There was a phenomenon in the late 60s/early 70s where popular bands wrote songs that were explicitly about drugs, but would (to avoid getting banned from the airwaves) insist in interviews that it was about everything but drugs. Lennon was the very definition of this. The Cowsills broke up over an internal dispute over whether they could use drug references or not. I cringe when I hear Blue Swede’s “High on a Feeling.” I’d like to think John Prine is made of sterner stuff, but ultimately, what do we know about the guy? I love John Prine, and in the spirit of “no news is good news” I hope he’s recovering since he was moved out of intensive care. But I heard an interview in which John stuck to his story that he always had “this weird little smile”, and just decided to write a song about it. Somehow it just never occurred to him that the lyrics might suggest another interpretation. Now pull the other one. C’mon, there’s just no way in hell that a song about one’s peculiar, unique, idiosyncratic habit of smiling at things that don’t provoke smiles from Normals would inspire lyrics that just happen to perfectly capture the harmless euphoria experienced when using an illegal substance. Even though John doggedly sticks to this claim, I could practically hear the wink in John’s voice during that interview. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049/100 "2020-04-06T21:36:19Z")
The only thing ironic in Alanis Morrisette’s song is the title, but that seems lost on most of the people I hear misuse the word regularly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-been-misinterpreted/851049.md?page=6)