# Songs that on the surface sound one way, but are actually not **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 22, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905 "2026-01-22T01:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/1 "2026-01-22T01:19:47Z")
Of course we all know that Born in the USA- often thought as a paean to American patriotism is anything but. But I was listening to Crow’s song “All I Wanna do” with the great chorus of 'Cause all I wanna do is have some fun I got a feeling I’m not the only one…" But if you listen closely or read the lyrics, the idea of “fun” is getting buzzed on beer early in the morning and peeling the labels from beer bottles. wow. I mean, I guess that _could_ be “fun” if we use Mark Twain’s “Fun? yes, but of a mild sort.”. I am sure that are more so SDMBers? (PS, i didnt put the “beer” tag on this, where did that come from?) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/2 "2026-01-22T01:32:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > (PS, i didnt put the “beer” tag on this, where did that come from?) Auto-tagging is a feature of Discourse. Which the Mods have enabled for some tags. Use the word “beer”? Get the beer tag. Use the word “trump”? Get the trump tag. etc. As OP you can edit those if you notice soon enough. Otherwise ask a mod to fix it. My actual contribution to the thread … Lotta “romantic” songs of the 1970s are actually creepy stalker cringe. Limit case being this one-hit wonder: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iTRaRQQGOVY/hqdefault.jpg "Benny Mardones - Into the Night") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTRaRQQGOVY) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/3 "2026-01-22T01:37:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Lotta “romantic” songs of the 1970s are actually creepy stalker cringe. Limit case being this one-hit wonder: I see where you get that, but it is not as clear cut as the two examples I gave. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/4 "2026-01-22T01:44:09Z")
He’s ~35, creepy-looking, been drinking, she’s 16 and pretty chaste-looking and he wants to take her out and show her “a love like you’ve never seen” and that’s not clear cut? I’m no prude; I was in the sex biz. But that was pedophile stalker central. In fact he wrote it at age ~35 inspired by a 16yo neighbor kid. That was #11 of the Top 40 in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/5 "2026-01-22T02:12:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He’s ~35, creepy-looking, been drinking, she’s 16 and pretty chaste-looking and he wants to take her out and show her “a love like you’ve never seen” and that’s not clear cut? Sure, but the lyrics dont show that. The artist is that old, but how old is the protagonist? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/6 "2026-01-22T03:36:58Z")
Queen’s, “‘39,” seems to be a folky-type tune about a sailing expedition (maybe, 200-300 years ago?) but it’s really space exploration and FTL travel that bites the protagonist in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/7 "2026-01-22T04:02:59Z")
Always struck me as a little amusing that Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” is treated like a party song when it’s the increasingly depressing account of some dude’s alcoholism. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/8 "2026-01-22T04:04:51Z")
That is a good one. But he is finally admitting the break up was his fault, so maybe… ---
**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:** [January 22, 2026, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/9 "2026-01-22T04:34:14Z")
“Hey Ya” by Outkast is a commonly cited example of this. The song has a catchy beat and a bouncing video. But the actual lyrics are about how relationships never last and breakups are inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/10 "2026-01-22T05:22:18Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Queen’s, “‘39,” seems to be a folky-type tune about a sailing expedition (maybe, 200-300 years ago?) but it’s really space exploration and FTL travel that bites the protagonist in the ass. Technical note: not FTL travel, but sublight travel at a high enough speed that the crew experiences the effects of special relativity, and ages far more slowly than the people whom they had left behind on Earth. Brian May, who wrote and sang lead on the song, is an astrophysicist as well as guitarist. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/11 "2026-01-22T05:47:28Z")
“One Tin Soldier” sounds kind of like a generic folk song suitable for kids to sing (we sang it in grade school music class, for instance), but the lyrics say that you might as well lie, cheat and murder because there’s no god to punish you. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2026, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/12 "2026-01-22T06:10:44Z")
R.E.M.'S “The One I Love” sounds like a love song from the title, but the line “a simple prop to occupy my time” makes it clear that it’s clearly not, but a song about emotional abuse. I heard that people pick it as a wedding song… ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/13 "2026-01-22T06:19:38Z")
‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police is another classic. Love song? Nope… it’s a stalker’s warning. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/14 "2026-01-22T06:19:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “Hey Ya” by Outkast is a commonly cited example of this. Cool Video tho. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police is another classic. Love song? Nope… it’s a stalker’s warning. Right. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/15 "2026-01-22T06:27:35Z")
Some people who don’t listen to the lyrics carefully think that Leonard Cohen’s _Hallelujah_ is a religious song. The Rolling Stones’ _Paint It Black_ sounds like a rollicking raga rock dance tune, while the lyrics are about soul-crushing grief and depression. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/16 "2026-01-22T06:28:34Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I heard that people pick it as a wedding song… Same thing with Pearl Jam’s _Better Man_, a song about an abusive partner. Some people really don’t listen to lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/17 "2026-01-22T06:50:56Z")
The Kink’s Lola. Double entendre about physically falling in love with a transvestite or transexual, but one needs to listen closely to the lyrics to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/18 "2026-01-22T07:02:52Z")
My own favorite song on this list is Extreme’s “More Than Words.” It’s not appropriate for weddings, either. Heart’s “All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You” would have been an atrocious concept at any time, but at the height of the AIDS crisis, when the disease was still a death sentence, yeah, picking up a guy off the street for anonymous sex (and procreation) is grotesque. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/19 "2026-01-22T07:16:26Z")
Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” is, at first blush, a song about sex – after all, one of the lyrics is “I want to f\*\*\* you like an animal.” However, a closer read/listen to the lyrics shows that, as Trent Reznor has said, it’s really about obsession and self-loathing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/20 "2026-01-22T07:43:17Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > “One Tin Soldier” sounds kind of like a generic folk song suitable for kids to sing (we sang it in grade school music class, for instance), but the lyrics say that you might as well lie, cheat and murder because there’s no god to punish you …Come again? It’s an **anti** -war song. The point is that lying, cheating, and murdering “in the name of heaven” is **wrong**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905.md?page=2)