# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/61 "2026-01-22T21:37:15Z")
Well, yeah, but. . . you’d never get that from the lyrics, which could just as easily be construed as someone upset over a lost love, and A Taste of Honey’s version, while not resembling a translation, does echo that interpretation. ---
**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, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/62 "2026-01-22T23:32:08Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I am not sure what people mean when they say “Born in the USA” is not _patriotic_ song. Really? I think to be considered patriotic, a song should say something at least remotely positive about a country. If all I had to go on was the lyrics in this song, I certainly wouldn’t want to live in the country he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/63 "2026-01-22T23:42:41Z")
I heard Happy Together was written in response to studio execs wanting them to write a love song. So basically it was sarcasm, written with the most banal lyrics possible, and intentionally low-effort. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/64 "2026-01-23T00:38:47Z")
No, that was their follow-up, “Eleanor.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/65 "2026-01-23T01:38:16Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I heard Happy Together was written in response to studio execs wanting them to write a love song. So basically it was sarcasm, written with the most banal lyrics possible, and intentionally low-effort. I believe you may be thinking of “Elenore.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/66 "2026-01-23T01:41:09Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I am not sure what people mean when they say “Born in the USA” is not _patriotic_ song. " > [@markn\_1](#): > > I think to be considered patriotic, a song should say something at least remotely positive about a country. If all I had to go on was the lyrics in this song, I certainly wouldn’t want to live in the country he’s talking about. Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Sent me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man" Right. Oh, and having lived there- Crow’s song “All I Wanna do” - “Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard”- which is doesnt. The sun goes _down_ over Santa Monica Blvd. The sun comes UP over the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/67 "2026-01-23T01:41:48Z")
Didn’t see RealityChuck’s post. As I remember it, the Turtles followed “Happy Together” with “Sound Asleep” which didn’t do well in the charts, hence the suits pressured the T’s to do something more commercial. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/68 "2026-01-23T01:51:34Z")
I never really listened to Born in the USA. The chorus is so strong. Yeah, baby I was born in the USA. 💪 I was aware the guy was a Veteran. Same as my dad and his brother. All positive stuff. I only heard Born USA on the car radio and was busy driving the car. I’ve never owned any Springsteen records. I never got into Bruce. I didn’t dislike his stuff. It just didn’t appeal to me. I’m actually glad that I didn’t know the verses. It would have ruined my connection with a hit song. Doesn’t matter now. It’s been decades since I heard Bruce Springsteen. I watched today on YouTube because of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/69 "2026-01-23T02:16:03Z")
Finally found the woman who starts singing along with classic songs, and it finally dawns on her what the lyrics are saying. Her DUBIOUS expression is priceless… First one I saw was “Your Love” by the Outfield, which I already knew was iffy, but she has a lot of others. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cWt6mzZH8OM/maxresdefault.jpg "Josie left town and so did his loyalty #lyrics #80s #80smusic #millennials #viralshort #millennials") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt6mzZH8OM) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/70 "2026-01-23T02:45:21Z")
There are people who claim that The Beatles’ song _Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds_ is about LSD. John Lennon insisted that it wasn’t. He said that it was inspired by a drawing by his son Julian. Like a lot of the songs we’re discussing here, there’s no single interpretation of it. Play a song because you like playing it or sing it because you like singing it. Who cares about the interpretation of it? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/71 "2026-01-23T03:06:15Z")
Greek singer-songwriter Dionysis Savvopoulos, who just died, was jailed by the Greek military junta after the coup of 1967. He spent the time behind bars writing songs for his next album, _To Perivoli tou trellou_ (the fool’s garden). “Aunt Maro” was the disguised name of an older leftist activist who visited the jailed dissidents to keep their spirits up; she would bring them halva. “The Last Time I Saw Anna” sounds like a lament for a lost love, but his real meaning was he missed his old anarchist friends. “Ode to G. Karaïskakis” was written in honor of Che Guevara, but titled with the name of a hero from the Greek war of independence to avoid the censor. Artists under repressive régimes often have to hide their political critiques within more innocuous-sounding works. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ov7Xo290Jts/maxresdefault.jpg "Διονυσης Σαββόπουλος Το Περιβόλι Του Τρελλού") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov7Xo290Jts) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/72 "2026-01-23T03:39:13Z")
That line “You’re gonna make some plastic surgeon a rich man” doesn’t imply anything flirtatious to me. I had no idea it was based on something THAT bad, however. ---
**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 23, 2026, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/73 "2026-01-23T03:42:37Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That line “You’re gonna make some plastic surgeon a rich man” doesn’t imply anything flirtatious to me. Yeah, that particular line stands out. Some of the others don’t sound quite so damning, until you know the actual story. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/74 "2026-01-23T03:59:08Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Who cares about the interpretation of it? We are not talking about interpretations here, We are talking about songs, which in most cases have a catchy chorus, but whose actual lyrics are quite the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/75 "2026-01-23T04:11:21Z")
Here is one that is fairly small-scale because Josh Ritter isn’t that big of a singer-songwriter (should be). He has a song called _The Curse_. It’s a mummy love song (really). I listened to it so many times and thought the story was that the mummy doesn’t die and his lover was just growing old. I live in the land of J Ritter fans and I was talking to one and they said “no way, the mummy is sucking her dry…stealing her life”. I then listened again, read the lyrics and it blew my mind. I still don’t know exactly what to think. Also, I searched and see there is a short-lived thread here from 2012 about this song. Josh Ritter has some amazing songs. Love him. I’m also a sucker for modern day songs built on a waltz rhythm like _The Curse_. Probably why I love Willie’s albums _Teatro_ and _Spirit_. Such good albums. Listen to _Too Sick to Pray_. Most of these are songs that can bring a tear to my eyes. > **["The Curse" by Josh Ritter (Video by Liam Hurley)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxWxiuJRApU%2F)** > > Puppeteer extraordinaire Liam Hurley (of The Royal City Band) conceived, directed and produced this mesmerizing vision set to Josh Ritter's song "The Curse."... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/76 "2026-01-23T14:37:53Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Ol’ 55 by Tom Wais confuses everyone. > > […] > > Google says. Funeral. Wow, speak of the very point of this thread, if it _ **is** _ true that Ol’ 55 is about a funeral, that’s a new one on me. I always took it as a happy, life-affirming song about driving home after gettin’ laid: _As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy_ _God knows I was feeling alive_ _…_ _Just a-wishing I’d stayed a little longer_ _Oh Lord, let me tell you that the feeling’s getting stronger_ _…_ _I’m on my way home from your place_ In fact, I think I will continue to believe that, possible intended meaning be damned 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/77 "2026-01-23T14:49:38Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Foster the People’s “pumped up kicks” sounds like a catchy pop song, about a school shooter. According to lead singer Mark Foster, the song is actually based on his dad’s gripes about fashion trends. Like “you gonna come around here with your pumped-up kicks, you better be faster than my bullet.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/78 "2026-01-25T14:08:35Z")
> [@solost](#): > > And then there are several songs that sound like romantic love songs, but are actually odes to beloved dogs. Barry Manilow’s song ‘Mandy’ being about a dog is supposedly an urban legend, but the Beatles’ ‘Martha My Dear’ and Led Zeppelin’s ‘Bron-Y-Aur Stomp’ are actually about dogs. “My Pal Foot Foot” by the Shaggs could pass for a love song (“I want you to come home with me”), but it’s actually about a cat. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/79 "2026-01-25T16:42:32Z")
> [@solost](#): > > _And then there are several songs that sound like romantic love songs, but are actually odes to beloved dogs._ One that was a big hit in 1976 was “Shannon” by Henry Gross. The song was about the death of Beach Boy Carl Wilson’s dog. I was an AM Top 40 DJ at the time and played it many, many times. Everyone assumed it was about a person, but the lyrics are somewhat ambiguous. Once you know it’s about a dog, you say “oh, of course, that makes more sense.” That’s one of those songs that was forever dropped and never played again as an “Oldie” after it left the charts. It was too much of a downer, no matter what it was about. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905/80 "2026-01-25T17:01:05Z")
“When you’re in love with a beautiful woman” by Dr Hook sounds like a love song from a guy who has a lovely lady. In reality the guy is miserable. He distrusts her, he’s paranoid, he’s suspicious of his friends. He’s very unhappy and that relationship is doomed to failure because of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-on-the-surface-sound-one-way-but-are-actually-not/1026905.md?page=3)