# Songs that sound like they're about one thing, but are actually about something else. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960 "2006-06-08T21:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/21 "2006-06-09T01:39:30Z")
Many people believe (but it’s apparently [an Urban Legend](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/someair.htm)) that Phil Collins’s song **[In The Air Tonight](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/phil+collins/in+the+air+tonight_20108005.html)** is based on Phil’s witnessing a “Bad Samaritan” standing by and doing nothing while a friend of his drowned. > [@](#): > > Well, if you told me you were drowning, > I would not lend a hand > I’ve seen your face before my friend, > But I don’t know if you know who I am > Well I was there and I saw what you did > I saw it with my own two eyes… I like the story so much I still spread it. Just like the story about [why there is no Nobel Prize in Mathematics](http://www.snopes.com/science/nobel.htm), or that [the Chevy Nova sold poorly in Latin America due to its name](http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp). It _could_ be true, and arguably _should_ be true, and isn’t that the sort of can-do, why-not idealism and belief-above-rationality intensity this country was founded on? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/22 "2006-06-09T02:21:36Z")
Ted Nugent, Cat Scratch Fever: 1. I’m really passionate and horny for her. 2. She gave me VD. 3. There’s a real infection called cat scratch disease. (true, but that’s not where I’m putin’ my money) Everyone knows Lola’s a man, right? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/23 "2006-06-09T02:30:35Z")
> [@](#): > > According to Peter, Paul & Mary and snopes Puff the Magic Dragon has nothing to do with drugs. _You a pothead Focker?_ I was probably almost 20 before somebody told me how The Kinks **Lola** was about a transvestite. I’ve heard tell that Stone Temple Pilots’ **Plush** is about something rather gross… ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/24 "2006-06-09T02:31:00Z")
_Chelsea Hotel_ by Leonard Cohen is about Janis Joplin, which is sort of interesting, but not really in the spirit of my thread… ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/25 "2006-06-09T02:41:00Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Similarly REM’s [The One I Love](http://www.lyricwiki.org/REM:The_One_I_Love), which is definitely creepy if not more than a little obscure. [/QUOTE] I read an interview with Michael Stipe in which he said the song was about nothing. He said the line “A simple prop/ to occupy my time” explained the whole song. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/26 "2006-06-09T02:59:36Z")
**One Night in Bangkok** , which is about chess playing. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/27 "2006-06-09T03:32:40Z")
Well, “I Will Always Love You” sounds romantic, but it’s really a song about breaking up and going your separate ways. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/28 "2006-06-09T04:22:44Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] **One Night in Bangkok** , which is about chess playing. [/QUOTE] ..Are you sure? Its from the musical Chess (it was recorded as a single to help finance the musical production) and from what I understand it is exactly what it sounds like…I believe the chess tourney in the musical takes place in Bangkok. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/29 "2006-06-09T04:30:25Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] Before someone posts that Barry Manilow’s **Mandy** is about Barry Manilow’s dog, I’d like to point out that this is not the case. [/QUOTE] But the Martha in The Beatles’ “Martha My Dear” is Paul McCartney’s sheepdog. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/30 "2006-06-09T04:30:59Z")
What about “She Bop” or “Turning Japanese”? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/31 "2006-06-09T04:42:09Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] What about “She Bop” or “Turning Japanese”? [/QUOTE] Wacking off, of course. It always amuses me when they play these songs in family restaraunts. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/32 "2006-06-09T05:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] Wacking off, of course. It always amuses me when they play these songs in family restaraunts. [/QUOTE] There was a PBS multi-part documentary about Japan in the early 90’s that used _Turning Japanese_ throughout as their between-scenes music. And _Kyle’s Mom Is A Bitch, in D-major_ is **not** a song about days of the week, despite the fact that someone at NTV (Nippon Television) a few years back apparently thought it was perfect background music to announce the daily program schedules. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/33 "2006-06-09T05:06:41Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] Wacking off, of course. It always amuses me when they play these songs in family restaraunts. [/QUOTE] Now you’ve got me imagining Chuck E. Cheese and his band playing these. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/34 "2006-06-09T05:25:09Z")
I’m certain that the assertion that “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” is about venereal disease is a load of bollocks. In the 33 years since it came out, you’re the first person I’ve ever heard make that claim. Got a cite on that story? FTR, Randy Bachman wrote it originally as a lounge-type song, which Burton Cummings covered on one of his albums in exactly that style. The stuttering part is reference to Randy’s brother Gary, who stutters. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/35 "2006-06-09T05:39:46Z")
[QUOTE=tiltypig] Along the lines of “Every Breath You Take,” isn’t Sarah McLachlan’s “Sweet Surrender” also about a stalker? Specifically, written from the point of view of a man who was stalking her? I heard somewhere that some or all of The Magnetic Fields’ “Charm of the Highway Strip” songs are about vampires. For instance: > **[I Have the Moon Lyrics by The Magnetic Fields](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/the-magnetic-fields/i-have-the-moon.html)** > > I Have the Moon Lyrics by The Magnetic Fields at the Lyrics Depot My boyfriend tells me “Cracklin’ Rosie” is “obviously” about wine. I had no idea, and sulked for a while because I didn’t think it was obvious at all. [/QUOTE] I was all ready to point and laugh at your boyfriend, then provide a cite to show that the wine was introduced by some plonk-marketing outfit in the '70’s but I found [this page, instead](http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/newsletter.asp?newsletterId=2&articleId=4). > [@excerpted from an interview on the linked page](#): > > So what is the story behind “Cracklin’ Rosie”? > > Diamond: “Cracklin’ Rosie” was based on a folk story I heard when I was touring in Canada. I was told a story of a group of native Canadians on a reservation there, and on that particular reservation there were many more men than there were women. Those men that were left out in the cold and didn’t have a girlfriend to spend the weekend with would share it with a bottle of very inexpensive wine called Cracklin’ Rose. That bottle of wine became their woman for the weekend, and they actually called that woman Cracklin’ Rosie. Not exactlly what I’d call obvious, but interesting, nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/36 "2006-06-09T05:43:49Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] I’m certain that the assertion that “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” is about venereal disease is a load of bollocks. In the 33 years since it came out, you’re the first person I’ve ever heard make that claim. Got a cite on that story? . [/QUOTE] Obviously if I had a cite I would have provided it. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/37 "2006-06-09T07:08:41Z")
[QUOTE=kurahee] Can anyone out there tell me that George Michael’s \*Father Figure \* is NOT about pedophilia? That song just skeeves me. [/QUOTE] This is just a WAG, really, but I never took it to be about pedophilia. I see what you’re getting at, but I always thought it was more of a “I’m your first-” song about a guy introducing another guy (possibly younger) to homosexuality. But that’s just me, I just didn’t take it to be so literal. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/38 "2006-06-09T07:10:58Z")
[QUOTE=Hail Ants] I’ve heard tell that Stone Temple Pilots’ **Plush** is about something rather gross… [/QUOTE] Umm, could you elaborate on that? I’ve always suspected it had something to do with a murder, or at least a girl dying. Also, I’ll add to the list The Beatles’ _Helter Skelter_, which isn’t about armageddon no matter what Charles Manson says – it’s a British term for a playground slide, and the lyrics don’t mean much of anything. Then of course there’s Chuck Berry’s _My Ding-A-Ling_, a perfectly innocent song which has been wildly misinterpreted over the years by people with dirty minds. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/39 "2006-06-09T07:42:46Z")
**Jim Stafford** ’s _My Girl Bill_ is intentionally misleading. As it starts, you think it’s actually about a gay love affair: Bill walked me to my door last night And he said, 'Before I go There’s something about our love affair That I have a right to know I said, “Let’s not stand out here like this What would the neighbors think Why don’t we just…step inside And I’ll fix us both a drink” It goes on in an increasingly misleading way, until the last verse it becomes clear that Bill isn’t ‘my girl’, but that the discussion is about how they both want the same woman, but she’s “My girl, Bill”. It’s actually done pretty cleverly, but it’s no “Cows with Guns”. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/40 "2006-06-09T07:48:35Z")
Kiss the Frog from Peter Gabriel. On the surface, a song about the Princess and the Frog. But, really, a song about a guy pleading for a blowjob. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960.md?page=3)