# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/81 "2006-06-12T14:47:19Z")
As long as it’s associated with Dolly and not that other woman who sang it, I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/82 "2006-06-12T16:10:21Z")
[QUOTE=labtrash] Aren’t most of ZZ Top & AC/DC songs just loaded with double entendre (sp?)? [/QUOTE] Yes. Pearl Necklace. The Jack. Big Balls. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/83 "2006-06-12T19:31:35Z")
I remember reading somewhere that Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” is actually about chicken chow mein and eggs that ended up next to eath other on Simon’s plate at a Chinese restaurant. (I don’t have a cite anymore, but I do remember that the quote came from Simon himself.). That’s one I never would have guessed in a million years. ---
**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 12, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/84 "2006-06-12T20:02:06Z")
Actually I was wondering about _Natural Woman_. I’ve always heard that it was about having a baby, but the lyrics are certainly ambigious. ---
**Author:** ![kurahee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f19dbf/32.png) [@kurahee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurahee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/85 "2006-06-13T00:25:35Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] Okay, I’ll tell you. It’s about sex and dominance. It’s not uncommon for persons in certain sorts of relationships to use such nicknames for one another, whether or not there’s an age difference between the partners that justifies it. A few years ago I had a girlfriend–ten years OLDER than me, by the way–who always called me “Daddy.” (She also, for some reason, programmed her cell phone to identify me as such when I called, which called her no little embarrassment one day when I called and her daughter saw the readout first. “Um, mom–isn’t grandpa DEAD?”) That said, I don’t think “Father Figure” is about a HETEROSEXUAL relationship, though. [/QUOTE] OK. I took a look at the lyrics again. And now I’m going to shower because I feel so disgusted. For example, I will be your father figure (oh baby) Put your tiny hand in mine (Id love to) **(why is it a tiny hand?)** I will be your preacher teacher (be your daddy) Anything you have in mind (it would make me) I will be your father figure (very happy) I have had enough of crime (please let me) **Pedophilia?** I will be the one who loves you Until the end of time Thats all I wanted But sometimes love can be mistaken for a crime **Could it be because he’s having sex with a child?** and So when you remember the ones who have lied Who said that they cared But then laughed as you cried Beautiful darling, dont think of me Because all I ever wanted Its in your eyes baby, baby And love cant lie, no… (greet me with the eyes of a child) **I think this is where he’s saying what he means** My love is always telling me so (heaven is a kiss and a smile) I have to say though, I didn’t get the homosexual vibe from it. But I’ve been wrong before. I’ve heard the “who’s your daddy?” stuff for a long time. I didn’t get the sex and dominance from this song. I get what you are saying, but to me he’s talking about having sex with someone very young. Perhaps a child’s first experience. Hetero or Homo, it’s just _wrong_. The dominate theme is just a by-product of the older pervert, younger child. I think. And now the damn song is stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/86 "2006-06-13T04:34:50Z")
[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? [/QUOTE] [Possession](http://www.lyrics007.com/Sarah%20McLachlan%20Lyrics/Posession%20Lyrics.html), actually. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/87 "2006-06-13T05:15:40Z")
I read somewhere that **One Night in Bangkok** is about an American chess tournament referee who goes out on the town the night before a big chess tournament in Bangkok, but decides not to partake in the prostitution there. Some lyrics: > [@](#): > > \ > The creme de la creme of the chess world > \ > > \ > \ > \ > \ > > \ > The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free > \ > \ > \ > > \ > \ > \ > > \ > > \ > \ > \ > \ > > THE AMERICAN: > > One town’s very like another > When your head’s down over your pieces, brother > > COMPANY: > > It’s a drag, it’s a bore, it’s really such a pity > To be looking at the board, not looking at the city > > \ > > THE AMERICAN: > > \ You’re talking to a tourist > Whose every move’s among the purest > I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine > > \ > > \ > \ > \ > \ > \ > > THE AMERICAN: > > Siam’s gonna be the witness > To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness > This grips me more than would a > Muddy old river or reclining Buddha > > And thank God I’m only watching the game – controlling it – > > I don’t see you guys rating > The kind of mate I’m contemplating > I’d let you watch, I would invite you > But the queens we use would not excite you > > So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage > parlours – > > \ > > \ > \ > \ > \ > > \ > \ > \ > \ ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/88 "2006-06-13T15:10:11Z")
[QUOTE=KSO] People use this as a wedding song. :eek: [/QUOTE] And “Better Man” by Pearl Jam: She lies and says she’s in love with him Can’t find a better man ---
**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 13, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/89 "2006-06-13T16:05:20Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] And “Better Man” by Pearl Jam: She lies and says she’s in love with him Can’t find a better man [/QUOTE] Shit - I was listening to that song yesterday and thinking how depressing it was. Then, with this thread in mind, I wondered if anyone had ever used it as a wedding song before. gah. ---
**Author:** ![notso\_clever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@notso\_clever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notso_clever)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/90 "2006-06-13T17:22:04Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] I remember reading somewhere that Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” is actually about chicken chow mein and eggs that ended up next to eath other on Simon’s plate at a Chinese restaurant. (I don’t have a cite anymore, but I do remember that the quote came from Simon himself.). That’s one I never would have guessed in a million years. [/QUOTE] From Snopes… (not really sure how to do the quotes box) "Whatever Simon may have been thinking when he crafted the lyrics, his inspiration for the song’s title was indeed an unusual one, as he explained in a 1972 Rolling Stone interview: Know where the words came from on that? You would never have guessed. I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called “Mother and Child Reunion.” It’s chicken and eggs. And I said, “Oh, I love that title. I gotta use that one.” Simon wasn’t pulling his interviewer’s leg – chicken-and-egg dishes known as “mother and child reunion” or “mother-daughter reunion” are not uncommon menu items at Chinese restaurants. According to the “New York Rock-N-Roll Trivia Map,” the specific eatery where Simon made this fortuitous culinary discovery was Say Eng Look Restaurant in New York City’s Chinatown district. " ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/91 "2006-06-13T20:14:32Z")
[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. Also, Barry Manilow didn’t write the song. More info [here](http://experts.about.com/q/Manilow-Barry-511/Barry-Manilow-Mandy-song-1.htm). [/QUOTE] He also didn’t write his signature tune, **I Write The Songs** ---
**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 13, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/92 "2006-06-13T21:06:29Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] He also didn’t write his signature tune, **I Write The Songs** [/QUOTE] Yeah, if what I’ve heard is correct, Bruce Johnston wrote it about fellow Beach Boy Brian Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960/93 "2006-06-14T23:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=Iyamity] I just read this morning before opening this thread, the Quinn the Eskimo was a cocaine dealer. The song makes a lot moe sense now. [/QUOTE] Dunno about that. Bob Dylan, who wrote the song, said this about it in the liner notes to _Biograph_: “Quinn the Eskimo, I don’t know. I don’t know what that was about. I guess it was some kind of nursery rhyme.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-like-theyre-about-one-thing-but-are-actually-about-something-else/359960.md?page=4)