# Songs that were better when you didn't know the lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206 "2005-10-07T15:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/21 "2005-11-16T13:51:04Z")
Men At Work’s “Land Down Under”. What I heard: “Buying bread from a man in Brussels He was six foot four and full of muscles I said, “Do you speak-a my language?” He just smiled and gave me a _bit of my_ sandwich” I really liked that verse for its imagery and jokiness. Then I found out that it was actually “vegetime sandwich”, which seemed so obvious and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/22 "2005-11-16T14:44:50Z")
> [@priapus](#): > > I always thought he said,“There’s a bathroom on the rise” I thought the song was about a toilet overflowing I heard “bathroom on the right” ie he was giving directions to someone that needs to pee. Of course, this is an example of a song that got _better_ when I found the real lyrics. songs that got worse : I always thought that Queen sang : “goodbye eyerybody, I’ve got to go, gotta leave you all behind and fade away” The consesnsus of lyrics sites is that he actually has to “face the truth.” I prefer mine. What truth does he have to face, exactly? Face the music, perhaps, face the truth, no. A case of misunderstood lyrics, rather than misheard. My skister likes The Kinks and played _Lola_ a lot. She thought it was about a young man being seduced by an older woman. She was not happy when I explained what it’s really about. ---
**Author:** ![Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/23 "2005-11-16T15:00:59Z")
In _Gold Dust Woman_, by Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nick sings: _Rulers make bad lovers_. As a kid, however, I heard that line as: _True loves make bad lovers_. I guess I got cynical young. 🙂 It doesn’t ruin the song for me, but I still like my version better. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/24 "2005-11-16T15:12:49Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > - there is **The Scientist** by Coldplay, with the “I’ll take you back to the start”, which I originally heard as _stars_, which I thought was just much more romantic and imaginative than _start_. I read the thread title, and this is EXACTLY what I was going to post! I can’t believe that it was the first friggin’ thing that you wrote. I was going to include the “much more romantic” comment as well. “Take me back to the stars” is so much better because it alludes to a relationship going stale over time, and someone wanting to bring it back to the time when it was magical and cosmic. I always imagined a new couple lying in a field somewhere gazing at the stars. Several years later, they’re married, constantly fighting, with kids screaming in the background, and are just sick of each other. That’s when they remember their time under the stars. And then I read the lyrics and the song just becomes so blah! ---
**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:** [November 16, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/25 "2005-11-16T16:04:49Z")
Into the Night, Benny Mardone. “She’s just sixteen years old, leave her alone, they said…” Ew. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/26 "2005-11-16T16:39:17Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > Men At Work’s “Land Down Under”. > > What I heard: > “Buying bread from a man in Brussels > He was six foot four and full of muscles > I said, “Do you speak-a my language?” > He just smiled and gave me a _bit of my_ sandwich” > > I really liked that verse for its imagery and jokiness. Then I found out that it was actually “vegetime sandwich”, which seemed so obvious and stupid. I heard it just the same. The image of a big pissed off Belgian going over to an annoying Aussie and just feeding him some of his own food to shut him up was definately better than the image of a friendly Belgian making a vegimite sandwich for the Aussie just to be nice. Much of Bjorks lyrics though not bad are rather more ‘R’ rated than you might expect when you get to understand them. Felt a bit bad buying an album of hers for my dad when I finally realised how much oral sex refferences were in the songs. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/27 "2005-11-16T19:21:28Z")
The aria _O Mio Babbino Caro_. It’s from the opera _Gianni Schicchi_, by Puccini. You’ve heard it, even if you’re not a classical/opera lover, because it’s been used in tons of movies and commercials. The lyrics (swiped from the web) are > [@](#): > > Oh dear daddy > I love him, he is so handsome > I want to go to Porta Rossa > to buy the ring The Porta Rossa is a marketplace in Florence. The Ponte Vecchio is a bridge lined with jewelry shops, also in Florence, and spans the Arno River. Just in case you were wondering. It’s still a stunningly beautiful piece of music, but as poetry – well, it sucks. Maybe it comes off better in Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/28 "2005-11-16T19:28:55Z")
_Prison Sex_ by Tool. It was a much better song when I didn’t know that it was actually about it. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/29 "2005-11-16T19:39:08Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > _Prison Sex_ by Tool. It was a much better song when I didn’t know that it was actually about it. Ditto, the imagery is just to graphic for me to curl my lip and shout “this rawks, dude!” to anymore. Much of Tori Amos’ music is the same. What seems like beautiful bubbly catchy pop songs are really horribly depressing once you read the lyrics. And from the opposite spectrum, Creed sound like great angsty, rebellious rock on the surface. But upon reading all of the “god, faith, hope, joy, isn’t childbirth wonderful” celebration, all of the edginess and appeal disappeared for me. I seek some middleground between total despair and pure cleanliness in my music. No extremes please. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/30 "2005-11-16T19:50:09Z")
Blue Oyster Cult’s _Don’t Fear the Reaper_. Actual Lyircs (courtesy of some lyrics fansite): > [@](#): > > All our times have come > Here but now they’re gone > Seasons don’t fear the reaper > Nor do the wind and the sun and the rain But for some reason I though they were singing “come on, _Mary_,”…as in Mary. Mother of Jesus. I also thought the chorus was “40,000 men _win_ every day,”…as in win their way into heaven; die, but rise again. Given those two misunderstandings, I built the song up in my head to be about Jesus reappearing to Mary outside the Sepulcher after three days had passed and the stone had been rolled aside (“The door was open and the wind appeared…”). I wasn’t religious, but I thought it was pretty cool to have a whole rock song about that sort of obscure but particularly poignant moment from Christian theology: the Mother seeing her dead Son, knowing He is risen again, but still lost to her as a child…but then Jesus offers His hand and says “you can fly too”: _redemption!_ Then I found out it was just teen Goth nihilisim and suicide-glamorization. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/31 "2005-11-16T23:24:36Z")
Speaking of Coldplay, I was rather disappointed when I really listened to _Speed of Sound_’s lyrics. I mean, if birds _could_ fly at the speed of sound … they’d be friggin deadly! ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/32 "2005-11-16T23:41:52Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Blue Oyster Cult’s _Don’t Fear the Reaper_. > > Actual Lyircs (courtesy of some lyrics fansite): > > But for some reason I though they were singing “come on, _Mary_,”…as in Mary. Mother of Jesus. I also thought the chorus was “40,000 men _win_ every day,”…as in win their way into heaven; die, but rise again. > > Given those two misunderstandings, I built the song up in my head to be about Jesus reappearing to Mary outside the Sepulcher after three days had passed and the stone had been rolled aside (“The door was open and the wind appeared…”). > > I wasn’t religious, but I thought it was pretty cool to have a whole rock song about that sort of obscure but particularly poignant moment from Christian theology: the Mother seeing her dead Son, knowing He is risen again, but still lost to her as a child…but then Jesus offers His hand and says “you can fly too”: _redemption!_ > > Then I found out it was just teen Goth nihilisim and suicide-glamorization. > > Sailboat and it needs more cowbell ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/33 "2005-11-16T23:43:32Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > _Prison Sex_ by Tool. It was a much better song when I didn’t know that it was actually about it. Is _Prison Sex_ actually about something worse than prison sex? Because I thought it was about prison sex and it seemed pretty dark just being about that. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/34 "2005-11-17T03:08:47Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > Is _Prison Sex_ actually about something worse than prison sex? Because I thought it was about prison sex and it seemed pretty dark just being about that. It’s also got something to do with the cycle of child molestation, as referenced in the line “do unto others what has been done to you.” ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/35 "2005-11-17T03:10:57Z")
Moderator interrupts with some exasperation: Ladies and Gentlemen, PLEASE, please, please, do NOT quote the entire lyrics of a song. This is a violation of our rules, both of the Message Board and the Forum. See [url=“[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601)”]Forum Rules[/ulr] and note Post #2. If you’ve found another website that (presumably) has permission to post the lyrics, then provide a link. OK? [sub]I’m getting tired of having to read every bleedin’ music thread to find people abusing the copyhright rules.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/36 "2005-11-17T06:37:36Z")
Spirit of America - The Beach Boys I should have guessed this was about a car. I always liked it because I thought it had a catchy sound and described the deep, spiritual roots of America. Well, after I listened more closely (which must have been dozens of times later), I thought to myself, “Wow, they’re singing about a stupid rocket car.” Now, this may not be bad if I had known from the beginning, but it seems so trivial after my original presumption. I can no longer listen to this song. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/37 "2005-11-17T07:20:42Z")
“Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen. When I first heard it, I was about 8 or 9 and I was simply fascinated by the liquid harmonies. Didn’t much care what they were singing, really. I didn’t even recognize the title when later I bought the CD for “Jazz.” ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/38 "2005-11-17T14:27:45Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > I heard it just the same. The image of a big pissed off Belgian going over to an annoying Aussie and just feeding him some of his own food to shut him up was definately better than the image of a friendly Belgian making a vegimite sandwich for the Aussie just to be nice. Would it make you feel better to know that you’re still misunderstanding it? The song is about an Australian guy who is traveling all over the world, looking for exotic places and people, and much to his dismay, he keeps meeting other Australians all over the place. He thinks he’s talking to an authentic Belgian he-man baker, and it turns out that the Belgian guy is really Australian. Why else would he have Vegemite? So our narrator went looking for something different, and got handed the same old Vegemite sandwich. When he’s in a “den in Bombay,” he mentions to the Indian proprietor that he’s from the “land of plenty.” And it turns out the Indian guy is really an Australian. So instead of being in this really exotic place, he’s just hanging out with yet another Australian. I’m not sure what the song is commenting on. Maybe that Australians travel a lot? But I rather like it. I think we all know the feeling of looking for something different, and just finding the same old stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/39 "2005-11-17T14:52:09Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Moderator interrupts with some exasperation: > > Ladies and Gentlemen, > PLEASE, please, please, do NOT quote the entire lyrics of a song. This is a violation of our rules, both of the Message Board and the Forum. See [url=“[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601)”]Forum Rules[/ulr] and note Post #2. > > If you’ve found another website that (presumably) has permission to post the lyrics, then provide a link. > > OK? > > [sub]I’m getting tired of having to read every bleedin’ music thread to find people abusing the copyhright rules.[/sub] Sorry. Thought that opera lyrics were public domain and therefore exempt. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206/40 "2005-11-17T15:57:29Z")
Song I only heard a few times, years ago. Don’t know who the singer is, or even the title for sure so we’re safe from me looking up all the lyrics. 😃 Anyway, I was going through a bad spell in life. Various upsets/arguments/relationships breaking up. And I heard this song on the radio that just seemed to fit my mood. Didn’t catch all the words, but the constant mention of a ‘house of stone and lies’ was just perfect. Yup, my house was cold as stone and full of lies, all right. And then one day it came on the radio when I was actually paying attention. Oh. “House of stone and LIGHT” Apparently about some sort of native-american-ish religious ecstasy/finding your true path. My bitter song was actually hopeful and uplifting. Nevermind. \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-were-better-when-you-didnt-know-the-lyrics/325206.md?page=3)