# Songs where the meaning is completely obvious **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 14, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683 "2021-08-14T21:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [August 16, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/61 "2021-08-16T19:41:04Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > “Peaches”, I think the band just like peaches a lot: While the Stranglers meant something, well, very different. Though the song itself is very obvious and thus a good example for this thread: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuT5KUA7iaY/hqdefault.jpg "The Stranglers - Peaches") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuT5KUA7iaY) ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/62 "2021-08-16T20:59:07Z")
> **[Ebeneezer Goode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebeneezer_Goode)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > "Ebeneezer Goode" is a song by Scottish electronic music group the Shamen which, heavily remixed by the Beatmasters, became their biggest hit when released as a single on 24 August 1992. The group's original version featured on the vinyl edition of their fifth album, Boss Drum. > "Ebeneezer Goode" was one of the most controversial UK number-one hits of the 1990s due to its perceived oblique endorsement of recreational drug use, and it was initially... …was a UK number one single boisterously praising Ecstasy; though as was presumably also the case with BBC bigwigs at the time, the drug references went over my fifteen-year-old head when it came out. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/63 "2021-08-16T22:55:52Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > “Peaches”, I think the band just like peaches a lot: But don’t know much about agriculture. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/64 "2021-08-17T06:49:04Z")
Well, I don’t think they knew much about music, either. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/65 "2021-08-17T07:13:28Z")
My nomination is T-Bone by Neil Young. The only lyrics are: > Got mashed potatoes > Ain’t got no T-Bone I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the lyrics mean he had mashed potatoes but no T-Bone\*. \*[_Which naturally was code for him having mescaline but no nitrous oxide]_ > [@Superdude](#): > > There’s no real subtlety in the Divinyls’ _I Touch Myself_ Particularly when Chrissie Amphlett had a stage act to suit. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Show me. [Show how the lyrics secretly mean drugs.](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/peterpaulandmary/puffthemagicdragon.html) I’ll wait. It’s easy. All the nouns are euphemisms for drugs and all the verbs are euphemisms for taking drugs. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/66 "2021-08-17T14:05:44Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the lyrics mean he had mashed potatoes but no T-Bone\*. Are you sure it’s not about fear of emasculation? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/67 "2021-08-17T14:54:32Z")
Actually you could be right. Although according to my High School English teachers it is probably about alienation. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/68 "2021-08-17T18:04:12Z")
“Puff” was written as a poem in 1959 by Lenny Lipton, set to music by Peter Yarrow. Whether Peter, Paul or Mary were drug users I don’t know, but they had nothing to do with the words. Lenny Lipton also wrote a book, _Independent Film Making_, that every film student in the 80s got to know. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/69 "2021-08-17T18:10:01Z")
Kelis’ Caught Out There about her cheating man with the chorus I. . . HATE YOU. . .SO MUCH. . . RIGHT NOW! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/N3JFwd1bk4Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Kelis - Caught Out There") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3JFwd1bk4Q) ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/70 "2021-08-17T18:16:36Z")
SEX DRUGS ROCK & ROLL Let’s Get It On - Marvin Gaye [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CoOXbP7hmc0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC6AKKAgwIABABGGUgVChTMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDi1cDJJIWlHFX4Uv0BZXs93bzgRg "MARVIN GAYE (1973) - Let's Get It On") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoOXbP7hmc0) Cocaine (the other one) - Jackson Browne [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KfkKaiFiWv0/maxresdefault.jpg "Jackson Browne- Cocaine 1977") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfkKaiFiWv0) I Love Rock & Roll (couldn’t decide between the two) The Arrows (1975 original) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8AT_Pbtyid0/hqdefault.jpg "Arrows, I Love Rock N Roll, Alan Merrill") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AT_Pbtyid0) Joan Jett and The Sex Pistols (Jones and Cook - 1979) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SyFmvSiSQzQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Joan Jett and The Sex Pistols - I Love Rock N' Roll (Early Version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyFmvSiSQzQ) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/71 "2021-08-17T18:18:07Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > _American Woman_ - Guess Who How is that an anti-Vietnam war song? [You’re Breaking My Heart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-kjUWcr7d4) by Harry Nilsson ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/72 "2021-08-17T18:23:42Z")
_“I don’t need your war machines”_, A clear reference to Vietnam _Speaking with Songfacts, Randy Bachman called “American Woman” an “antiwar protest song,” explaining that when they came up with it on stage, both the band and the audience had a problem with the Vietnam War. Said Bachman: “We had been touring the States. This was the late '60s, they tried to draft us, send us to Vietnam. We were back in Canada, playing in the safety of Canada where the dance is full of draft dodgers who’ve all left the States.”_ Source: [https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-guess-who/american-woman](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-guess-who/american-woman) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/73 "2021-08-17T18:27:43Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > American Woman The popular misconception was that it was a chauvinistic tune, which was anything but the case. The fact was, we came from a very strait-laced, conservative, laid-back country, and all of a sudden, there we were in Chicago, Detroit, New York – all these horrendously large places with their big city problems. After that one particularly grinding tour, it was just a real treat to go home and see the girls we had grown up with. Also, the war was going on, and that was terribly unpopular. We didn’t have a draft system in Canada, and we were grateful for that. A lot of people called it anti-American, but it wasn’t really. We weren’t anti-anything. [John Lennon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon) once said that the meanings of all songs come after they are recorded. Someone else has to interpret them.[[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Woman#cite_note-superseventies.com-10) The song’s lyrics have been the matter of debate, often interpreted as an attack on U.S. politics (especially the [draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription)). Cummings, who composed the lyrics, said in 2013 that they had nothing to do with politics. “What was on my mind was that girls in the States seemed to get older quicker than our girls and that made them, well, dangerous. When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you.’ It was all a happy accident.” Both from Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/74 "2021-08-17T18:32:00Z")
I read that quote at Songfacts. Doesn’t explain _I don’t need your war machines,_ _I don’t need your ghetto scenes_ if it was just preference for Canadian women. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/75 "2021-08-17T18:33:43Z")
Surely the finest example of clear and concise messaging with no subtext. Ice T: Lets Get Butt Naked and F\*ck (NSFW obviously) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5MX1leC30b0/hqdefault.jpg "Ice-T- Girls L.G.B.N.A.F.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MX1leC30b0) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/76 "2021-08-17T18:34:39Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I read that quote at Songfacts. Doesn’t explain _I don’t need your war machines,_ > _I don’t need your ghetto scenes_ if it was just preference for Canadian women. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you.’ Bachman was quoted saying that exact sentiment in, I believe, the 52 hour History of Rock and Roll radio special from the1970s. I didn’t believe him then, either. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/77 "2021-08-17T18:44:49Z")
If it’s an anti war song, it’s the weakest anti war song ever. Occam’s razor, a song that’s about big city American women being more worldly than a small town Canadian band was used to makes more sense. It’s not like anti war songs needed to be so subtle that you could only put two lines in a song. And why make an anti war song about women? Since we now have 3 of the original band members saying it was about American women, I think I’ll take their word for it. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/78 "2021-08-17T18:46:14Z")
Women - Foreigner [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gY0Sy784S7k/maxresdefault.jpg "Women") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0Sy784S7k) ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/79 "2021-08-17T18:56:21Z")
And yet, Bachman explains it here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtRR61tklU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtRR61tklU). Lyrics are indeed open to interpretation, but the message is clear. Even at 10, in 1970, I heard the anger in the song and knew it was about Vietnam. Yes, even at 10, I questioned why we were fighting in a faraway place, against people that looked like me, and why men were dying on the TV news every night. Edit: American Woman is the Statue of Liberty ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683/80 "2021-08-17T18:57:27Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Since we now have 3 of the original band members saying it was about American women, I think I’ll take their word for it. Let me clarify my position: I didn’t mean to argue it was an anti war song. My disbelief in Bachman’s explaination is that he said that it "isn’t anti-American women, instead it is pro-Canadian women ". I think he’s lying: I think it IS an anti-American song, but that he’s hiding it behind the skirts (as it were) of American women. “War machines and ghetto scenes” and colored lights that hypnotize have nothing at all to do with the undesirability of American _women_. I think it is an anti-American song, and, at the time, I could see his point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-meaning-is-completely-obvious/948683.md?page=5)