# Songs you didn't "get" as a kid **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775 "2010-04-20T18:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/21 "2010-04-20T21:40:10Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > I had some confusion over “Lola”, by the Kinks when I was a wee young boy. > > When Ray Davies sings _“…I’m glad I’m a man and so’s Lola”_, I wasn’t sure if he meant that A: Ray is glad that he is a man, and Lola is ALSO glad that Ray is a man, or B: Ray is glad that he is a man, and that Lola (despite the girly name) is of the male gender as well. There are actually 4 possible meanings: 1. Ray is glad that Ray is a man, and Lola is also glad that Ray is a man 2. Ray is glad to be a man and that Lola is a man 3. Ray is glad to be a man, and Lola is also glad to be a man 4. Ray is glad to be a man. Lola is also a man. My song I didn’t get was (and I think I’ve mentioned this on the board before) “Every Breath You Take”. Except that unlike most people I didn’t think it was a sweet love song, I thought it was a father singing to a daughter, about the way that he’d be watching her grow up. His poor heart aches with every step she takes because eventually she is going to leave him, so it’s bittersweet. I also didn’t get “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. I thought he was saying that happiness itself is comparable to a warm gun, rather than that the feeling of holding a warm gun was a perfectly happy feeling. Either way, that song made me uncomfortable. Oh, and Stevie Nicks’ fantasy hit, “Stop, Dragon! My heart around.” I thought ‘my heart around’ was some sort of phrase used to express emphasis, like “My stars!” or “My goodness!” or something. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/22 "2010-04-20T23:26:20Z")
I didn’t get Cher’s _Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves_ till I was older. However this was due to the fact, I couldn’t understand Cher well. Like the phrase, “Three months later,” sounds like “dream moz-a-lear” which if you don’t understand doesn’t help the overall understanding of the song 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/23 "2010-04-20T23:30:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [Deuce (song) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuce_(song))) Muchas gracias! ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/24 "2010-04-20T23:35:17Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I was in the first or second grade when I first saw the video for Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s “Last Dance With Mary Jane.” > > Not only did I completely not get the point of the song, I didn’t understand the video. > > In the video a guy robs a morgue and dresses up the body etc. That music video weirded me right the hell out. I didn’t know why it did, all I knew was there was something about it that wasn’t right. You know which one was even worse? “Don’t Come Around Here No More.” Whoa, what the hell was that?! Petty’s wearing an oversized Mad Hatter outfit, cutting pieces of cake out of Alice’s body? “WTF” hadn’t been coined back then in the 80’s but my reaction to that video most have been something like a primitive “WTF,” I think. That video used to scare the shit out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/25 "2010-04-20T23:38:26Z")
“Deuce” is also slang for a two-dollar bill. This is what I always thought the song referred to (and I’m still not convinced otherwise, Wikipedia aside). ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/26 "2010-04-20T23:43:51Z")
It took me a while to realize that the woman with whom Rupert Holmes arranged a secret rendez-vous in “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” was his own wife. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/27 "2010-04-20T23:46:19Z")
“Something” by The Beatles. I misunderstood the context of the first line and had a very specific idea of what he was singing about. I heard “Something in the way(,) she moves”, and I had an image of a woman in a Volkswagen Bug trying to park her car in the driveway, but the garbage men had been sloppy with the empty cans and had thrown them into the driveway. So she has to get out of the car and move the cans (something in the way). ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/28 "2010-04-20T23:47:19Z")
“Life’s Been Good To Me So Far.” The fact that the speaker was a rock star _completely_ escaped me – possibly because the life of zillionaire rock stars was so far removed from anything I’d ever experienced. I thought he was a mentally ill homeless person who was _hallucinating_ about having a mansion, accountants, a limo, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/29 "2010-04-21T00:12:34Z")
And here I was thinking that a deuce was a '32 Ford! ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/30 "2010-04-21T00:21:43Z")
> [@](#): > > …and Stevie Nicks’ fantasy hit, “Stop, Dragon! My heart around.” I thought ‘my heart around’ was some sort of phrase used to express emphasis, like “My stars!” or “My goodness!” or something. Ok, here I am just merrily reading along in this thread, and this line just stopped me cold for a good solid minute and had me absolutely doubled over. Tears. Convulsions. Strange looks from the cat. My heart around, this is the funniest thing I’ve read in months. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/31 "2010-04-21T00:33:28Z")
The Beatles classic song: **Take the back right turn**. I didn’t understand why an aspiring author was exhorting potential publishers to “take the back right turn”. It took a while to understand the title was **Paperback Writer**. Yes, really. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/32 "2010-04-21T00:38:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The Beatles classic song: **Take the back right turn**. > > I didn’t understand why an aspiring author was exhorting potential publishers to “take the back right turn”. > > It took a while to understand the title was **Paperback Writer**. > > Yes, really. I had it as “Take the next right turn.” And I still think Lennon intended “a penis is a warm gun.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/33 "2010-04-21T00:39:58Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > Oh, and Stevie Nicks’ fantasy hit, “Stop, Dragon! My heart around.” I thought ‘my heart around’ was some sort of phrase used to express emphasis, like “My stars!” or “My goodness!” or something. Yeah, Stevie Nicks does that to a person. Ever since _Edge of Seventeen_ was released (I was about 14 or so, which I guess qualifies for this thread) I sang the song incorrectly, until I was corrected a couple of years ago (with much laughter and tears of amusement coming from my wife’s eyes) that the lyric was > [@](#): > > Just like the white-winged dove… And _not_ > [@](#): > > Just like the one-winged dove… My pride may be shattered but at least the bird is OK! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/34 "2010-04-21T00:51:00Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > The line I snicker at the memory is from Papa was a Rolling Stone — > > _Papa was a rolling stone. > Wherever he laid his hat was his home. > (And when he died) All he left us was a loan._ I was old enough to know who the Stones were, but not the meaning of the metaphor. “So which one is he-Mick or Keith?” ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/35 "2010-04-21T01:17:19Z")
Oh yeah, I remember another one. I said this in another thread, but it fits this thread too. The Hall and Oats song “One on One”. Again, I didn’t realize the song was about sex. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/36 "2010-04-21T01:19:00Z")
Wait, it’s not “Just like the one-winged dove”??? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/37 "2010-04-21T01:20:39Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Wait, it’s not “Just like the one-winged dove”??? No, and to add this sidetracking of the thread, for a long time I thought she was singing “Just like the one we love.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/38 "2010-04-21T01:45:32Z")
Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women”: _She blew my nose and then she blew my mind._. When you’re seven years old, it’s perfectly understandable that your mother or your teacher would hold the kleenex for you! (Apparently, a recent female American Idol contestant didn’t get it either – she altered some of the lyrics to make it female-perspective, but kept this line as is.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/39 "2010-04-21T02:18:41Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > A LOAN? Geez, Dad. He gets this loan at the bank, gave us the money, then he ups and dies — and now we have to repay it! I’ve seen people seriously argue in favor of that interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/40 "2010-04-21T02:32:49Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Wait, it’s not “Just like the one-winged dove”??? I think this is universally misunderstood. This came up in a thread pretty recently. Although I heard the song recently and realized what I originally thought I heard was “Just like the one-winged gull”. I could just imagine this poor seagull flying around in circles. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775.md?page=3)