# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/61 "2010-04-21T16:23:51Z")
Jackson Browne’s “Rosie”. It was several years before it occurred to me that Rosie was not his girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/62 "2010-04-21T16:58:13Z")
> [@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. I thought that line was: _Well I know what I am, and IN BED I’M A MAN and so is Lola…_ ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/63 "2010-04-21T17:02:15Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Um, I’m still confused. But I still love the song. 🙂 So, my take on the song is that some guy is out one night and picks up what he thinks is a woman. He has some reservations (_I can’t understand why she looks like a woman and talks like a man_) about Lola’s gender identity. But…after some champagne…he ends up in bed with what presumably is a drag queen (or a bisexual cross-dresser - it’s hard to tell), and comes to grips with it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/64 "2010-04-21T17:07:11Z")
“Follow Me”, by Uncle Cracker. Somehow that ended up as the theme song of my sixth-grade class. We sang it all the time. I couldn’t quite make out all the lyrics, but I thought it was sweet that he didn’t “care about the things you wear”. He loves even when she dresses frumpy! I’m not sure when I realized that it was “I don’t worry about the _ring_ you wear”, but I was shocked, shocked to realize the class song was about adultery. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/65 "2010-04-21T17:07:11Z")
The aforementioned _Papa Was a Rolling Stone_ and Dylan’s _Like a Rolling Stone_ I thought were about the band The Rolling Stones. In my mind it made sense… ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/66 "2010-04-21T17:10:06Z")
I always wondered why the chorus to Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer was so odd. Here’s how I heard it; She says we’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got Cause it doesn’t make a difference If we’re naked or not We’ve got each other and that’s a lot For love - well give it a shot Whooah, we’re half way there Livin on a prayer Take my hand and we’re naked I swear Livin on a prayer ---
**Author:** ![Dolly\_Madison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Dolly\_Madison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolly_Madison)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/67 "2010-04-21T17:19:03Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Missed the edit window. Wanted to say I like the ambiguity of Lola. > > I have misheard songs all my life. One example: there was a song in the 80s that featured the female lead whispering in the bridge. I thought she was saying, “requesting quiet. Requesting quiet.” (I think the song was by 10CC). Turns out she was whispering, “big boys don’t cry. Big boys don’t cry.” > > I suck at remembering song titles. Heh…I always hear this as “be poised and quiet”, which struck me as a totally non-sequitur for a song about love. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/68 "2010-04-21T17:24:53Z")
This isn’t like the rest of the posts, but I think it fits: when I was young, maybe 8 or so, I was on a family car trip and “Georgia” by Ray Charles came on the car radio. I asked if the song was about the state or about a woman named Georgia. All the adults burst into laughter about how naïve I was. I still think it was a good question. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/69 "2010-04-21T17:30:19Z")
> [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](#): > > Kenny Rogers’ “Lucille” has a line in the chorus: > > “Four hungry children and a crop in the fields” > > I always heard it as “four \*hundred \*children”. > > No wonder she left him. He’d never let her get out of bed! I’ll do you one better. My best friend thought it was “four hundred children dropped in a field.” He pictured a bunch of kids with parachutes. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/70 "2010-04-21T17:43:48Z")
> [@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. Heh. That is really sweet. I’ll second the poster who said they giggled at this. It totally reminds me of Ramona Quimby (Beverly Cleary books) who thought that “Dawn’s early light” was “Dawnzer lee light” and figured that a Dawnzer was some kind of lamp. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/71 "2010-04-21T17:50:04Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > “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). That is hilarious, and reminds me of my Beatles confusion. In “Yesterday”, I understood the lyric to read: > [@](#): > > Why she had to go I don’t know, she wouldn’t say. > I said, “Something wrong”, now I long for yesterday. This always bugged me: Why did he say “Something wrong” when he should’ve said “Something’s wrong”? The grammatical error would drive me nuts! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/72 "2010-04-21T17:58:47Z")
_Cherry Hill Park_…what kind of games did people play outside after dark, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/73 "2010-04-21T17:59:36Z")
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” has a line that always perplexed me, until I was older and heard part of it more clearly: I don’t know what to do and I’m always in the dark We’re living and have power - I can get up and spazz! (It didn’t help that in the video she was sort of tearing at her hair at that part.) I had no idea what this meant. I vaguely thought it was some kind of metaphor that meant she was so overwhelmed by the power of their love that she could just flip right out, or something. I was never totally sure because I couldn’t quite hear the words properly. Years later I made out the words “powder keg” and thought “powder keg?” WTF? Then I deduced that “spazz” was “sparks” and then I was all: “Oooooooh, _that’s_ what she was saying… That’s not much better actually.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/74 "2010-04-21T18:12:46Z")
_Five Short Minutes_ by Jim Croce I didn’t know a rock groupie calling herself Cynthia Plaster Caster made casts of rock musicians dicks. I wonder if she has a cast of Jim Croce’s dong on a shelf? She has a web site. [http://www.cynthiaplastercaster.com/](http://www.cynthiaplastercaster.com/) > [@](#): > > Well, like a fool in a hurry I took her to my room > She casted me in plaster while I sang her a tune > Then I said, 'Ooh, ooee! Sure was a tragic tale > Because five short minutes brought me twenty long years in jail ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/75 "2010-04-21T18:27:27Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > I’ll do you one better. My best friend thought it was “four hundred children dropped in a field.” He pictured a bunch of kids with parachutes. I like The Beat Farmer’s take on it: ‘Four ugly children and a crotch that won’t heal’ ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/76 "2010-04-21T18:28:25Z")
[QUOTE=Nars Glinley] John said it wasn’t. Paul said it was. Since they’re both dead, we’ll never know the truth. [/QUOTE] When did Paul die? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/77 "2010-04-21T18:44:21Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > When did Paul die? [1966](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_is_dead) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/78 "2010-04-21T19:34:29Z")
I just thought of another Fleetwood Mac song I didn’t understand: _Rhiannon_. As a 12-year-old in 1976 rural Kentucky where everyone was named Lisa, I had never heard the name Rhiannon and wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me it was a name. 😛 Anyway, I thought they were singing — \*Would you stay if she promised you Heaven? Will you ever win? Will you ever win? Will ya evvvvvvvvvaaaaaaah? Wi’ ya evvvvvvvvvvvahhhhhhh-uhhhhhhh? Will ya evvvvvvvvvaaaaaaah? Wi’ ya evvvvvvvvvvvahhhhhhh-uhhhhhhh?\* ---
**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, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/79 "2010-04-21T19:44:51Z")
ZZ Top song “Tush” Even into adulthood, I thought the line I said lord take me downtown, I’m just looking for some tush. was I said lord take me downtown, I’m just looking for some touch. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775/80 "2010-04-21T19:45:50Z")
> [@Pliny\_the\_younger](#): > > Eleanor, I had the same thing with that song (“I’m not in love”, btw) and requesting quiet made sense to me at the time. I thought it was “Be quiet, don’t cry”…and I thought the song was “I’m Not Alone.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-get-as-a-kid/536775.md?page=5)