# Songs you thought were about one thing but actually weren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131 "2003-09-12T04:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/21 "2003-09-12T20:03:14Z")
I had no idea that “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind was about methamphetamine addiction until I’d listened to it about 500 times. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/22 "2003-09-12T20:36:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*FriarTed \*\*\* > Dr Rieux, I’ve heard that BRICK was about a couple coping with having an abortion It is. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/23 "2003-09-12T22:15:21Z")
Well, I didn’t know until I heard Rick Dees mention it. I never would have got it on my own. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/24 "2003-09-12T22:18:09Z")
I thought _I Don’t Like Mondays_ was about nuclear war. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/25 "2003-09-12T23:39:28Z")
I thought ‘I Will Always Love You’ was a love song–apparently it’s actually a break-up song! **biggirl** : ‘Brand New _Key_’ is by Melanie (and is my Mom’s favourite song!). Having heard the other song’s on the album, I’m not inclined to believe it has a hidden meaning. I thought ‘Poison Ivy’ was by the Lambrettas?! ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/26 "2003-09-12T23:43:34Z")
Oh dear. Rogue apostrophe :smack:! Make that “songs” ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/27 "2003-09-12T23:46:24Z")
Oh, **lissener** : Is the ‘When I Was A Boy’ you mention a different song to that performed by the superb Dar Williams? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/28 "2003-09-13T04:57:35Z")
Well, one of the classic misinterpreted songs is fresh on my mind, because just a few hours ago, I heard a guy call a radio station and request that Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” be played, and dedicated to his girlfriend. He seemed to think, as many people do, that it’s a tender, romantic song. In reality, it’s saying “A man in love is too blind to see what a no-good, rotten, lying, two-timing witch his girlfriend really is.” ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/29 "2003-09-13T05:15:46Z")
There’s a Meatloaf song that sounds like a love song, but if you think about the words, what he’s really saying is “baby, I know I’m stuck with you, so I hope I die as soon as possible so I get the hell away from you” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/30 "2003-09-13T05:24:02Z")
**Apos** , I think you’re thinking of _Paradise By the Dashboard Lights_. I hope nobody really thinks that’s a love song. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/31 "2003-09-13T12:23:19Z")
astorian: Thanks for pointing out about the Sledge song. Until I googled the lyrics two minutes ago, I would have described it as a sappy love song too. Prolly bcuz I can’t make out any words beyond “When a Man Loves a Woman…” My own lyrics to the song involve a series of variations on a theme (again, prolly because I can’t make out the correct lyrics): "When a man loves a rooster, It’s five-to-ten (oh, yeah), in the federal pen… When a man loves a weasel [etc.]" ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/32 "2003-09-13T12:32:04Z")
Paradise By The Dashboard Lights has always seemd to me like two different songs on different themes stuck together! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/33 "2003-09-13T12:33:46Z")
Rod Stewart’s “You’re in my Heart.” THIS is a love song? Not only does the first verse say “The attraction was purely physical,” but the comparisons get more and more ridiculous “You’re every love song ever written, you’re the best thing I’ve ever seen.” At the end he confuses “There have been many affairs and many times I want to leave…” It’s one of the best sarcastic songs ever written. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/34 "2003-09-13T13:40:56Z")
**DesertDog** ’s post reminded me of another country song I’d heard - can’t remember title or artist either - in which the whole song sounds like he trying to explain to his wife about how he still loves her even though he now loves anotherwoman. In the last verse you find out he’s at his wife’s grave, telling her he’s getting remarried. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/35 "2003-09-13T14:26:23Z")
_The Banana Boat Song_ by **Harry Belafonte**. I always thought it was an insipid little ditty about work and play. Then I learned it was really about slavery. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/36 "2003-09-13T14:38:50Z")
The granddaddy of them all is the Stones’ “Satisfaction.” Yes, the third verse is about sex - but the first two are about commercials and the consumer world. As for “Alison” - well, do you think sweet little ol’ Linda Ronstadt would cover a song about a stalker/killer? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/37 "2003-09-13T17:23:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Griffin \* > \*\*Does anyone know if Rape Me by Nirvana is about rape or about how Kurt felt the media or the fans were “raping” him? \*\* The media and some of their peers in the Seattle scene - “My favorite inside source”. ---
**Author:** ![bradministrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@bradministrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bradministrator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/38 "2003-09-13T17:48:31Z")
My lyrically-challenged sister thought the Offspring’s “Come Out And Play” was about keeping Kosher. Apparently, the only lyric she could hear (“keep 'em seperated”) in her mind was about keeping meat and dairy apart. When I told her it was about juvenile gangs, she didn’t believe me. As if dietary laws was a common theme of punk lyrics… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/39 "2003-09-13T19:03:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bluecanary \* > \*\*Oh, **lissener** : Is the ‘When I Was A Boy’ you mention a different song to that performed by the superb Dar Williams? \*\* “When I Was a Boy” is the title of Jane’s album; I think Williams’s song title was a tribute. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131/40 "2003-09-13T19:49:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*You probably thought it was about you. > > “Every Breath You Take” is often considered a love song. It’s actually a song about a stalker. \*\* I think I recall Sting once saying this was actually about a 1984-style police state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-thought-were-about-one-thing-but-actually-werent/201131.md?page=3)