# the "oh! that's what the song is about!" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2010, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486 "2010-09-12T08:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/61 "2010-09-16T05:32:38Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Brother explained [“Captain Jack”]'s about whiskey (though this was years ago). According to the writer, the song is about the local drug dealer where he lived at the time. A man known as Captain Jack. Hence the rferences to “he’ll get you high tonight” and “a little push and you’ll be smiling”. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/62 "2010-09-16T06:18:43Z")
My dad used to sing that “Show me the way to go home/I’m tired and I wanna go to bed/Well I had a little drink about an hour ago/And it went right to my head” tune…and when I was a kid it didn’t occur to me that “drink” meant “drinking alcohol.” So I couldn’t understand why it would go right to his head. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/63 "2010-09-16T13:01:52Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > > [@Wheelz](#): > > > > I’d never listened too hard to Elton John’s [_Philadelphia Freedom_](http://www.lyrics007.com/Elton%20John%20Lyrics/Philadelphia%20Freedom%20Lyrics.html) until it recently struck me as odd that a pair of Englishmen would write and sing a ditty about American patriotism. > > > > My current theory is that it’s about enjoying the anonymity (sexual or otherwise) that comes from living in a large city. > > I heard that John wrote the lyrics as an anthem to the “Philadelphia Freedom” which was a tennis team coached by Billie Jean King. So he wrote an anthem for her and her team. > > That’s what I heard anyway. This is correct. The [Philadelphia Freedoms](http://www.philadelphiafreedoms.com/teams/index.aspx)are/is still an active tennis team. If you need more proof of the connection, look who is hosting their 11/15 concert/tournament. (Elton John / Billie Jean King) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/64 "2010-09-16T13:08:39Z")
> [@astro](#): > > > [@kiz](#): > > > > I never did either. Ironically it’s one of my all-time favorite songs too :eek: > > What does “Jersey Boys” add to it? The lyrics can easily be ready as a random hook up or meeting. There is absolutely nothing in the lyrics by themselves indicating that a prostitute is involved or the experience is being purchased. > > Also what CalMeacham said. Bob Gaudio wrote the song about losing his virginity and in the musical, there was no doubt that there was a prostitute involved. Bob was one of the creators of the musical and an original Four Season. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/65 "2010-09-16T14:31:32Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > > [@PunditLisa](#): > > > > I heard that John wrote the lyrics as an anthem to the “Philadelphia Freedom” which was a tennis team coached by Billie Jean King. So he wrote an anthem for her and her team. > > > > That’s what I heard anyway. > > This is correct. The [Philadelphia Freedoms](http://www.philadelphiafreedoms.com/teams/index.aspx)are/is still an active tennis team. If you need more proof of the connection, look who is hosting their 11/15 concert/tournament. (Elton John / Billie Jean King) 🙂 A [little](http://askville.amazon.com/Elton-John-write-song-Philadelphia-Freedom-Billie-Jean-King-tennis-team/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=11814094) [googling](http://sexualityinart.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/elton-john-bernie-taupin-billie-jean-king-village-people-wham-george-michael-tom-hanks-bruce-springstein-equal-rights-marchers-david-furnish-philadelphia-freedom/) does seem to confirm this. Though I choose to remain skeptical of Taupin’s claim that the “lyrics mean nothing.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/66 "2010-09-16T18:53:06Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > I used to think Extreme’s “More than Words” was a song about doing little things to show you love someone, but now I’m pretty sure it’s a plea for sex. It sounds to me like a guy pressuring his young teenaged girlfriend into sex, actually. “Come on, if you LOVE me, you won’t just SAY it, you’ll let me do you.” It’s gross. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486/67 "2010-09-16T19:15:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Cuckoorex](#): > > > > I used to think Extreme’s “More than Words” was a song about doing little things to show you love someone, but now I’m pretty sure it’s a plea for sex. > > It sounds to me like a guy pressuring his young teenaged girlfriend into sex, actually. “Come on, if you LOVE me, you won’t just SAY it, you’ll let me do you.” It’s gross. A few years ago when VH1 did Bands Reunited Gary Cherone said that it’s one of the most misunderstood songs and that it was about what his then girlfriend was saying to him because he would tell her that he loved her, but didn’t do much to show it. And he’s not talking about sex. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-thats-what-the-song-is-about-thread/553486.md?page=3)