# The "What the hell is this song about?" thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775 "2003-01-10T17:25:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/21 "2003-01-11T01:26:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > **Not according to the interview with her that I heard. Neil is an obessive fan who sends her odd things on a regular basis.** Really? Crazy… I thought that _all_ her “Neil” references were Gaiman. I know the one in “Tear in Your Hand” is… learn something new every day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/22 "2003-01-11T01:36:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*Are you being faceticious? > > \*\* Nope, not being faceticious at all. I listen to the musicians so much that I often (not always) miss any lyrical meaning in songs. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lodoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@Jeff\_Lodoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lodoen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/23 "2003-01-11T02:16:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*Are you being faceticious? > > The people in the song are his family members. (Really, they’re all his real family members) He’s writing a song about a family reunion. \*\* “Phil and Don” doesn’t refer to the Everly brothers? Interesting. What about “Martin Luther”? Can you explain “Mrs. Vanderbilt”, “Jet” or “Junior’s Farm”? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/24 "2003-01-11T03:08:55Z")
Look, all I know is that when Paul discusses the song in one of the books he said it’s about his family. Auntie Gin is one of the people who helped take care of him when his mum died, etc. If Phil and Don are the Everlys then well, Idon’t want the fuck Macca is on about. But i tend to take his word for things. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/25 "2003-01-11T06:14:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\*Not according to the interview with her that I heard. Neil is an obessive fan who sends her odd things on a regular basis. > \*\* elfkin477, is there any way you could cite that or provide a context for the quote? I only ask because Tori has mentioned Neil Gaiman in at least two other songs, _Tear In Your Hand_ and _Horses_. Is it possible that in that interview she was talking about Greg, who is mentioned in _Pretty Good Year_ (which, like _Space Dog_, is on her _Under The Pink_ CD)? I always wondered what _I Want It That Way_ was about. “I never wanna hear you say/I want it that way…” Sounds misogynistic to me. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/26 "2003-01-11T06:56:36Z")
“Clocks,” by Coldplay, is a gorgeous song…but I can’t figure out what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/27 "2003-01-11T07:12:03Z")
I nominate Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” and “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.” I get the impression with “Desolation Row” that Dylan is singing about real people he knew, but weirded up their descriptions in the song to disguise their identities. As for “Stuck Inside of Mobile,” I just don’t know. I guess he was on drugs when he wrote that and the bizarre lyrics don’t refer to anything in reality. (Except for the “Texas medicine” [i.e. marijuana] which obviously put him in the frame of mind in which he wrote the song). ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/28 "2003-01-11T07:39:27Z")
I’d like to hear an interpretation of that Uncle Kraker song that _doesn’t_ involve a creepy abuser/stalker. I don’t see how that song can be so popular, it gives me the heebie jeebies. ---
**Author:** ![gonzalo\_de\_cordoba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/848f3c/32.png) [@gonzalo\_de\_cordoba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzalo_de_cordoba)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/29 "2003-01-11T08:08:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*I nominate Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” and “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.” I get the impression with “Desolation Row” that Dylan is singing about real people he knew, but weirded up their descriptions in the song to disguise their identities. As for “Stuck Inside of Mobile,” I just don’t know. I guess he was on drugs when he wrote that and the bizarre lyrics don’t refer to anything in reality. (Except for the “Texas medicine” [i.e. marijuana] which obviously put him in the frame of mind in which he wrote the song). \*\* Texas Medicine? I doubt Bob’s referring to pot there. He rareley, if ever did, with the exception of Rainy day women, which really wasn’t about pot, either… Booze, on the other hand… Sometimes you can decipher Bob’s songs, but you have to think outside the box, so to speak. You also have to rely on the atmosphere and sound and feeling that the song creates to figure it out. But you can never know. i once argued that off that same record, BoB, the song “Sooner or Later” actually logically made sense, if you understand the lyrics as coming from three different voices, or points of view, at different times of the episode described in the song, but my bob friends all laughed at me. So you never know. But he wasn’t pulling this stuff out of thin air, either. “Rolling Stone” makes complete sense when you realize the woman he’s referring to is Bob Himself. Anyway ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/30 "2003-01-11T08:09:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > \*\*For me, it’s Tori Amos’ “[Space Dog](http://www.oddball.net/lyrics/showlyrics.cfm?SearchID=376)”. Many of Tori’s songs have obscure meanings, as she seems to draw lyrics out of the air. I “get” most of them, though. This one, though… > > “Neil” is a reference to Neil Gaiman, but… _huh?_ I like this song, but I have to confess I don’t “get” it. \*\* Just a theory, but perhaps the “grapefruit winning” line is a reference to the Simpson’s Lord of the Flies episode. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/31 "2003-01-11T13:53:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*I’d like to hear an interpretation of that Uncle Kraker song that _doesn’t_ involve a creepy abuser/stalker. I don’t see how that song can be so popular, it gives me the heebie jeebies. \*\* You mean the one “follow me, everything is all right” etc…? I always thought it was about a guy who was having an affair with a married woman. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/32 "2003-01-11T16:47:19Z")
I liked the old San Francisco power-pop band Jellyfish, but…talk about obscure lyrics. Even when you start to think you know what one of their songs is about, they’ve thrown in so many tangents and bad puns that you’re lost anyway. Case in point: “Sebrina, Paste and Plato” starts off about a stupid kid in preschool (“Chauncey’s looking dapper in his brand-new dunce cap”) being infatuated with his classmate Sebrina, but manages to end in a drunken haze (“Shepherdess of the muscatel”). In between they “confuse” Play-Doh and Plato, invent words (“Lovertarian”), and seem to suggest that the dessert is “singing.” No wonder they seem to be beloved of English majors. ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/33 "2003-01-11T17:00:57Z")
Bob Dylan often throws me also. I still love to listen to SIOMWTMBA. Jimmy Hendrix “The Wind cries Mary” sort of confuses me. My kids ask why the traffic lights never turn blue here. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/34 "2003-01-11T17:02:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiat Lux \* > \*\*As earlier mentioned, the song is by Leonard Cohen. It’s about the story of Samson and Delilah, I believe \*\* Actually it’s mostly about David and Bathsheba. Although he’s conflating them with S and D in that line. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/35 "2003-01-11T20:23:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Lodoen \* > \*\*Can you explain “Mrs. Vanderbilt”, “Jet” or “Junior’s Farm”? \*\* Jet was his dog. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/36 "2003-01-11T20:46:58Z")
Thanks, that makes sense, **tlw**. Any takers for _Big Me_? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/37 "2003-01-11T21:55:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Just a theory, but perhaps the “grapefruit winning” line is a reference to the Simpson’s Lord of the Flies episode. Couldn’t be. That episode of the Simpsons (entitled “Das Bus”) first aired in February of 1998. Space Dog is from Tori’s album Under the Pink, released in 1994. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/38 "2003-01-11T22:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > \*\*I liked the old San Francisco power-pop band Jellyfish, but…talk about obscure lyrics. Even when you start to think you know what one of their songs is about, they’ve thrown in so many tangents and bad puns that you’re lost anyway. Case in point: “Sebrina, Paste and Plato” starts off about a stupid kid in preschool (“Chauncey’s looking dapper in his brand-new dunce cap”) being infatuated with his classmate Sebrina, but manages to end in a drunken haze (“Shepherdess of the muscatel”). In between they “confuse” Play-Doh and Plato, invent words (“Lovertarian”), and seem to suggest that the dessert is “singing.” No wonder they seem to be beloved of English majors. \*\* Ah, **Jellyfish**. I loved their _Bellybutton_ CD. So many lines to choose from. How about, from **That Is Why** : _It’s partly cloudy with trouser stains And his copy of inquiring minds But that never meant that much to her She chose to keep her nose too clean She’d rather keep them pointed, anyway In the spine of a magazine_ ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/39 "2003-01-11T23:25:27Z")
I’ve always been stumped by “I Started a Joke” by the Bee Gees. It seems like it could almost be about a lot of things. Always confused me. I have a history of being very dense at song meanings, so be nice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775/40 "2003-01-12T01:29:38Z")
I’ve always been confused by _The Freshman_ by the Verve Pipe. I know something tragic happened, but what? The best I can come up with was maybe a teen mom killed her infant and then herself, but where does the “compromise” come in, what’s the “shoe full of rice,” and why such guilt _in extremis_ on the part of the narrator? What “sin” is he dying for? [Full lyrics here.](http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/f/freshman_verve_pipe.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-is-this-song-about-thread/147775.md?page=3)