Sometimes I’ll hear something about what a song is supposed to really be about, and it’s something I never would have thought of on my own. For example, a few weeks ago I heard that the Beastie Boys “Fight for Your Right” was actually mocking frat boy mentality. I never would have figured that out on my own.
And then there are songs that some claim are about drugs, usually heroin. Some, like “There She Goes” are disputed, but there are others that the writer admits to being about drugs. Until listening to an interview with Anthony Kiedis, I never knew that “Under the Bridge” was about his past drug use.
And in the late 90’s there was a show called “Pop Up Video” on VH1 which, among other things, told what the videos were about. There were a lot of them I never could figure out. I miss that show.
If you can’t figure something out that’s obvious it may be that people are simply reading things into something that isn’t there. Or it may be such an inside joke that few people will get it.
I grew up in the 70s and they used to claim the 5th Dimension, was full of references of drugs, sex and such. I really doubt, as the 5th Dimension was getting slammed from all sides, from promoting drugs to being “too white.”
Well yeah, lots of songs are about what they seem to be about, but there are others that actually do use metaphors and imagery to sing about one thing while actually singing about something else.
Not necessarily, though. A dear friend of mine absolutely loves the song “Johnny B” by The Hooters - but until I mentioned the dual meaning of the song, it never occured to him that it was anything other than a twisted love song. To me the dual interpretation - Johnny is either in a very bad relationship with a hurtful woman, or destroying himself with drugs - is already clear in the lyrics and made unmistakable by the video.
And I was in college before some kind soul pointed out to me that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was not necessarily what John Lennon sang to little Julian at bedtime
Psst. Flodnak? It was. Lucy’s a girl. Lucy Vodden. Died from Lupus. A guy from Pink Floyd actually has the artwork Julian drew that the song was based on. I have no idea how he got it, though.
I have heard that too but I am not sure if it is true. The Beastie Boys were pretty young and silly then - maybe they are just embarrassed now they are all mature and Buddhist. They did want to call their debut album Don’t be a Faggot. Sorry for the hijack.
Wait! It isn’t a hijack if I add this. Sometimes artists will lie about the meaning of their works. There are a lot of reasons why they might do this - shame, regret, the made up reason is more interesting, they get bored in interviews…
You just can’t trust what people say about their work.
Sometimes you can. But yeah, not always. For example, I’m not sure if I believe Brian Adams when he says “Summer of 69” is about the sex act. I mean, it could be, but I’m kind of doubting it.
Huh. I heard the last part only as “Me and my baby 69” which definitely sounds like he’s talking about the sex act…but I didn’t know it was “Me and my baby in a 69”. OK, I can believe that a gag was thrown in at the end.
“Turning Japanese” by the Vapors was supposedly about masturbation. The guy who wrote it denies this, but his explanation of the lyrics made no more sense than the schoolyard interpretation.
I had to be told about “Every Breath You Take.” I thought it was a father singing to his daughter about how he’ll be watching her grow up and feeling bittersweet that she has to leave him and go on to live her own life eventually.
I had to be told that people think “Hotel California” is a metaphor for anything, period. I just thought it was a bit of magic realism from the Eagles.
I’ve met people who don’t realize that the song “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. is satirical social commentary (hint: it makes more sense if you watch the video).
Isn’t the guy just “turning Japanese” because he takes zillions of pictures of his girlfriend? Like a stereotypical “Japanese tourist”? That was my interpretation upon hearing the song. The masturbation “your eyes squint during orgasm so you look Asian” interpretation is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. (It’s still kind of a dumb song either way you look at it.)
“Turning Japanese” is derived from a joke (long forgotten by me) in which the teller appears to mimic the stereotypical facial features of an Asian, while performing masturbation.
End of story. It’s not about the stereotypical Japanese camera-wielding person (Like the ones in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker video).
Look at the lyrics.
I’ve got your picture of me and you
You wrote “I love you” I wrote “me too”
I sit there staring and there’s nothing else to do
Oh it’s in color Your hair is brown
Your eyes are hazel And soft as clouds
I often kiss you when there’s no one else around
Umm…Clown Puncher, party of one.
No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you-know-what when it’s dark
I know what and so do you…What else can he be talking about?
I recently heard Mickey Dolenz (I think) explain that “Last Train to Clarksville” was about someone going to Vietnam, but that might be an attempt to make the song seem [even] cooler than it was.
They were young and silly at the time, but Fight For Your Right fits into the album better if it’s a parody of frat boys. So I think they’re probably telling the truth.
There have been many people I’ve had to explain Peter Gabriel’s “Solisbury Hill” to. It is not about The Rapture, or some other religious experience. It’s simply about his decision to leave Genesis.
