# theories on unsolved mysteries of music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327 "2009-03-04T21:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/1 "2009-03-04T21:53:29Z")
I’m sure this has been covered, but anyway… What are some of the great mysteries of popular music? The most famous ones I know — Who is so vain they probably think this song is about them? I know there’s speculation, and Carly Simon has been so kind as to give out a couple of letters of the person’s name… this is the big one now that Deep Throat’s been outed. A twofer — Why did Billie Joe McAllister jump off the Tallahatchee Bridge, and what were they throwing into the water? What did the Mama saw Me and Julio doing down by the Schoolyard that caused such a commotion? Why did Freda Payne and her husband sleep in separate rooms on their honeymoon in Band of Gold? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/2 "2009-03-04T22:09:14Z")
Has anybody ever figured out who all was being pointed to in _American Pie_? And Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/3 "2009-03-04T22:26:48Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Who is so vain they probably think this song is about them? I know there’s speculation, and Carly Simon has been so kind as to give out a couple of letters of the person’s name… this is the big one now that Deep Throat’s been outed. She’s dropped an awful lot of hints that it’s about Warren Beatty (and he apparently thinks it’s about him, too), but I guess people will keep bothering her about it until she croaks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/4 "2009-03-04T22:35:19Z")
Just what is an unskinny bop (bop bop bop), anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/5 "2009-03-04T22:54:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > She’s dropped an awful lot of hints that it’s about Warren Beatty (and he apparently thinks it’s about him, too), but I guess people will keep bothering her about it until she croaks. 😉 So did Mick Jagger and James Taylor. (She did say it wasn’t James though) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/6 "2009-03-04T22:56:28Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Has anybody ever figured out who all was being pointed to in _American Pie_? The Master Speaks: > **[The Straight Dope: What is Don McLean's song "American Pie" all about?](http://web.archive.org/web/19991009050243/http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_398b.html)** > > The Straight Dope: What is Don McLean's song "American Pie" all about? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/7 "2009-03-04T23:01:32Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > [Originally Posted by Zeldar > > Has anybody ever figured out who all was being pointed to in American Pie? > > The Master Speaks: > [The Straight Dope: What is Don McLean's song "American Pie" all about?](http://web.archive.org/web/19991009050243/http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_398b.html) It could just be me, but I don’t detect an answer: > [@](#): > > THE LAST WORD (PROBABLY) ON “AMERICAN PIE” > > Dear Cecil: > > As you can imagine, over the years I have been asked many times to discuss and explain my song “American Pie.” I have never discussed the lyrics, but have admitted to the Holly reference in the opening stanzas. I dedicated the album American Pie to Buddy Holly as well in order to connect the entire statement to Holly in hopes of bringing about an interest in him, which subsequently did occur. > > This brings me to my point. Casey Kasem never spoke to me and none of the references he confirms my making were made by me. You will find many “interpretations” of my lyrics but none of them by me. Isn’t this fun? > > Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence. --Don McLean, Castine, Maine ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/8 "2009-03-04T23:16:49Z")
Years ago I asked _OK, I shot the Sheriff, but who shot the deputy_? Someone here put forth the theory that the Sheriff shot the deputy in order to frame me - and then used that as an excuse to come shoot me down. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/9 "2009-03-05T01:41:22Z")
I wonder who wrote the Book of Love. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/10 "2009-03-05T02:07:33Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Someone here put forth the theory that the Sheriff shot the deputy in order to frame me - and then used that as an excuse to come shoot me down. That was probably me. I sorta feel obligated to have at least a theory about that song and I like the backstory created by that interpretation. Okay, I guess I undersatnd why doesn’t the horse in “A Horse with No Name” has no name - it’s just a rented nag the narrator needs for one trip, and he’s not much with names anyway (“rocks and things”). But what about the streets in “Where the Streets Have No Name?” Unnamed streets would make driving VERY complicated in that area. How would you get from one place to another? “Take that one street about a mile, then turn left on some other street, near the Arby’s, then when you come to the four-way intersection, go right until you reach some other street.” Yeah, that’ll work. So why is this situation allowed to persist? Is there a problem with the planning commission? Is the city council awaiting a special election and unable to get a quorum to take a vote on the names? These kinds of things didn’t used to bother me. Then I joined the Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/11 "2009-03-05T02:08:53Z")
> [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](#): > > I wonder who wrote the Book of Love. _I know who wrote the Book of Love: It was an idiot! It was a fool! A slobbering fool with a speech defect and a shaking hand! And he wrote my name Next to yours…_ –Robyn Hitchcock ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/12 "2009-03-05T02:14:52Z")
I don’t have an exact quote, but I once read Paul Simon commenting on what “me and Julio” did down by the schoolyard. His approximate statement was: I don’t have a clue, something sexual I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/13 "2009-03-05T02:24:02Z")
I remember watching a documentary about John Lennon. They interviewed the producer/engineer (I forget which) who worked with Lennon on what turned out to be his final recording session on the evening of December 8, 1980. The producer said that, before leaving the session, Lennon told him something. Moments later, of course, the ex-Beatle was shot to death outside his apartment. The producer said he will never, ever reveal what Lennon told him that night. WTF!?! The mind boggles. Was it something cosmic? Mundane? Jaw-droppingly scandalous? I guess we’ll never know…😕 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/14 "2009-03-05T04:37:58Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Why did Freda Payne and her husband sleep in separate rooms on their honeymoon in Band of Gold? I always thought this one was pretty much answered. He was impotent. He couldn’t “love [her] like [he] tried before”. So she was crying in her own bedroom while he sulked in shame in his. The real mystery in that song is how he could have possibly taken her from a mother she’d never known. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/15 "2009-03-05T04:44:31Z")
Who are [The Residents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Residents)? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/16 "2009-03-05T05:12:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Who is so vain they probably think this song is about them? I know there’s speculation, and Carly Simon has been so kind as to give out a couple of letters of the person’s name… this is the big one now that Deep Throat’s been outed. One theory I’ve heard is that it’s about one of Simon’s early lovers, from back before she was famous. Simon based the song on his personality and added in some surface details about later lovers like Beatty. The reason Simon doesn’t want to reveal his identity (in addition to promoting the song by the mystery) is that the man is not a public figure like Beatty, Jagger, or Taylor. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/17 "2009-03-05T11:59:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That was probably me. I sorta feel obligated to have at least a theory about that song and I like the backstory created by that interpretation. > \ My apologies if it was - it isn’t that I’m not willing to give credit, it is just that my memory is shot… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/18 "2009-03-05T12:05:44Z")
What won’t Meat Loaf do for love? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/19 "2009-03-05T12:28:58Z")
Whooooooooo are you? Who, who, who who? (I really wanna know!) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327/20 "2009-03-05T12:40:23Z")
I wanna know/ have you ever seen the rain/ coming down/ on a sunny day? (And funnily enough, yes I have. Several times, in fact.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theories-on-unsolved-mysteries-of-music/488327.md?page=2)