Blissfully Oblivious: Songs Many Misunderstand

[12191987]

I've decided that song is about child abuse by a nut-bomb religious parent, reminds me of the series "Sybil" every time.

She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne and cut your hair
And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah

First off, art is a co-creation of the artist and the observer. There are rarely incorrect interpretations.

The version of the lyrics we all know and love are a massive edit by John Cale. He essentially distilled it down to the main theme of f*cking.

The hill I’ll die on:

The so-called “secret chord” merely a dominant 7th.

It goes like this, the fourth the fifth

These are scale degrees, making them the root and minor 7th of V7.

The minor fall, the major lift

The minor 7th of the dominant resolves down to the third of the tonic chord. The major 3rd of V7 is the leading tone. It resolves up to the tonic.

 

[12191987]

In a song full of Old Testament references, I am pretty confident that the verse is a reference to Samson.

It is indeed a reference to Samson and Delilah, but in context it is about f*cking (BDSM, power exchange).

 

[Nothingman]

Hook by Blues Traveler. I had no idea what it was about for years but I loved it. So he was right. The words don’t matter. The hook brings you back.


There is something amiss
I am being insincere
In fact, I don't mean any of this
Still my confession draws you near

To confuse the issue I refer
To familiar heroes from long ago
No matter how much Peter loved her
What made the Pan refuse to grow

Was that hook brings you back
I ain't tellin' you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely

 

[pourcyne]

In a song full of Old Testament references, I am pretty confident that the verse is a reference to Samson.

Doesn't preclude a wacko parent doing that to her kid inspired by the OT story.

Reference again to "Sybil" (and multitudinous other tales of children suffering at the hands of their brutal parents who use the Bible to justify their abuse).

 

[pourcyne]

First off, art is a co-creation of the artist and the observer. There are rarely incorrect interpretations.

Yup.

 

[psycln11]

Lips of an Angel. I've heard of people using it for their wedding. It's about cheating.

And your point? Bachelor and Bachelorette parties??

 

[Mr Janny]

Hook by Blues Traveler. I had no idea what it was about for years but I loved it. So he was right. The words don’t matter. The hook brings you back.


There is something amiss
I am being insincere
In fact, I don't mean any of this
Still my confession draws you near

To confuse the issue I refer
To familiar heroes from long ago
No matter how much Peter loved her
What made the Pan refuse to grow

Was that hook brings you back
I ain't tellin' you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely

I was coming here to post this. One of the cleverest songs ever written. Flat out tells the listener that he doesn't respect them, but that they're too stupid to do anything about it and unable to break out of the spell.

And it goes even deeper than that. The song uses the same chord progression as Pachelbel's Canon in D, which is one of the most recognizable melodies of all time, and the root of countless other popular songs.

It's meta upon meta.

 

[cyputz]

At the lake a couple years back, and a nice looking lady walking around singing Motor Boating to the music. Her daughter had to tell her what it meant - hilarious

 

[Nothingman]

I was coming here to post this. One of the cleverest songs ever written. Flat out tells the listener that he doesn't respect them, but that they're too stupid to do anything about it and unable to break out of the spell.

And it goes even deeper than that. The song uses the same chord progression as Pachelbel's Canon in D, which is one of the most recognizable melodies of all time, and the root of countless other popular songs.

It's meta upon meta.

I never noticed the chord progression. Amazing. Thank you!

 

[Clone Head]

Sean Hannity has used "Independence Day" frequently on his show through 2014. The verse he uses makes it sound like a patriotic song when in reality it is a song about escaping domestic abuse and alcoholism.


Another song is Cherish by The Association. It has been used as a wedding song and the theme song for HS homecomings. Actually it is a very sad song. From Wikipedia "Cherish is a song of unrequited love. In the lyrics, the protagonist sings to his love object of "all the feeling that I have hiding here for you inside," but confesses "I'm beginning to think that man has never found the words that could make you want me." One interpretation of the song is that it has a "stalker" quality, because of the singer's desperation and such lyrics as "You don't know how many times I wish that I could mold you into someone who could cherish me as much as I cherish you"

 

[matclone]

No idea why this is played at weddings


Jukebox plays on, drink by drink
And the words of every sad song seem to say what I think
And its hurt inside of me, ain't never gonna end

It's a popular dance song. Cowboy cha-cha.

 

[Frak]

To me, Hungry Heart is the happiest sounding sad, tragic sound ever. And of course, Born in the USA is not the jingoistic patriotic song many thought it was back in the day.

I like when people think “hey little girl is your daddy home?” from I’m On Fire is somehow pedo. Like he’s not singing about an actual child.

Oh, and Stolen Car is not actually about driving a stolen car, it’s about living a lie.

 

[AlaCyclone]

To me, Hungry Heart is the happiest sounding sad, tragic sound ever. And of course, Born in the USA is not the jingoistic patriotic song many thought it was back in the day.

Hungry Heart is my favorite Springsteen song off of my favorite Springsteen album. That's when I became a fan. I love that melancholy song.

 

[dahliaclone]

I like when people think “hey little girl is your daddy home?” from I’m On Fire is somehow pedo. Like he’s not singing about an actual child.

Oh, and Stolen Car is not actually about driving a stolen car, it’s about living a lie.

people are ******* stupid.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Wait, isn’t “Semi-Charmed Life” about taking meth, *******, and breaking up?

/pushes glasses up on bridge of nose/

“Well, you see, if you examine the ontological origins of the lyric, ‘doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break,’ you will see the singer is not referring to actual crystal meth, but rather the essential longings of a Everyman in today’s fast-paced, impersonal world. Just like “taking sips up into my nose” and “I bumped again, and then I bumped again” are not drug references, but desperate howlings about the singer’s own humanity being lost. And “she comes round and she goes down on me” followed by “comin’ over you” aren’t sexual references at all, just as test of the listeners’ perverse inclinations.”

Yeah, it’s totally about sex and drugs, of course. One of the dirtiest songs to ever be a radio hit, I’d say (right up there with “Relax”), but damn, it’s a catchy tune.

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

people are ******* stupid.

Thank goodness. Otherwise this thread would already be dead.

 

[Drew0311]

Born in the USA is not some big Patriotic tune we all act like it is.

Also “All my Life” by KC and JoJo is about KC’s daughter when she was born, yet people for years used it as a wedding slow dance first song.

 

[Pope]

The Beatles had a couple. Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, is really about LSD and Got to Get You Into My Life is really an ode to marijuana.

That was a myth. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds was based on a picture John Lennon's little boy had drawn. It had nothing to do with LSD.

 

[12191987]

/pushes glasses up on bridge of nose/

“Well, you see, if you examine the ontological origins of the lyric, ‘doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break,’ you will see the singer is not referring to actual crystal meth, but rather the essential longings of a Everyman in today’s fast-paced, impersonal world. Just like “taking sips up into my nose” and “I bumped again, and then I bumped again” are not drug references, but desperate howlings about the singer’s own humanity being lost. And “she comes round and she goes down on me” followed by “comin’ over you” aren’t sexual references at all, just as test of the listeners’ perverse inclinations.”

Yeah, it’s totally about sex and drugs, of course. One of the dirtiest songs to ever be a radio hit, I’d say (right up there with “Relax”), but damn, it’s a catchy tune.

Ha, I’ve never bothered to look up the lyrics and only caught a few lines here and there.

Your bit is great though.

I used to give long explanations about the sociopolitical themes “clearly” intended in Glenn Danzig s classic Misfits lyrics. More than a few times I think I convinced people Glenn wasn’t just a meathead from NJ who spent all of his free time lifting weights, reading comics, and watching b-movies, when in fact he was exactly that kind of meathead (and his lyrics reflected that lifestyle).

 

[BigTurk]

Yup.

Interesting you say that.

I have always interpreted Chuck Berry's Memphis Tennessee as a story of a young boy who's family moved to Memphis and he longed to see his childhood friend Marie. My wife absolutely disagrees and thinks it is a song about a broken marriage and a father hoping to hear from his daughter. I like my version better.