Songs you never got the meaning of

[Piglet843]

Didn't she auction off a piece of paper not too long ago that said who the song was about, and the person who won had to be sworn to secrecy as well?

I don't think we'll ever know WHO the song is about.... but - no matter who it is - they are obviously vain if they think it is about them.

 

[Shugardrawers]

Didn't she auction off a piece of paper not too long ago that said who the song was about, and the person who won had to be sworn to secrecy as well?

Actually, she never wrote it down. She whispered it in the ear of the winner (NBC executive Dick Ebersol) who had signed a contract vowing not to reveal the answer until either she or the subject of the song were dead, not sure which it was.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I was told that Peter Gabriel's song "Shock the Monkey" had a dirty meaning I can't really write....
but that strip dancers would pick up quarters off the stage with an area that would be very....uh....interesting....by bending down?? can't really figure that one out.

no clue if this is true....

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Many people speculate that You're So Vain is about Warren Beatty. It makes sense. He was a weel known womanizer in his younger days, but fact is, only Carly and one other person on the face of the earth know the truth. We will never know.

Now, what about the Phil Collins In the Air Tonight? I heard it was about someone who witnessed a murder.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment, all my life, Oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord, Oh Lord

Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, Oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, Oh Lord, Oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, Oh Lord, Oh Lord

Well I remember, I remember don't worry
How could I ever forget, it's the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, no you don't fool me
The hurt doesn't show; but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you or me

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord...

 

[Banzai]

It is highly unlikely that it is about Jagger, as he sings the backups at the end.

I didn't know until rather recetnly that "Semi-Charmed Life" was about using Tina. And it says it in the song....

 

[KristaTX]

Kinda off topic (and no help to you) but my dad always told me Carly Simon is singing about Mick Jagger in this song. Is that true?

If she is singing about Mick Jagger, it is kind of funny that Mick is singing background vocals on it with her http://www.superseventies.com/spsimoncarly.html . Listen to the song - it's very easy to pick out his voice later in the song. So I doubt it is about him, unless they did it as some sort of lame inside joke.

 

[merryg]

I really enjoy most of Tim McGraw's songs, but I have no idea what he means by some of these lyrics.....

She's my kind of rain
Like love in a drunken sky
She's confetti falling down all night
She sits quietly there
Black water in a jar
Says baby why('re)you tremblin'like you are

So I wait
And I try
I confess like a child

CHORUS:
She's my kind of rain
Like love from a drunken sky
Confetti falling down all night
She's my kind of rain

She's the sunset's shadow
She's like Rembradt's light
She's the history that's made at night
She's my lost companion
She's my dreamin' tree
Together in this brief eternity

Summer days
Winter snow
She's all things to behold

REPEAT CHORUS

So I wait
And I try
I confess all my crimes

REPEAT CHORUS (2X)

Anybody?? black water in a jar...what's up with that?
merryg

 

[HOGFAN]

Manfred Manns "Blinded by the Light"
just looked up the lyrics today. SOMEBODY had to have been on dope when they wrote that.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Most of you probably don't know this song, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it's about! It's very catchy though!

Brown Girl in the Ring by Boney M.

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
There’s a brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
Come on show me your motion
Tra la la la la la
Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my clothes
All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths

I remember one saturday night
We had fried fish and johnny-cakes
I remember one saturday night
We had fried fish and johnny-cakes

Beng-a-deng
Beng-a-deng

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
There’s a brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
Come on show me your motion
Tra la la la la la
Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my clothes
All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my clothes

I remember one saturday night
We had fried fish and johnny-cakes
I remember one saturday night
We had fried fish and johnny-cakes

Beng-a-deng
Beng-a-deng

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
See, brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

"Einsteing on the Beach" (For An Eggman) by Counting Crows. There's definitely some allusions to Humpty Dumpty which I caught for the first time this morning and I've been listening to Counting Crows for yeeeeears. I just can't apply it to everyday life....

Albert's always sincere, he's a sensitive type
His intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked
Better think of nothing, then are we anything?
Is it better to be better than to be anything?
And Albert's vision is blooming uncontrolled
All his wings are slowly sinking
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
Einstein's down on the beach staring into the sand
Cause everything he believes in is shattered
What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway-ay
We all get burned as:
One more sun comes sliding down the sky
One more shadow leans against the wall
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
Albert's waiting in the sun
On a field American
For the cause of some inflated form of hit and run
One more sun comes sliding down the sky
One more shadow leans against the wall
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
Albert's fallen on the sun
Cracked his head wide open
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, fallin, fallin
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
No never be together again
No no never never never again, uh huh
What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway

 

[Poohbear123]

What about "Timothy, timothy, wher on earth did you goooo...timothy, timothy, God why don't I know?" I believe that was about a guy eating him to stay alive cause they were all trapped in a Mine.

 

[Aurora63]

"Einsteing on the Beach" (For An Eggman) by Counting Crows. There's definitely some allusions to Humpty Dumpty which I caught for the first time this morning and I've been listening to Counting Crows for yeeeeears. I just can't apply it to everyday life....

Albert's always sincere, he's a sensitive type
His intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked
Better think of nothing, then are we anything?
Is it better to be better than to be anything?
And Albert's vision is blooming uncontrolled
All his wings are slowly sinking
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
Einstein's down on the beach staring into the sand
Cause everything he believes in is shattered
What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway-ay
We all get burned as:
One more sun comes sliding down the sky
One more shadow leans against the wall
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
Albert's waiting in the sun
On a field American
For the cause of some inflated form of hit and run
One more sun comes sliding down the sky
One more shadow leans against the wall
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
Albert's fallen on the sun
Cracked his head wide open
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, fallin, fallin
The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
And all the king's men reappear
For an eggman, on and off the wall
Who'll never be together again
No never be together again
No no never never never again, uh huh
What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway

I loved this song, but also not too sure of what it's supposed to be about...I always just took it to be about Einstein in some way...maybe not supposed to mean anything???

 

[RadioNate]

American Pie isn't just about the death of Buddy Holly et al, it is about the end of their type of music, which Don McLean favored.

The "jester" refers to Bob Dylan and his rise, "the quartet" and "the sergeants" refer to the Beatles, "jack flash" and "the devil" to the Stones and "the girl who sang the blues" Janis Joplin. There are also pleanty of references to other 50's greats as well as incidents in the 60's and 70's.

Oh and the actual lyrics are "drinking whiskey IN Rye" they have been reprinted wrong for years. It is a reference to the Levee bar in Rye (NY, I think) which is near where McLean grew up.

Hotel California - is about Hollywood and the LA music business

While Carly Simon has never said who You're So Vain is about she has ruled out both Jagger and ex-husband James Taylor. She also DID say when asked directly if it was Warren Beaty that 'Warren Beaty certainly thinks it is about him. He called and thanked me for the song.' and then followed up with that she isn't reveiling the identity. I think she already had.

 

[tevagirl]

MacArthur Park. The only song I absolutely hate.

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again

 

[Poohbear123]

American Pie isn't just about the death of Buddy Holly et al, it is about the end of their type of music, which Don McLean favored.

The "jester" refers to Bob Dylan and his rise, "the quartet" and "the sergeants" refer to the Beatles, "jack flash" and "the devil" to the Stones and "the girl who sang the blues" Janis Joplin. There are also pleanty of references to other 50's greats as well as incidents in the 60's and 70's.

Oh and the actual lyrics are "drinking whiskey IN Rye" they have been reprinted wrong for years. It is a reference to the Levee bar in Rye (NY, I think) which is near where McLean grew up.

Hotel California - is about Hollywood and the LA music business

While Carly Simon has never said who You're So Vain is about she has ruled out both Jagger and ex-husband James Taylor. She also DID say when asked directly if it was Warren Beaty that 'Warren Beaty certainly thinks it is about him. He called and thanked me for the song.' and then followed up with that she isn't reveiling the identity. I think she already had.

Yes, that is what American Pie is about, but Hotel California I thought was about the Hotel itself. I also heard about Warren Beatty, but I also heard about Mick Jagger...guess we will never know.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

it took me a while before I knew the song by Tom Petty, Last Dance with Mary Jane was about drugs...

Yeah same here. My parents are big Tom Petty fans so I grew up listening to their stuff. I knew all the words to Last Dance With Mary Jane when I was like, 6 but I never knew it was about drugs until I got into my late teens

 

[goofygirl]

AMEN!!! When I was a teen some friends and I swore that one day we would research that song and get down the true meaning of it. Many moons later and we still haven't bothered. I DO, still say EVERY time it comes on. " I love this song, but I have no idea what it means!!!"


My all time favorite song is Hotel California. I've always wanted to know the real meaning of it. I was told when I was little that it was about the first Satanic church. Years later a friend argued with me that it was about an insane asylum. When I went looking on the internet for a meaning, I got some lame explaination about making it in the music industry. I like the other two meanings better. They actually fit the song.


I never knew what She Bop was about. I just recently looked the lyrics up so that I could read it myself. Same goes for Roxanne. I also didn't realize until the Grease mega mix came out a few years ago that Greased Lighting was so....naughty. And Grease is my favoritest movie in the world!

I thought Hotel California was about drug addiction, and how addicts "check in anytime you like but you can never leave" (can't kick the habit). I kind of picture the "hotel" as a rehab full of strung out people.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Carolfoy, I love cornershop! Go to answers.com and find the answer, it's pretty interesting.

 

[lw49033]

"Blinded by the Light", written by Bruce Springsteen and performed by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, has always confused the HECK out of me!!

Can anyone enlighten me as to what it means?!?!?!

Probably mostly inspired by LSD. In the '60s and '70s there was an urban legend going around about teenagers who took LSD and stared into the sun until it burned their retinas away.

 

[lw49033]

I didn't know about Prince's song. I would of never thought he was religious at all. I did know about a few of those. I admit I did learn quite a bit from this thread.
Any more?

Prince is now a Jehovah's Witness and doesn't do his sexy songs in concert anymore.