True meanings behind songs

[damo]

Thought it might be enlightening to find out what some of those lyrics actually mean. I'm sure many people have speculated on the meaning of Hotel California. I wonder how many we really know.

Daniel....by Elton John apparently is about a Vietnam veteran

Anyone know any others?

 

[popeyeohoh]

Most people know this but Your So Vain By Carly Simon was written about Warren Beatty.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Billy Joel's Goodnight Saigon.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Right now I'm on a Toby Keith kick. Listening to nothing but his music...

The Angry American...his feelings/observations after 9/11...



American Girls and American Guys
We’ll always stand up and salute
We’ll always recognize
When we see Old Glory Flying
There’s a lot of men dead
So we can sleep in peace at night
When we lay down our head

My daddy served in the army
Where he lost his right eye
But he flew a flag out in our yard
Until the day that he died
He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me
To grow up and live happy
In the land of the free.

Now this nation that I love
Has fallen under attack
A mighty sucker punch came flyin’ in
From somewhere in the back
Soon as we could see clearly
Through our big black eye
Man, we lit up your world
Like the 4th of July

Hey Uncle Sam
Put your name at the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty
Started shakin’ her fist
And the eagle will fly
Man, it’s gonna be hell
When you hear Mother Freedom
Start ringin’ her bell
And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you
Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue

Justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
And you’ll be sorry that you messed with
The U.S. of A.
`Cause we`ll put a boot in your ***
It`s the American way

Hey Uncle Sam
Put your name at the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty
Started shakin’ her fist
And the eagle will fly
Man, it’s gonna be hell
When you hear Mother Freedom
Start ringin’ her bell
And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you
Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue

 

[Pin Wizard]

This one just cracks me up. Picturing horses drinking beer...and then falling asleep! Although there are serious parts to it.


Beer For My Horses
with Willie Nelson
(Toby Keith, Scott Emerick)
©2002 Tokeco Tunes (BMI); Sony/ATV Songs LLC dba Tree Publishing Co./Big Yellow Dog Music (BMI)

I had this title forever, and when Scott Emerick came up with a neat little melody lick, the two just went hand-in-hand. The song was written prior to September 11th. It’s about justice, but more so about the law of the Old West. It truly depicts how I feel about our justice system today. I had the privilege of having an American icon and hero of mine sing on here with me: Willie Nelson. Awesome.


Well a man come on the 6 o’clock news
Said somebody’s been shot, somebody’s been abused
Somebody blew up a building
Somebody stole a car
Somebody got away
Somebody didn’t get too far yeah
They didn’t get too far

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that

Chorus:

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we’ll sing a victory tune
We’ll all meet back at the local saloon
We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
We’ve got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets
It’s time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send ’em all to their maker and he’ll settle ’em down
You can bet he’ll set ’em down ’cause

Chorus (x2)

 

[GeorgeG]

I thought "You're So Vain" was about Wayne Newton.

 

[Blondie]

I saw a special on VH1 the other night about the "real meaning" behind certain songs. One was "She Bop" by Cyndi Lauper...anyone remember that one?

Anyway....I had no idea what that song was really about, never put much thought into it really...but now that I know!

 

[FOJMO]

Actually, Carly Simon just sold the "secret" of who she was singing about on "You're So Vain" to Dick Ebersol. Here's the story about her sale --

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/6462146.htm

And I still don't know what "Hotel California" is about...

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin (husband and wife at the time) is actually about a neighborhood in West Orange, NJ (not far from me). Pleasant Valley Way is the street that the song gets it's name from. "Just another Pleasant Valley Sunday, here in status symbol land. Rows of houses that are all the same. And no one seems to understand."

 

[Evil Princess]

Two definitions of Hotel California from a website (not a liable source, but still):

(4) Hotel California is a metaphor for cocaine addiction. See "You can check out any time you like but you can never leave." This comes from the published comments of Glenn Frey, one of the coauthors.

(5) It's about the pitfalls of living in southern California in the 1970s, my interpretation since first listen. Makes perfect sense, and goddammit, who you going to believe, some ignorant rock star or me?

I believe that both theories make sense. I wish I knew the definite answer though!

 

[phamton]

Lots of "Hotel California" rumors and a debunking: http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/hotel.htm

The truth proves far less satisfying than the myriad rumors that have sprung up around this song.

Hotel California is an allegory about hedonism and greed in Southern California in the 1970s. At the time of its release, the Eagles were riding high in the music world, experiencing material success on a frightening level. Though they thoroughly enjoyed the money, drugs, and women fame threw their way, they were disquieted by it all and sought to pour that sense of unease into their music and to warn others about the dark underside of such adulation.

In a 1995 interview, Don Henley said the song "sort of captured the zeitgeist of the time, which was a time of great excess in this country and in the music business in particular." In another interview that same year, he referred to it as being about a "loss of innocence."

The album has as its underlying theme the corruption of impressionable rock stars by the decadent Los Angeles music industry. The celebrated title track presents California as a gilded prison the artist freely enters only to discover that he cannot later escape.

The real Hotel California is not a place; it is a metaphor for the west coast music industry and its effect on the talented but unworldy musicians who find themselves ensnared in its glittering web.

 

[damo]

Another Hotel California theory is that it is about satanism.

 

[vald1977]

Originally posted by Blondie
I saw a special on VH1 the other night about the "real meaning" behind certain songs. One was "She Bop" by Cyndi Lauper...anyone remember that one?

Anyway....I had no idea what that song was really about, never put much thought into it really...but now that I know!

Used to LOVE Cyndi Lauper ! Really never thought about her songs having real "meaning". So, what was it about??

 

[Mermaid02]

My Uncle is friends with Don McLean.... if I find out what "American Pie" is about, I'll let you know!

I thought "You're so vain" was about JT!

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by Mermaid02
My Uncle is friends with Don McLean.... if I find out what "American Pie" is about, I'll let you know!

I can't tell you what it is about but I can tell you what it's not about: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/amerpie.htm

 

[Arabella Figg 2003]

the meaning of American Pie

How about "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson?

and I still want to know what they threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge (and no, I don't buy the "answer" given in the tv movie).

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by Arabella Figg 2003

and I still want to know what they threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge (and no, I don't buy the "answer" given in the tv movie).

Here's several explanations: http://www.geocities.com/odetobobbiegentry/ghannah.htm

 

[Blondie]

Originally posted by vald1977
Used to LOVE Cyndi Lauper ! Really never thought about her songs having real "meaning". So, what was it about??

Um.....not sure if this word is allowed here, but it's about ************. After she got done explaining it, it made sense. I never really listened to the lyrics before.

She Bop
by Cindy Lauper



We-hell-I see them every night in tight blue jeans--
In the pages of a blue boy magazine
Hey I've been thinking of a new sensation
I'm picking up--good vibration--
Oop--she bop--

Do I wanna go out with a lion's roar
Huh, yea, I wanna go south n get me some more
Hey, they say that a stitch in time saves nine
They say I better stop--or I'll go blind
Oop--she bop--she bop

She bop--he bop--a--we bop
I bop--you bop--a--they bop
Be bop--be bop--a--lu--she bop,
I hope He will understand
She bop--he bop--a--we bop
I bop--you bop--a--they bop
Be bop--be bop--a--lu--she bop,
Oo--oo--she--do--she bop--she bop

(whistle along here)...

Hey, hey--they say I better get a chaperone
Because I can't stop messin' with the danger zone
No, I won't worry, and I won't fret--
Ain't no law against it yet--
Oop--she bop--she bop--

She bop--he bop--we bop...

 

[Margie J]

I saw Bill Maher last weekend and he did a skit called "Master P's Theatre". In it he translated lyrics of rap songs into common english. That was very funny and left a few previously uninformed people , such as the ladies next to me .

Let's just say the translations can't be posted here.