Misinterpreted Song Meanings

[BlueSkies]

12 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I just recently heard Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and remembered that as a child, I thought that song was so sad. I thought when he was saying things like "no first of Spring" or "no Halloween", he meant that literally - there was no more Spring or Halloween or whatever. I didn't get that he just meant he wasn't calling because of those occasions...even though it's explained right in the title of the song! 🤦‍♂️

I agree as a kid I heard that song and thought it sounded sad as well.  Like he's trying to pep somebody up that's like really really sad with thoughts of you kind of thing.

 

As an adult it sounds too on the mushy side for me 

[Annber03]

36 minutes ago, BlueSkies said:

As an adult it sounds too on the mushy side for me 

My dad used to feel the same way :p. My mom loves the song, though. 

I keep thinking someone should play that song and Neil Sedaka's "Calendar Girl" back to back sometime :p. 

[KWalkerInc]

I heard "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger on the '80s channel a few days ago and it reminded me of how I had no clue what the song was about when it came out (I was 7 or 8).  I just thought they were singing about some girl who was Christian and didn't know they were trying to get her to be careful about sex.  I especially liked the "Motoring!" part and would sing along, not realizing it was a reference to her hormones.  I probably thought it meant she was going somewhere in a car, I don't know.

An album title that I didn't understand was T-Pain's album Rappa Ternt Sanga.  I would see that listed sometimes (I think it came out around 2005 or so) and my brain would think it was meant as a parody of a fraternity name or something.  A couple of days ago, one of the songs was playing with the album title listed, and I suddenly realized that it just meant "Rapper Turned Singer," which he was.  😄

[BlueSkies]

On 6/9/2023 at 5:39 AM, KWalkerInc said:

I heard "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger on the '80s channel a few days ago and it reminded me of how I had no clue what the song was about when it came out (I was 7 or 8).  I just thought they were singing about some girl who was Christian and didn't know they were trying to get her to be careful about sex.  I especially liked the "Motoring!" part and would sing along, not realizing it was a reference to her hormones.  I probably thought it meant she was going somewhere in a car, I don't know.

An album title that I didn't understand was T-Pain's album Rappa Ternt Sanga.  I would see that listed sometimes (I think it came out around 2005 or so) and my brain would think it was meant as a parody of a fraternity name or something.  A couple of days ago, one of the songs was playing with the album title listed, and I suddenly realized that it just meant "Rapper Turned Singer," which he was.  😄

I laugh in a way after growing up.  Most of our comments we realize how many songs had sexual undertones to them 

[BlueSkies]

Its like the Pointer Sisters Jump.  

I thought that was all about getting excited right before a basketball game as a kid.  The jump ball at the beginning of it.

Still a jamming song though! 

[BlueSkies]

The Pina Colada Song

 

I was kind of only half right about it.  I thought it was about someone that tired of his daily life he wanted to give up and drink pina coladas all day and drift.

 

But yeah wasn't until recently I found out it mean he was tired of his lady....   and they were both sort of playing adultery on each other lol 

[Annber03]

Haha, yeah, I remember the first time I really paid attention to the lyrics of that song. I was like, "...wait, really?" 

[KWalkerInc]

A few years ago, my father would comment that "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" played on the radio every time he went somewhere.  I think that stopped when the station slightly changed its format, but he'll still mention that if we hear it, or I think of that and laugh when it plays on Soft Rock.

When I was in middle school, I still didn't understand why it was a problem when someone would sing about how they were involved with a 17-year-old (or in the case of "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones, a 16-year-old).  I guess because those girls being sung about were older than me (and I knew girls even my age then who were dating older guys) it just didn't seem like a big deal.  But now I tend to overcompensate whenever someone says something about a 17-year-old in a song and assume the worst!  I really like Steve Perry, but I started to wonder about his song "You Better Wait" for that reason.  But I looked it up and the song is just him telling young people that they should be careful and know what they're doing before racing off to start a life on their own in a big city because it can be dangerous.  Also, I listened more carefully to "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Chris Rea after buying it and there's a line to the 17-year-old, "I'll buy your first good wine/ We'll have a real good time."  I was creeped out, but it turned out that he had written the song for his younger sister after a bad break-up.  I don't think their parents probably liked the part about helping her get drunk to get over it, but otherwise it's fine!

[BlueSkies]

8 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

A few years ago, my father would comment that "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" played on the radio every time he went somewhere.  I think that stopped when the station slightly changed its format, but he'll still mention that if we hear it, or I think of that and laugh when it plays on Soft Rock.

When I was in middle school, I still didn't understand why it was a problem when someone would sing about how they were involved with a 17-year-old (or in the case of "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones, a 16-year-old).  I guess because those girls being sung about were older than me (and I knew girls even my age then who were dating older guys) it just didn't seem like a big deal.  But now I tend to overcompensate whenever someone says something about a 17-year-old in a song and assume the worst!  I really like Steve Perry, but I started to wonder about his song "You Better Wait" for that reason.  But I looked it up and the song is just him telling young people that they should be careful and know what they're doing before racing off to start a life on their own in a big city because it can be dangerous.  Also, I listened more carefully to "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Chris Rea after buying it and there's a line to the 17-year-old, "I'll buy your first good wine/ We'll have a real good time."  I was creeped out, but it turned out that he had written the song for his younger sister after a bad break-up.  I don't think their parents probably liked the part about helping her get drunk to get over it, but otherwise it's fine!

Yeah growing up you pick up on all these subtle things and see how inappropriate a lot of lyrics can be.  Lol.  The Into The Night song and music video I think are pretty creepy. 

 

This song at least is pretty straightforward about that subject

 

 

[BlueSkies]

I posted this in the other thread of what I'm listening to or liking now.  Robert Tepper's No Easy Way Out

 

 

 

I pretty much thought the whole song as a kid was written directly in regards to Rocky thinking about Apollo Creed dying.  But per Robert it had nothing at all to do with it.  it was written about his wife as he was about to go through a divorce.  

 

Nonetheless I think that is what's great about music in a way.  You can put your own spin on what lyrics mean to you.  I see that as the ultimate song of life isnt really easy and to keep pushing at it.  

[BlueSkies]

On 7/8/2023 at 5:45 AM, KWalkerInc said:

A few years ago, my father would comment that "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" played on the radio every time he went somewhere.  I think that stopped when the station slightly changed its format, but he'll still mention that if we hear it, or I think of that and laugh when it plays on Soft Rock.

When I was in middle school, I still didn't understand why it was a problem when someone would sing about how they were involved with a 17-year-old (or in the case of "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones, a 16-year-old).  I guess because those girls being sung about were older than me (and I knew girls even my age then who were dating older guys) it just didn't seem like a big deal.  But now I tend to overcompensate whenever someone says something about a 17-year-old in a song and assume the worst!  I really like Steve Perry, but I started to wonder about his song "You Better Wait" for that reason.  But I looked it up and the song is just him telling young people that they should be careful and know what they're doing before racing off to start a life on their own in a big city because it can be dangerous.  Also, I listened more carefully to "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Chris Rea after buying it and there's a line to the 17-year-old, "I'll buy your first good wine/ We'll have a real good time."  I was creeped out, but it turned out that he had written the song for his younger sister after a bad break-up.  I don't think their parents probably liked the part about helping her get drunk to get over it, but otherwise it's fine!

How sort of ironic.  I thought of Robert Tepper for totally different reasons but just learned he co-wrote that Into The Night song.

 

He's interviewed here and talks about it starting around the 13 minute mark if you're interested.  

 

 

 

Robert actually seems like a very cool guy.  He even cracks up when the interviewer mentioned to him the music video was awful.  But yeah it does put a human element to that song.   Per him he doesn't minimize it could come across as creepy but that was sort of rock and roll back in the day.  

[KWalkerInc]

I would always listen to the Rocky IV soundtrack on cassette when I was in middle school, and I remember watching the movie a bunch of times on cable and the montage to "No Easy Way Out" after Adrienne gets upset with Rocky for wanting to fight Drago.  That song was one of the main reasons I bought the album again on iTunes.

I thought I had listed this one, but I guess not.  In "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police, I misinterpreted the lines "I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day / And ask her if she'll marry me in some old-fashioned way."  I thought that Sting wanted to actually make a thousand phone calls in a day, and that this seemed messed up (though I still liked the song).  It took a long time for me to realize that he actually was thinking a thousand times a day (hyperbole probably too) about how he wanted to make just ONE phone call and couldn't bring himself to do it.

[BlueSkies]

Frankie Valli and the four seasons Oh What A Night.

 

I liked how it sounded as a kid.  I thought it was all about some older guys now standing around and singing about just you know some clean innocent fun they used to get into and some good memories.  Since there's a lyric in there back in 63 what a special time for me

 

 

Low and behold it's just another song about the first time the guy had sex!  Musicians really and truly are a horny bunch I've learned from this thread 🤣

[BlueSkies]

I used to think this song was about people in Buffalo and notably the Buffalo Bills and how they walked and stood 😅.

 

Because around the time it came out the Bills were a pretty good team even though they never won a Super Bowl 

 

 

 

[janie jones]

On 7/13/2023 at 3:48 PM, BlueSkies said:

Frankie Valli and the four seasons Oh What A Night.

I liked how it sounded as a kid.  I thought it was all about some older guys now standing around and singing about just you know some clean innocent fun they used to get into and some good memories.  Since there's a lyric in there back in 63 what a special time for me

Low and behold it's just another song about the first time the guy had sex!  Musicians really and truly are a horny bunch I've learned from this thread 🤣

"As I recall it ended much too soon" 😂

[BlueSkies]

I used to think this song was "someday" she would become like really famous and how she would show them.  Not so much about a breakup

 

 

[KWalkerInc]

Barry Manilow was interviewed on Entertainment Tonight, and that reminded me of a brief misinterpretation (or at least some confusion) I had about "I Write the Songs."  All I knew was the jokes people would always make about how he didn't write that particular song and I hadn't heard it for a very long time, so I didn't really remember it outside of the chorus.  They played it on Music Choice Soft Rock one day and it starts out with him singing, "I've been alive for a thousand years and I wrote the very first song."  I started laughing and saying things like, "Come on, you're not THAT old!"  But eventually it's explained when he says, "I am music, and I write the songs."  It turns out that he is singing the song from the viewpoint of music itself, and that makes sense.  But I just didn't know where it was going at first!

[KWalkerInc]

When I would play "Never" by Heart as a kid (which was a lot), I always thought it was an empowering song about believing in yourself.  Like when the lyrics say things like "You're banging your head again / 'Cause somebody won't let you in" and "Never run away," that meant to not give up on yourself in spite of having to face adversity.  But the song is obviously about getting frustrated with a guy and wanting him to make a move already.  The second verse says, "Walk those legs right over here / Give me what I'm dying for / One chance, one love / Hold me down, never let me go."  It's not that I didn't hear that part when I was a kid wearing out the tape, but I think I would just ignore it so that I could take what I wanted out of the song.

[KWalkerInc]

Sounds of the Seasons channel has been playing "Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney" by Ella Fitzgerald, and I was surprised to discover that it is exactly what the title suggests--a cute, innocent song about Santa getting stuck in someone's chimney during his rounds.  My only experience with the song had been a version by Lisa Nicole Carson as Ally's roommate, Renee, on Ally McBeal, so I had assumed it was meant to be much more risqué than it is!  Of course, that was probably what the show had intended with that version.

Here is the audio:

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by KWalkerInc

[WendyCR72]

And this is the version of Santa getting stuck in a chimney that I have heard.

 

[BlueSkies]

I never listened to it that deeply but wouldn't have thought this was about drug addiction 

 

 

On 10/26/2023 at 6:46 AM, KWalkerInc said:

When I would play "Never" by Heart as a kid (which was a lot), I always thought it was an empowering song about believing in yourself.  Like when the lyrics say things like "You're banging your head again / 'Cause somebody won't let you in" and "Never run away," that meant to not give up on yourself in spite of having to face adversity.  But the song is obviously about getting frustrated with a guy and wanting him to make a move already.  The second verse says, "Walk those legs right over here / Give me what I'm dying for / One chance, one love / Hold me down, never let me go."  It's not that I didn't hear that part when I was a kid wearing out the tape, but I think I would just ignore it so that I could take what I wanted out of the song.

I liked your interpretation better :) 

[KWalkerInc]

I have more that of course fall into the "songs that are actually about sex" category.  I thought that "Rock Steady" by the Whispers and "Time to Get Down" by the O'Jays were about dancing.  "Rock Steady" at least came out when I was 11, and I eventually figured it out, but I only heard "Time to Get Down" in recent years on R&B Classics, but I just looked at the title and didn't pay attention to the lyrics for a while.

What's worse is that I heard "Let's Do It Again" by the Staple Singers like hundreds of times (and I think it's also on my iPod somewhere), and it never dawned on me what it was actually about.  It should seem obvious from the title (and pretty much is from the lyrics too), but I just assumed that the Staple Singers were very wholesome and wouldn't sing about sex so obviously (not that it's explicit or anything).  I knew that the song was the title track from a 1970s movie I think starring Sidney Poitier and (ugh) Bill Cosby, so I just thought that "Let's Do It Again" meant they wanted to continue whatever adventures they had throughout the film, like it played over the closing credits or something.

[BlueSkies]

4 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

I have more that of course fall into the "songs that are actually about sex" category.  I thought that "Rock Steady" by the Whispers and "Time to Get Down" by the O'Jays were about dancing.  "Rock Steady" at least came out when I was 11, and I eventually figured it out, but I only heard "Time to Get Down" in recent years on R&B Classics, but I just looked at the title and didn't pay attention to the lyrics for a while.

What's worse is that I heard "Let's Do It Again" by the Staple Singers like hundreds of times (and I think it's also on my iPod somewhere), and it never dawned on me what it was actually about.  It should seem obvious from the title (and pretty much is from the lyrics too), but I just assumed that the Staple Singers were very wholesome and wouldn't sing about sex so obviously (not that it's explicit or anything).  I knew that the song was the title track from a 1970s movie I think starring Sidney Poitier and (ugh) Bill Cosby, so I just thought that "Let's Do It Again" meant they wanted to continue whatever adventures they had throughout the film, like it played over the closing credits or something.

I thought Rock Steady was about dancing as well till now lol 

[BlueSkies]

On 1/28/2024 at 5:48 AM, KWalkerInc said:

I have more that of course fall into the "songs that are actually about sex" category.  I thought that "Rock Steady" by the Whispers and "Time to Get Down" by the O'Jays were about dancing.  "Rock Steady" at least came out when I was 11, and I eventually figured it out, but I only heard "Time to Get Down" in recent years on R&B Classics, but I just looked at the title and didn't pay attention to the lyrics for a while.

What's worse is that I heard "Let's Do It Again" by the Staple Singers like hundreds of times (and I think it's also on my iPod somewhere), and it never dawned on me what it was actually about.  It should seem obvious from the title (and pretty much is from the lyrics too), but I just assumed that the Staple Singers were very wholesome and wouldn't sing about sex so obviously (not that it's explicit or anything).  I knew that the song was the title track from a 1970s movie I think starring Sidney Poitier and (ugh) Bill Cosby, so I just thought that "Let's Do It Again" meant they wanted to continue whatever adventures they had throughout the film, like it played over the closing credits or something.

Another one of those so to speak...

 

I mean even as a kid I kind of knew but just associated this more with like a jealous guy upset his girlfriend likes everybody so to speak.  Like she enjoys talking with everybody and not just her steady "boyfriend".  I mean hell I recall the song in weddings I've gone to as a kid, and even on Family Matters.  But yeah I guess I didn't associate Sue sort of having affairs so to speak

 

 

 

[BlueSkies]

And actually this one is one of the few opposites.  I used to think this was about a couple madly like in love with each other.  Their relationship is "too hot".

 

In reality it's about a long time couple ready to call it quits.

 

 

Edited February 8 by BlueSkies

[janie jones]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:53 PM, BlueSkies said:

I mean even as a kid I kind of knew but just associated this more with like a jealous guy upset his girlfriend likes everybody so to speak.  Like she enjoys talking with everybody and not just her steady "boyfriend".  I mean hell I recall the song in weddings I've gone to as a kid, and even on Family Matters.  But yeah I guess I didn't associate Sue sort of having affairs so to speak

 

 

 

Even when I was a kid it bugged the shit out of me that the same guy sang this song and The Wanderer. The hypocrisy!

 

 

[BlueSkies]

2 hours ago, janie jones said:

Even when I was a kid it bugged the shit out of me that the same guy sang this song and The Wanderer. The hypocrisy!

 

 

I did not know that but true that 

[BlueSkies]

I always thought this song was a love song dedicated to a woman named Elaine.

 

Penny Lane and Elaine rhyme

 

[BlueSkies]

When I was a kid I thought there was a street called FudgeNot Ave this song was written about walking on 😅

 

 

[KWalkerInc]

Tonight when I was listening to "Why" by Annie Lennox, I remembered a time that it was playing on the car radio.  When she sings, "Why can't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut?" my father started laughing because he thought she was telling someone off.  I explained that she was saying it to herself (he hadn't heard the part before where she says, "I tell myself...").  It is a very somber and reflective song, but thinking of his interpretation makes me laugh.

[Palimelon]

One of the bigger examples of a whole song, not just the lyrics, is U2's One. People using it as their wedding song is just hilarious.

 

[Annber03]

Just like the people who use "Every Breath You Take" as a wedding song. Or the people who dedicate R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" to their significant other and mean it romantically. 'Cause nothing says "romantic love song" like the lyric, "A simple prop to occupy my time". 

Like, even if one doesn't pay attention to the lyrics, surely the minor-key/dark-sounding music should be a clue that maybe this isn't meant to be a romantic song? 

 

Edited September 14 by Annber03

[KWalkerInc]

Adele has a song called "Lay Me Down" that I don't hear as often because it was a bonus track on some versions of 25, and not on the version I had (a friend who had the Target version let me copy the extra songs later).  Anyway, Adele says, "I'm not going to do it standing up."  Right after that it becomes apparent that she's talking about talking, that she can't express her emotions to the guy's face.  But she certainly got my attention with that line.

[Danny Franks]

Alanis Morissette's Hands Clean. I remember hearing it years ago and thinking she was singing about her relationship with a younger man, and thinking, 'this is a bit hypocritical, considering she's spoken (and sung) in the past about being taken advantage of by older men.'

I listened to it yesterday and it finally clicked - oh, she's singing from the point of view of the sleazy older guy(s) who took advantage of her! 

Wow, did I feel dumb.

 

Edited October 14 by Danny Franks