True Meaning Behind Some Of The Songs You Love

Here’s a compilation of some of popular music’s often misinterpreted classics. Believe me when I say, you’ll never listen to songs a certain way ever again without wondering…is this literal?

Dolly wrote the song about a breakup that was nonphysical even though many think the song is of a romantic nature. She really wanted her singing partner with whom she was severing business ties to know how much appreciation she had for him.

This song was originally a ballad from a…vampire musical. The song was originally written for a vampire love show. However, that show was a flop when it finally opened on Broadway in ’02.

In an interview, Levine disclosed that the song was about their dissatisfaction with their record company for pushing them to compose more lyrics. However, in the end, they were overjoyed when the single was chosen as the title track.

Phil Collins has dispelled myths, stating that he was going through a tumultuous divorce at the time he wrote the album, and that he channeled his anger into a song that he can’t fully explain.

“Imagine’s” message is vehemently anti-capitalist, as well as anti-religion (though not faith) and anti-nationalism. After being a caused of advocating Communism. John explained that he did not affiliate with any political movement, but that the song contained elements that were essentially a rewording of the Communist Manifesto.

The Beatles’ meditation retreat in India in 1968 inspired Paul McCartney to write the tune. His main reason was in reference to the American Black Power revolution, which saw people of color rise up and speak out.

The album is a social criticism of the United States of America. It aims to comprehend both the detrimental impact of the Vietnam War on an entire generation, as well as the public shaming and ostracization of veterans upon their return from Southeast Asia.

Sting took refuge in Jamaica, at the estate of James Bond author Ian Fleming, to get away from the press scrutiny of his love life. He imagined a lover who is obsessed with a former flame and embarks on a sinister surveillance quest, much like Big Brother ouch, that stings.

The true story behind the song is incredibly moving. Sarah McLachlan wrote the song as a tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins’ touring keyboardist, who died as a result of addiction. Its lyrics are meant to discuss the dark feelings of helplessness and loneliness that can lead someone down the tragic path.

In interviews, singer Michael Stipe has described the song as “exceptionally aggressive” and “brutally truthful” in its acerbic perspective on romance. He’s also said that because too many listeners haven’t gotten the message, they can just keep believing what they’re believing at this stage.

However, the song is about a disgruntled man who travels back in time to warn humanity of the imminent apocalypse, only to be ignored and wrathful.

This punk rock legend had been rejected by no fewer than twenty-three record labels in order to get her album out. She released a video for “Bad Reputation” mocking the record labels that had turned her down, which angered some and led to a request that MTV quit broadcasting it.

Julian Lennon, John Lennon’s three-year-old son, had been at nursery school and returned home with a drawing he had made for his father and drummer Ringo Starr. Lucy, his classmate, was floating across the sky with diamonds, he explained. John scribbled it down because he liked the sound of it.

Stephan Jenkins, the song’s writer and lead singer, was troubled that most of his friends had succumbed to drug abuse at the time, and used some allusions in the song’s original lyrics. As a result, the song’s essence was distorted once it was cleaned up to make it more lucrative.

Is it an ode to anger and befuddlement, or is it about something else? Is it about a youth uprising, as the film clip in a school gymnasium suggests? Listeners should not assume much into the lyrics, according to Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, who believes the song might have no meaning at all.

The lyrics seem clearer after listening the boys justify themselves. They had coined the term “mmmbop” to explain a brief period of time. The lesson is to live a full life and to be attentive, because everything can change in an instant.

It was an ode to the different boyfriends she had met on her way to stardom while still feeling unfulfilled by her other half.

Stein Berg who is featured on the album, had just begun a fresh, blossoming romantic relationship after leaving a failing one when he wrote it. He wrote it for the sake of sincerity, not shock value, and he never imagined it would be sung by a woman!

Billie Joe Armstrong, the singer and guitarist for Green Day, had to wait seven years to release the song because it clashed too badly with the rest of his band’s material. It was written during a particularly trying period in his life, when his girlfriend left him in 1990 to move to Ecuador.

A colleague had told him that simply owning a disco record in fundamentalist Iran could result in the owner receiving twenty lashes. As a result, he wrote a song about a king’s futile attempts to prevent his people from listening to rock music, using lingo from a number of Middle Eastern languages.

James Blunt is quick to point out that the song was not intended to be a romantic ballad in the first place. Even as listeners were moved by the tragic story of a man who can’t be with the girl he loves, the lyrics refer to a man who is insane and stalking a girl.

This cheeky hit was influenced by celebrities’ relationships with the media and how they can fluctuate, according to Rihanna. She mentions how she and other A-listers can benefit from the media’s attention, but that it can also turn into a love-hate relationship, with the spotlight being suffocating.

The song’s lyrics are straightforward about its true meaning: it’s a tribute to Billie Joe Armstrong’s deceased father, that passed away while the musician was only ten years old — in September.

It portrays a bleak situation in which he is trapped in a joyless relationship that he no longer wants to be a part of, and bemoans the fact that he is even in it at all. He also uses his parents as a point of reference, stating that at the very least they were able to stay together.

The reconciliation of mom and baby is a rewarding feeling, but it isn’t the focus of this song. According to Paul Simon, he was influenced by a chicken and egg dish from his local Chinese take-out restaurant, which was jokingly dubbed “Mother and Child Reunion.” Simon mentally saved the dish’s name for a potential song when he saw it. Inspiration can be found everywhere!

When you realize that the band is from Canada, it’s obvious that they’re making fun of their neighbors. Nixon’s wife expressly asked not to hear this jam when they were invited to perform at the White House.

Period reports have circulated for years that it was influenced either by the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Chateau Marmont, the song is actually much less literal. “Hotel California” is half bizarre lyric “just to see if we could do it,” and mid sociopolitical introspection on Hollywood and L.A. in general, as per the band.

The lion in the lyrics refers to a human, not a big cat, and was initially produced by Simon Linda but made famous by The Tokens in 1961. The lion is widely recognized as the father of the jungle, and this track is jargon for Shaka Zulu, the Zulu leader who ruled the Zulus in the early nineteenth century. Shaka Zulu led the “sleeping” Zulus, who would one day “wake up” and overthrow the British dictatorship of the era.

This song is actually about a romantic entanglement in a way more explicit sense referred to by those numbers. Yup…that’s exactly what it is about. Still a fun song to listen to, right?

When it was being rumored that the Thames River could possibly flood the city, the Clash, just like almost everyone else at the time, became fearful that they could drown, hence the song.

It was twelve years earlier that Bruce and The Range had recorded it to speak out about the divisiveness in the country and the importance of the Civil Rights Movement.

However, we all know one thing for sure, it has nothing to do with chasing waterfalls. To deduce what they are speaking of, catch a glimpse of the music video that comes with this masterpiece, and you might understand that it’s regarding the hazards of unlawful narcotics.

The words of this big hit song were really highlighting the violence situations in school, particularly shootings. The proliferation of mental disturbance among students was also a key focus. Shoes definitely were not a part of it.

Don McLean was heartbroken about the many great musicians who had passed on. More specifically, the trio that was killed in a plane wreckage in ’59. He felt as though music died that day as well.

It pertains to the Los Angeles uprisings in ’92 in reaction to the attack of Rodney King by law enforcement officers. The days in the song was an error but the recording was so great, they decided to keep it.

Metalheads can note that this album was a cover of a song about the destructive Great Mississippi Flooding of ’29 penned forty-two years earlier by blues pioneers Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie.

Few voices resonate as deeply with Americans as Springsteen’s, which is why he felt compelled to compose a touching tribute to the 9/11 attacks, which went on to win several Grammys and a nomination for Song of the Year.

Years prior to the actual shopping holiday’s craziness, Black Friday was a day when gold prices soared and then plunged, plunging the world into widespread poverty. This song’s narrator runs through multiple situations in his coping strategy.

In the song when it declares, it’s not her, it’s not her family, that’s exactly what she’s implying,” the late lead singer Dolores O’Riordan clarified. She said it means it’s not the Ireland she knows. Following the IRA bombardment of Warrington in 1993, she felt the need to make an artistic comment.