Cool Songs that people may not know what they are about

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Does anyone know what OPP stands for? Apparently Naughty By Nature is down with it.

Other People's...

[fatso]

Originally Posted by Dion

Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight"

*Real Meaning*, Phil and his best friend were swimming at the beach and his mate began to drown so Phil asked a man to help and he said no "Thinking it was a joke" so phil watched his best friend as a kid drown and die. So later on Phil whilst on tour tracked this guy down and sent him front row seat tickets and first class air fair ticket to his tour and limosoine and everything, then when he started singing this song he put the spot light on the guy, and started singing, a few weeks later due to all the humiliation and publicity the guy commited suicide.

http://www.inthe70s.com/generated/lyricsmeaning.shtml

I always thought this was just an urban legend. I think I read somewhere (not the link below) that it was about divorce, much like The Police's 'Every Breath You Take'.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1198

I'm pretty sure Don Henley's "End of the Innocence" is about the Iran Contra affair. He wanted it to have a double meaning - a superficially simple love song but a more profound, blistering political critique.

[stuck_in_chuk]

I always figured that the song "There She Goes" by the La's / Boo Radleys / Sixpence None the Richer was really obviously about heroin addiction. The imagery in the lyrics - pulsing through my veins, racing through my brain, nothing else could heal my pain, etc. are all suggestive.

The song is a subtler version of "She's Like Heroin" by the Gun Club.

[Blaster86]

Thinking of you by A Perfect Circle is about masturbating to having anal sex with someone =|

[fatso]

Actually, two cool ones that maybe don't qualify for 'double entendre' but certainly aren't obvious in their meanings are:

Thom Yorke's "Harrowdown Hill" off his 'The Eraser' solo record. It's about the 'suicide' of UK scientist Dr. David Kelly and the evidence he provided to Parliament to help justify the invasion of Iraq. Like most of the record it's pretty political, but a pretty rocking tune even if you don't know the specific story behind it.

Okkervil River's "Black" clearly seems to be about something... I'm not sure what though. it's either about a realizing someone close has suffered childhood sexual abuse OR it's about parental separation. I'm never really sure which... it's damn angry though, which is cool.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Mango

I was just reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents...esource_Center

Oh that Tipper Gore...

Her list of the fifteen filthiest songs should really be updated. "Dress You Up" has always been one of my favorite Madonna songs. Of all her music, that song makes the list? Oh well. I'm beyond naive.

I loved seeing Dee Snider, Frank Zappa and John Denver of all people make the PMRC look like idiots.

[calf]

Originally Posted by Dion

Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight"

*Real Meaning*, Phil and his best friend were swimming at the beach and his mate began to drown so Phil asked a man to help and he said no "Thinking it was a joke" so phil watched his best friend as a kid drown and die. So later on Phil whilst on tour tracked this guy down and sent him front row seat tickets and first class air fair ticket to his tour and limosoine and everything, then when he started singing this song he put the spot light on the guy, and started singing, a few weeks later due to all the humiliation and publicity the guy commited suicide.

http://www.inthe70s.com/generated/lyricsmeaning.shtml

http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/intheair.asp

As Phil Collins explained numorous times over the years, "In the Air Tonight" (as well as most of his Face Value Album) deals with his bitterness and frustration over the end of his marriage to his first wife, and the lyrics do not reference any any specific real-life event

[gottabekd]

A few Tool songs...

Die Eier Von Satan - "The balls of Satan" in German. The lyrics are in German, and spelling out a recipe for making hash cookies, or "balls".

And Stinkfist, well, pretty blatant. "Relax, turn around, and take my hand." But I rarely pay attention to lyrics, so I probably heard this song 10 times before I actually thought about the lyrics.

Good call on "Boomtown Rats"
Metallica "Master of Puppets" is all about cocaine.
Eric Clapton "Tears in Heaven" about his son dying when he was an infant...

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I don't like this kind of music, but the song "Too Close" by Next is pretty hilarious.

step back youre dancing kinda close
I feel a little poke coming through
On you

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/n/next/to..._20099989.html

The video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHH23QYX9Yc

Bigtime hilarious. Who writes a song about getting a boner while grinding with a chick at a club? .

On a related note, I have a friend who had a girl notice his "poke come through" and he got called out on it. haha.

[dubc80]

No mention of "Layin' pipe" by David Wilcox yet?

For some reason I don't think its about labourers in the oil and gas industry....

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by dubc80

No mention of "Layin' pipe" by David Wilcox yet?

For some reason I don't think its about labourers in the oil and gas industry....

Ummm, what else would it be about? The plumber underneath your sink?

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by dubc80

On a related note, I have a friend who had a girl notice his "poke come through" and he got called out on it. haha.

hmmm interesting, i thought that was the whole point of it

[Sparks]

"That Song" according to Big Wreck's Ian (?) Thornley, is Supertramp's Logical Song.

[Schultzie]

Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like A Lady" was written about Vince Neil from Motley Crue.

[Jiggy_12]

Back Door Man by the Doors is questionable at best;

"Yeah, Im a back door man, Im a back door man
The men dont know, but the little girls understand"

[calf]

The opening riff of BTO's "Let it Ride" is the opening of "Stairway to Heaven", but with the chords 'closed'

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by fatso

I'm pretty sure Don Henley's "End of the Innocence" is about the Iran Contra affair. He wanted it to have a double meaning - a superficially simple love song but a more profound, blistering political critique.

Many of his songs are like that. "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" is about (a) the U.S. involvement in Central America including gun deals and U.S. financing of terrorism and (b) the fact that the American public really is more interested in mindless self-indulgence than to give a s*** about the acts their government do in their name.

"Boys of Summer" is the same thing. On one side, it's a man thinking back to a summer fling he had in his youth and how wonderful that time was and he's regretting that that time had to end. On the other side it is him regretting the loss of the youth movement that came out of Vietnam. People said they were going to change the world with peace, love and understanding - well those people had kids, settled down and the momentum to change the world into a better place just died. My favorite lyric of all time is "out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac - a little voice inside my head said don't look back; you can never look back".

[sclitheroe]

Couple of Nirvana songs, but probably everyone knows about these:

- Smells Like Teen Spirit - title taken from something a friend wrote on Cobain's wall, apparently he smelled like Teen Spirit, a deodorant

- Polly - about a woman held prisoner/abused. I think it was based on a newspaper story

- Something In The Way - Cobain's experience of heroin

[fatso]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Many of his songs are like that. "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" is about (a) the U.S. involvement in Central America including gun deals and U.S. financing of terrorism and (b) the fact that the American public really is more interested in mindless self-indulgence than to give a s*** about the acts their government do in their name.

"Boys of Summer" is the same thing. On one side, it's a man thinking back to a summer fling he had in his youth and how wonderful that time was and he's regretting that that time had to end. On the other side it is him regretting the loss of the youth movement that came out of Vietnam. People said they were going to change the world with peace, love and understanding - well those people had kids, settled down and the momentum to change the world into a better place just died. My favorite lyric of all time is "out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac - a little voice inside my head said don't look back; you can never look back".

Ah yes... I knew that about "All She Wants To Do Is Dance". That song is so dripping with sarcasm you can almost taste it... ha ha.

I didn't know that about "Boys of Summer".... thanks for the heads up! That sounds totally right though. I love that line too. There's that brilliant black and white video for it, and when that line comes up you see Henley's head turn forward, without singing, as though he had, in fact, been looking back. Actually a quick look at Wikipedia reveals the song title is from a Dylan Thomas poem.... so cool.