Top 20 Song Meanings That Everyone Gets Wrong
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- Опубліковано 3 вер 2021
- The true meaning behind these iconic tracks will shock you! For this list we’ll be examining songs that have a widely accepted perceived meaning that differs from the song’s actual meaning. Our countdown includes “Poker Face”, "Imagine", “Hallelujah”, "Summer of ‘69”, “Born in the U.S.A.”, and more! Which song did you get wrong? Let us know in the comments below.
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Which song did you get wrong? Let us know in the comments below.
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summer of 69 thought it was referring to 1969
Alot of these meaning are obvious.
How would people not know that “every breath you take” is a creppy/ stalker themed song
@Jervis-Jehan Laurent I’m fairly certain that this video, or at least part of it, was posted several years ago by them. It probably was even one of the first videos I watched by Watchmojo.
Edit: Just a guess here but maybe the rerelease is a result of a UA-cam copyright strike against them.
Ironic got me.
The first time I heard “Every Breath You Take” I thought it was super creepy but everyone around me kept telling me it’s a love song. Glad to see it’s creepiness is finally being acknowledged.
It's supposedly written about a stalker that Sting had and after being harassed for so long he wrote Every Move You Make
Always knew it was about a stalker and couldn't understand how no one else picked up on that.
It's obviously to anyone with an IQ over100 what it's all about especially if people take the Time to listen to the words and watch how he sings it he's not happy when he sings it its about as obvious as a man walking down the street picking up a chocolate bar without a wrapper with steam and blue bottles circulating around taking a bit with the smell radiating up his nostrils and taking it to the the shop around the corner and saying your chocolate is low quality it tastes like shit
@@MaggieTyree I thought exactly the same it's obvious
I was told through my parents that it was a stalker song and that people use this as a wedding song.
Everyone knows "In the Air Tonight" is about sick drum parts
Played by a gorilla
One of the best songs of all time 🎶🤗🎶
@@maryshoemaker1334 less a song than just sick drumming looking for an excuse to happen
Lol, it does have a great drum part. But it's actually about the man who his wife cheated on him with.
If you live in England, it's actually about being sold Milk Chocolate by a Gorilla...
"My Name Is Luka" by Suzanne Vega ought to be on this list somewhere. I've had so many people tell me what a beautiful song it is, not knowing that it's about child abuse.
I used to teach English in Japan.
One of the Japanese teachers I worked with at a high school liked to use songs to teach pronunciation.
My job was to explain the meanings of the songs. I had to explain "My name is Luka" and "Suicide is painless" to a class of high school girls.
I thought it was about domestic violence?
@@lastguy8613 No. I heard Suzanne Vega’s explanation of the song, that it’s from the point of view of a child experiencing abuse.
@@alliematt1016interesting that it is from the pov of a child. In any case, it is so clearly about abuse/dv that it is surprising that anyone could miss it.
You’re correct it is about child abuse 😢
"I can Feel It Coming In The Air Tonight". There is more to it than just his divorce. I saw an interview many years ago, when this album came out. It was in a room, filled with different instruments and the interviewer asked Phil very personal questions about the songs on the album, which Phil answered truthfully.
Phil said that his wife had wanted to get an Interior Designer in, to change the decor of their house. Phil agreed. The trouble is that while he was on tour the Interior Designer was working on Phil's wife as well as Phil's house. Phil actually wrote the lyrics for this song on the back of an Invoice that the Decorator had sent Phil, requesting payment for the work he had done. The words "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 that grin, I know where you've been.
It's all been a pack of lies" Is TOTALLY directed at the philandering Interior Designer who (along with Phil's wife) broke up his marriage.
Interesting fact. When Phil Collins played this on top of the pops he had a tin of paint next to him as a f.u. to the painter who destroyed his marriage
Wait so its not about that guy who coulda saved that other guy but didn't?
@@GoodSoup240 Hahaha...Nope. Then again, if the Interior Designer were drowning, I doubt Phil would have jumped in to save him, so maybe it is half right lol.
@@craigedwards5540 so didn't the wife help destroy the marriage
The song lyrics don’t mean anything, he said in the top 2000 interview
Hallelujah being used in Shrek explains the meaning of that song more perfectly than words ever could
Yes! Somehow they got the meaning right and happily Shrek and Fiona did repair their relationship.
Honestly that’s my favorite version of the song
I live in Japan, and they play Whitney Houston - 'I will always love you' at weddings, thinking it's a romantic song, but it's actually a song about saying goodbye forever.
It's not Whitney Houston's song she covered it and butchered it
@@ChrisAtheist Whitney did not butcher it at all. she did a great job with it, in a completely different way then Dolly. Both versions of the song are beautiful and powerful.
@@ChrisAtheist What are you talking about? Though Dolly Parton was the original singer of that song in The Greatest Little Whore House in Texas, Whitney sang it better in The Bodyguard. Sure, Whitney liked the blow, but she sang the song way better than that well-endowed Country singer.
@@CommissionerLawWonder86 she actually wrote it for her manager Porter Wagner therefore having more emotion behind it. And as for Whitney Houston singing it better, that’s up to interpretation. If you’re listening to the song for the powerhouse house then yeah, she sings it better. But if you’re listening for the emotion and fluidity then Dolly’s is better. I fall into the latter. Just my opinion.
So that's why the birthrate is declining.
My husband went to Baghdad when this song came out in September. I couldn’t bear to listen to it. And this is a few months after he came home from Mosul. Several years later he went to Korea for two years. Meanwhile I had over 40 surgeries on my mouth due to bruxism and stress. We eloped the day before Basic training and we’re still together 28 years later and now he’s a Lt. Colonel.
I never once thought wake me up when September ends was about 9-11. That thought never even crossed my mind. Maybe because I actually listened to the lyrics. I always knew it was about his dad. This song really resonated with me when my grandpa passed away.
As a kid who went to school in the late 90s/00s, we, of course, voted "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" as our graduation song. Our principal wasn't thrilled with this, but decided it would be allowed as long as we never referred to it by the full title. Everywhere you saw it printed or discussed, it was simply, "'Time Of Your Life' by Green Day", as if pretending the rest of the title didn't exist made it any better. (Yes, we knew it was a mean comment. Yes, we meant it. LOL.)
I remember kids would call into the Mix 96.1 radio station to record a shout out they played during that song and Vitamin C’s Graduation song.
That was my class’s graduation song too. 😊
I remember when I was a Freshman a girl at my catholic high school and a boy at our rival school passed away within a few weeks of each other and they made “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) was the song they chose to remember them. It was so awkward because some people knew what it was really about
My high school chose this song for my year senior class. I just laughed and skipped out on the graduation ceremony.
That was my eighth grade graduation song. In my old school, eighth graders and seniors graduated together, so that was the song for the 2017/8 grade graduating class and senior graduating class.
They don’t say “every bone you break” they say “every *bond* you break* meaning the stalker is watching as their victim breaks up the relationships with friends and family in their life.
Exactly.
The meaning behind "every bond" can be different for other listeners. This is just what it means to you.
@@sadem1045 Okay. That makes sense.
@@cassandraspoelhof3752 Though I agree with your interpretation lol
Okay. I always thought it was "Bond." I thought I was wrong this whole time when they said "Bone."
I was so glad to see Hallelujah on this list. I don't know how many times I've tried explaining to people that this is NOT a religious song
Exactly! I am a Christian and I like the song, but it's like LISTEN TO THE LYRICS PEOPLE!
Yes! Trying to explain to my son who was obsessed with the song at the time why he couldn't play it for the congregation at church on his violin just because it says Hallelujah was a good time. Lol
Perhaps God still had His way in the song: Though it is definitely not a 'religious' song, to those who (intimately) walk with God, the song is actually exactly relatable, and can actually be a profound song of worship (for them), because a true follower of Christ in their deepest valleys of trials and losses, *will still* lift up a "Hallelujah" to their God. ♡
@@k.night-light5252 you are referring to *your* god, the god of the Christian New Testament as discussed in certain writings collated by the Catholic Church 1500 years ago (yes as a medievalist I am well aware of translations and Protestant translations and recreations of the Bible), when billions of people believe in different god(s), and you clumsily (at best) avoid the fact that Leonard Cohen was Jewish. This song was not written by or for “a true follower of Christ” but for everyone.
@@AleisterCrowleyMagus The Catholic church (?)...how does the Catholic church relate to what I stated? It doesn't. Most of your reply does not relate to what I've stated. The first Christians were all/only JEWS (there were no gentile Christians until Cornelius). The Carholic church came about much later, and it came about as a mix of various pagan religions and beliefs (Catholic doctrine is not the same as Judeo-Christian doctrine). What I had stated was that perhaps God (the One true God) still had His way with the song; I stated that a true follower of Christ could relate to the song as a profound song of worship (and, of course, God would have know that even before the song was written). My statement did not exclude anyone else from enjoying the song. Just because you have disdain for the Living God, doesn't mean that I have to acknowledge wannabe gods. That the song was written by a Jew just emphasizes that it was likely God who had His way with the song. Only those who know God - NOT know ABOUT God (not know translations written about Him, but KNOW *Him*) can relate to what I said about the true followers of Christ worshipping God even in the depths of sufferings - because to know Christ, is to know (real) Peace; the world could be on fire, but when it is well with one's soul, what MOST matters, is well. ♡
Hallelujah gives me goosebumps! Such a beautiful song full of sorrow you can feel his pain through his vocals
I always knew "More Than Words" was about expressing someone's love for their significant other than just saying "I love you", hence the first line in the song.
right More than Words is saying don't tell me show me you love me actions are even more power than words
Yeah, I don't believe that song was widely misinterpreted.
@Kylie Pollert that’s the way I’ve always understood it
This is the only way I ever interpreted this song. And as good as it is, I think it set Extreme up for failure because it sounded very little like most of their other material.
I used that cassette single as background music when studying in uni…my res neighbours came by to see me and ask if I was okay as they thought I was depressed…lol
I was in a horrible relationship when "In The Air Tonight" came out. I recognized right away that it was about a very bad breakup. It had so much relevance for me that I bought it 3 times (I traveled a lot back then).
I am a boomer. Being of that time, I fully understood what Bruce was singing about. Just like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's song Ohio still raises the hair on the back of my neck every time I hear it.
I think all boomers knew just what he was singing about.
Right. It's only misunderstood by digital age youngsters who read headlines and not stories. I mean how do you see the album cover, (if you don't recognize the significance of the stance, look for The Who's Who's Next for the expanded view complete with the wet marks on the stone), and still think it is complementary?
All the Boomers except for #45
@@GregoryWeirauch Your comment has aged like the finest of wines.
Not a boomer, but Ohio raises the hairs on the back of my neck as well. (1972, I don't know what gen they consider me)
A couple others for Bruce Springsteen:
* A number of years ago, New Jersey wanted “Born to Run” to be the state song, even though the song is about “leaving New Jersey”.
* Glory Days: Interpreted as a song about nostalgia for the past, even though the point of the song is about how the characters have gone nowhere in life so they can only reminisce about the past.
I thought Born To Run was about America
@@jessyleppert2 On a broader level, it's relevant to America and the American Dream. But Bruce was using New Jersey landmarks like "Highway Nine" in Freehold and amusement parks on the Jersey Shore. He had a conflicting relationship with his hometown.
@@Dawnemperor1 my uncle said it's not a patriotic song
Even jersey wants you to leave it.
@@Dawnemperor1 well, it does have the line "its a deathtrap" though.....
I always wonder how one can misunderstand the meaning of "Imagine". It literally starts with "Imagine there's no heaven". Which made it even stranger when it was played as the closing song of the broadcast of the funeral of pope John Paul II on an Austrian radio station. To this day I don't know if it was a very dumb or a very mean choice.
I misunderstood the meaning. I was a teen when the album came out. I thought of it as a story about not taking life so seriously. We're not living to gain entrance to heaven and working your bum off instead of enjoying time with the friends and family and nature is a waste of time. I guess I'm too much of an optimist. That's why I didn't understand the brouhaha about Gal Gadot.
well, they are Austrian, so it's both.
That's hilarious about John Paul!
It's actually about communism
I have quite religious people play that song and love it.
It just proves that very few people understand what Karl Marx was all about.
The lyric “Every bone you break” is actually a joke tossed in at the end of one of Sting’s solo songs, “Love Is the Seventh Wave” (1985). He also sings there about “every cake you bake.” Great memories for me in both that song and the original “Every Breath You Take”-the Police and Sting were part of my life’s soundtrack, and I had the privilege of seeing him live on three separate tours. He’s an amazing musician, but I would love to have a time machine that would take me back to the Police touring in support of “Ghost in the Machine” or “Synchronicity”!
Ditto!
The line is actually "Every VOW you break".
@robinm...I couldn't agree more! I own every album Sting has ever made from his time with The Police to his sexy sultry albums of today. Sting is a singing God! I LOVE him!
@@heidicross7255 He also sings, "Every bond you break", which people mistakenly think it's a "bone".
"Drops of Jupiter" by Train is often thought to be a breakup song, but it's actually about the death of the lead singer's mom.
What's odd about "Hey Man, Nice Shot" is that R. Budd Dwyer was actually framed, and it was proven after he died. It just shows how we always only hear part of the story.
One of the main reasons Dwyer shot himself is because if he was convicted his family would lose the pension he had earned, his suicide did not end it. One of the saddest parts of it is the conspiritors only included him because they thought he would not make a fuss about the allegations.
Greatly dislike the Horse with no Name song…
Ok I’ve always thought it was ironic that the song ironic didn’t have any irony it… don’t assume allanis knew that lol.
The movie "Shrek" had it right in regards to the song "Hallelujah".
The lyrics of Every Breath You Take do NOT, in fact, say "every bone you break." It's "every BOND you break." It's not just a song about a stalker, but it's about a very bad place that Sting went when his wife left him. The bond refers to the bond of marriage, which she "broke" when she left him.
AND his budding new romance with her best friend. Don't forget that part.
@@Raz.C I don't know that I ever knew that part.
@@purpleiguana208
I think that was- at least in part- the point of the song. He felt like he was being watched in every step, etc, since his ex-wife and new partner were so close. Literally close, too, since the new lady-friend lived right next door to the house Sting shared with his (ex) wife.
@@Raz.C Except no. HE was the one who became a stalker. He was the one constantly watching his ex-wife after she left him.
@@purpleiguana208
I really hope that that's your opinion and that it's not factual, because that would be really depressing and unsettling if it were.
After I get some sleep, I'll do a bit of reading and try to confirm who the stalker is. I'll get back to you (assuming I can get to sleep) in a few hours, or (if I can't get to sleep) quite a few hours...
I feel so validated. I have always interpreted More Than Words as being about the idea that the words aren't enough, it's actions that actually show that you love someone.
I agree. And if a guy says that if a girl loves him she'd sleep with him, then he doesn't love her. Obviously, the people that misinterpreted the song probably thought the song was just a comeon.
That's what I always thought too. I never thought of it the way their saying here.
@@petrarabbit3995 Same here. This comes to show people can be so shallow.
Exactly. I understood its meaning. Just like a lot of songs actually say what they mean. People just don't listen to the lyrics
Right?! It's exactly the saying "Actions speak louder than words" in a song!
Anyone immediately thinking of sex, that's on them 🤷♀
Man the 70's was such a defining time for music for the US (and quite a bit of the world)! Just 20-30 years past WW2, 10-20 years past the Korean War, and immediately after and during the Vietnam War. People all over the world were feeling the decades long turmoil, and we see it resonating even today in music with our current world events. Music is such a powerful tool!
You've nailed it 👍
I can’t believe “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is really about the lead singer’s dad dying from cancer when the singer was just 10! Poor kid!😭💔
Now I feel bad because I hate green day as is especially that song. Its so sad and emo and boring. But I Didn't know the story behind it till now
@@stewpidasso3910 Oh.😥
I just saw Green Day at the Hella Mega Tour on September 1st. When they played this song he modified the lyrics to say “40 years have gone so fast”. It really hit me hard. It was emotional and showed that even 40 years later it still hurts him to think about it. They immediately followed that song with the song “Still Breathing”. It was like he reminisced about his father’s death, and then reflected upon his own mortality, and how he must live life while he still can right in front of us.
It was emotional. Such a great show. Weezer and Fall Out Boy did great also.
@@baertheblader9402 i saw them September 6 and i can confirm that Billy sings that song with a lot of emotion. great show so glad i went
@@baertheblader9402 Holy crap! The lead singer of Green Day is 50 now!?!
I never thought Extreme's "More Than Words" meant anything other than show you love someone, don't just say it.
yeah, same
I know right, I don't understand how Top Mojo could interpret this song in any other way.
Same
@@DagneZand they are thick thats why
That seemed so obvious!
Also...."Fortunate Son"(CCR). Honestly, if u read the lyrics, it really is about how rich kids got their Mommy and Daddy 2 make sure they avoided the Draft in Vietnam, but most misinterpret it as a sign of being patriotic.
I nearly pissed myself laughing when I first heard Trump was playing "Fortunate Son" at his rallies...
_Some folks are born silver spoon in hand_
_Lord, don't they help themselves?_
_But when the taxman comes to the door_
_The house looks like a rummage sale_
_It ain't me, it ain't me_
_I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no_
_It ain't me, it ain't me_
_I ain't no fortunate one, no_
@@StoneE4 Right, I still think whoever picked the music was trolling.
And the lyrics are very obvious.
Same with Born In The U.S.A
@@StoneE4 The problem with "President 'Rump'" played severing at his rallies that got more than one artist upset and his camp repeatedly gotten "cease and disisit" orders. There mayb enough 2 make a "Top 10 Sings Banned at 'Rump' rallies cuz he's pissed off so many singers and songwriters(on most cases the same person) 4 using their song without permission.
The Green Day song was never unclear to me, as I lost my father just before turning eight. I relate to the song more than nearly any other. I appreciate it, and can't listen to it without weeping.
It was originally supposed to be on a earlier album like real earlier one but he wasn't mentally ready to sing it yet is what I read sometime back. I'm sorry about ur dad. That song makes me cry sometimes. It's just so sad
@@Necronympelia I appreciate your kindness. That was the event that shattered my universe.
@@ImYourOverlord I can imagine bc I know I'd be a mess like seriously bad
@@Necronympelia It took about eight years for me to start letting emotions out again and interact more with people.
I actually knew the point of Time of Your Life when I suggested it as our graduation song in high school. It was exactly how I felt about my graduating class and high school in general.
I was thinking kind of the same thing lol that it's still fitting at graduation for most people 🤣
I said the same thing, 8th grade graduation the year it came out, all the prissy kids were crying about how beautiful it was and how we were all gonna miss each other. I tried to tell them it's a sarcastic fuck you to a break up. Jokes on them lol I felt that way so it fit some of us with a laugh
that;s why i want it on my funeral. Did you enjoy the show? came to make sure i'm dead? Did you show up just to look good? My real friends will get the message and laugh at all the idiots who just talk about how beautifull it was
My group would have put it forward for our graduation,- had that song been written when we graduated - for the same exact reason!
Yes same here! Too many bullies in my high school 😞
Leonard Cohen does no favors for misinterpretation because he sings that song SO DAMN BEAUTIFULLY that it feels like a divine moment 🥰
Fun fact: When you misunderstand lyrics but invent something that makes sense in your head in it's place, that's called Mondegreen.
Cool!
If someone wrote a song called Mondrgreen it would be interpreted as being about the environment. That’s because of mondegreen.
@@brianarbenz1329 no that's not how it works at all. A classic example of Monda green would be the Credence Clearwater song bad Moon on the rise. Some people hear bathroom on the right. Those words make sense and if you have not read the title of the song you might hear it that way. Happens to me all the time about songs I've been listening to for decades.
I did so for "Born In The USA;" what Bruce Springsteen actually WROTE as "I'm a long gone daddy in the USA" and "I'm a cool rocking daddy in the USA," I INTERPRET as "And I know I'm gonna die in the USA" and "And it's true I'm gonna die in the USA" respectively.
Those mondegreens of mine add to the overall tone of desolation, absolute defeat, and total personal destruction conveyed elsewhere in the lyrics.
'Scuse me while I kiss this guy!
I thought “Closing Time” was a love song between a bartender and one of the patrons. It’s actually even sweeter than I originally thought.🥰
I thought it was about one night stands lol guess I’m an idiot 🤣
@@peterf.229 I dont think you are. Ive heard that song hundreds of times (I was in the Army, chasing girls was my 2nd job). I can tell you exactly how many times I heard that song AT closing time and thought....you what this could be a metaphor for? parenthood
Im calling bullshit on this one. If he wrote this as a metaphor for parenthood, he did a horrible fucking writing job. Epic fail
Doh....Zero was the answer.
Zero times I heard the song and thought of parenthood
Zero
@@openyoureyes909jones6 I think it really is about closing time and the writer decided to BS everybody and say it has a deeper meaning.
It's Closing Time
Time to leave the bar and go home
'Cause now it's not just you and the wife
Now you've got a tiny little Plus One depending on you
For anyone wondering
about Dolly Parton's
"I Will Always Love You"
& The Boomtown Rats'
"I Don't Like Mondays"
being in the intro, but not on the list--
The former is about Parton's
breakup from Porter Waggoner,
while the latter is about
a school shooting in 1979.
Mostly, though, this is definitely
one of your best lists, WatchMojo.
I was wondering if they’d mention the boomtown rats song meaning since it’s connotations are so dark… the 16 year old girl shot up a school killing 2 adults injuring 8 kids and a police officer and her reason given was “I don’t like Mondays this livens up the day”
Thanks
@@Robert-up1yi there's a documentary on Prime Video that tells the story of that day.
The Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays" is pretty hard not to know it's about a school shooting, it just doesn't indicate which one unless you already knew.
I am surprised that "Pumped Up Kicks" wasn't listed as that is clearly about a school/mass shooting, when in fact it's about youth mental health or the lack of it.
Jeremy by Pearl Jam but it’s pretty clear as is pumped up kicks
My favourite is Ace's song How Long (Has This Been Going On?)' It sounds like a guy asking his spouse how long she has been cheating on him, when in fact it is about the band's bass player who was secretly playing with another band!
I always thought Puff the Magic dragon was about losing your innocence in childhood
We said it once, we'll say it again. It's not "every bone you break" it's "every BOND you break." As in family bonds.
What was that? Every bone you break? Lol
Srsly where are they getting "bone" from? It's clearly, "bond."
@@meganmcdonald7405 They just read off the same scripts that they made back in the mid 2010s, during their first recordings of this same list.
A part two to this would be amazing
I would like to point out that Budd Dwyer was vindicated after his death. He was indeed framed. RIP Budd, you were a good man who was unfairly targeted.
I'm surprised that Pumped up kicks from Foster the People is not in this list. I think many people forget that it's about a school shooting.
Plus i also know of a Japanese pop song that is very upbeat and nice sounding, and of course people who don't speak Japanese wouldn't know any better. But the song is actually about a man who meets a suicidal girl and falls for her. The song is called "Yoru ni Kakeru" ( translated: racing into the night ) by YOASOBI
A ton of Japanese songs sound upbeat with depressing lyrics
My brother and I always said Every Breath You Take was the best stalker song; whereas my sister believed it was the best wedding song
Top 10 Songs Inspired By True Events
For example: Detroit Rock City by KISS, a song about a fan who died in car crash while on his way to a concert.
they covered that song in one of their previous music videos like this.
American Pie by Don Mclean
Hurricane by bob dylan
I Don't Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats
about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego
_Slide_ _It_ _In_ by Whitesnake.
The irony in “Ironic” is that none of the situations she describes are ironic (which is, by definition, ironic”)
Alains Morrissette played all of us like a fiddle.
I was saying that for years before this, A song about Irony but every example in the song is not Ironic, well isn't that Ironic....
That's not ironic. It's just wrong and stupid.
Or she got caught not knowing what irony was and tried to weasel her way out.
How did anyone think every breath you take was a love song? As soon as I hear the song I was like “this is creepy” maybe because of my own experiences, but like people think it sounds loving??
The Police's Every Breath You Take has always be known as a stalker song! Or maybe I'm old enough to learn that 20 odd years ago
I've known that since I first heard it. And I'm 16
It always creeped me out. Even before I knew it was the stalker anthem, it felt stalkery
Had no idea about Closing Time but I always think of the show The Office when Andy Bernard became boss and he started singing it at the end of the day and Pam didn’t know all the words but sang anyway and Stanley said he used to dislike it but now it’s his favorite song because it means it’s time for him to go home❤️
Hahaha true 😂
@@philhelp 👍🏻🤝😂
I did know this, but only because I saw the video where he explained the song to the crowd.
Yeah it's about the birth of his daughter
I dunno I have seen about two episodes of the office and hated it with all my being 🤣
“For me the sweetest moment came in New York when a woman came up to me in a record store and said, ‘So all those things in ‘Ironic’ aren’t ironic.’ And then she said, ‘And that’s the irony.’ I said, ‘Yup.’”
Fun’s ”Some Nights” isn’t about war, despite the video’s theme and the lyrics very easily sounding like it is. But it’s about Nate Reuss leaving home to pursue his career, and how much ambiguity and loss he felt, especially after his mother died.
With several of these, when you need to know all about about the writer’s personal life, casual listeners can’t be faulted for “not understanding it”.
That is such a great song.
hey ya! by outkast - very sad song talking about 2 lovers who have fallen out of love but only stay together cause societies thoughts on divorce, 3 stacks even calls out the listener for “not wanting to hear him” and just wanting to dance. put a deep meaning behind a catchy beat and you’ll never fail to see exactly that - just dancing
For a song that was in the teaser, but not the actual countdown: I remember in the 90s, when Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" was popular. I would often hear people (usually teen girls or young women) calling in to dedicate it to their guy with messages like "and I hope we're always together." I bet DJs everywhere were biting their tongues to keep from asking, "Then why are you choosing a song about how you CAN'T be together?"
I'm struck by how this song is continually referred to as a Whitney Houston song when is is in fact a Dolly Parton song written to and for Porter Wagoner to express Dolly's love and appreciation to Porter for giving her her start in the music industry as she was leaving his control and show to go on her own.
Exactly the reason I wouldn't let them play it at my wedding 😂
"wake me when September ends" has always had a shit feeling for me, even worse now that I know the music video is connected to the military. I lost my dad to PTSD. We were both each deployed when the song hit. After he lost his battle with PTSD, Mom showed me emails from the first deployment. He referenced the song in an email. He was a commander. Turns out, dad lost his best friend in highschool in the 80s to a drunk driver in September, and September was his units deadliest month.
Imagine...writing the communist manifesto on a $50,000 Steinway piano with a billion dollars in the bank after you got rich in a free market capitalist system.
I'm not a green day fan but good riddance is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and I still get emotional when I listen to it. 😥
It’s sad to me because I got dumped to it 😢/🤣 I gotta laugh a lil since it was one of those 90’s/2000’s internet deals lol
Sorry to hear that.
The fact that Greenday could have a whole list of songs for this is amazing. The way Billie joe writes is phenomenal. Good Riddence is literally written as a fuck you and being used the way it is, is hilarious
Billie joe a good writer 🤣🤣 dont kid yourself
@@harry_h2705 Ah shit you got me
@@Hi_Ryyydrums I got your mom aswell
@@harry_h2705 Ah man only thing you don't seem to have is a life. Enjoy my mom though she's kind of out there 🥴
@@Hi_Ryyydrums what do you mean enjoy your mum
“Possession” has some of the creepiest and darkest lyrics EVER (and I’m a Police fanatic so I thought of “Every Breath you Take” before anything else) - “I will be the one/to hold you down/kiss you so hard/I’ll take your breath away” (as in murder you after SAing you b/c I’m a psycho stalker and think I “love” you. It’s honestly terrifying, and it’s beautifully written, performed, and produced.
I saw your flag on the marble arch but love is not a victory March. Thank you Leonard! When you don't curse at your heartache, you say Hallelujah.
As an older millennial, the Green Day song, Good Riddance, mostly just makes me think about those ER episodes where Dr Anspaugh's son was dying of cancer.
Oh my word, yes!!!! That was heartbreaking!
Yes! As a literal boomer myself, this was the first time that I had heard the song. I found it interesting that “Blackbird” made the list because I loved the scene where Susan’s sister sang this. To songs on the list remind me of e.r. :)
I could have sworn I heard he wrote that song about a friend that ODed from heroin. That it was about reminiscing all of that time he had.
Wasn't an issue of "mind in gutter" regarding "More than Words", it was (and remains to this day) an issue with people assuming all a dude could possibly mean is sex.
It's such a great song with a great meaning. People don't listen to the verses and just jump to the worst
Conclusion.
It was how the word Love was overused so it needed to be shown. There needed a word for more than Love.
@@rose-pb1od I was referring to the criticisms of the song, as outlined by the video, not the song itself.
@@kevinclapson I liked how the concept of the song exists. It's really true. The word Love is overused. Sometimes there's an emotion or a thing that happens that Love does not cover.
@@rose-pb1od especially given how the word has been constantly cheapened by being used to describe infatuation and obsession.
That is what makes a song great and art. It can be interpreted and enjoyed in a lot of different ways.
Puff the Magic Dragon is about the loss of childhood, when you stop having imaginary friends. Read ALL of the lyrics
This is a beautiful song. It sometimes brings tears to my eyes.
When I was a young girl, I interpreted the lyrics _"A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys"_ literally. I thought that Jackie Paper actually died. It made me quite sad, but eventually I came to understand that Jackie had just ceased to believe. And that too made me sad.
It was hilarious when Gal Gadot had other celebrities sing "Imagine" to "help" people struggling with the pandemic. First, it just helped to further emphasize the wealth gap in America, especially when it comes to entertainers. Second, it's a song about communism being sung by the wealthy.
I'm sure that wasn't her intention.
John would want his songs to help people though
Wouldn't a wealthy person supporting a move towards communism be more meaningful than a poor person who has nothing to lose by it?
And a song about atheism. Guess what everyone, your grandma that's dying from covid isn't going to heaven. Thanks celebrities.
@@nunyabizness5391 There is no heaven, it doesn't matter if Grandma is ill of not. its not a thing, the song just tells you the truth.
I was disappointed when I found out that "In the Air Tonight" is just a bitter divorce song because I did think it was about witnessing someone doing something horrific. However, I never thought that it was about somebody letting someone drown, and it drives me crazy that people interpret it that way because the line is: "If you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand." That's just a sentiment of disgust and hatred. I always thought it just never divulged what the person did specifically to merit that animosity, which made the song cool and mysterious to me. I still choose to interpret it that way.
And I thought the Pink Song Family Portrait was the only divorce song besides Nothing Compares Too You by Shinead O Connor. Made 3 years or less apart from each other.
It’s ironic the song is about a bitter divorce when rumors have it Collins divorced his second wife via a fax. 🤣
@@jasonrandom372 "Precious" by Depeche Mode is one of the few songs Martin Gore has ever explained - and it's to his kids about his divorce.
@@Benanov interesting! I always thought that was a song about addiction not divorce.
Still a bad ass song! Always play this song driving at night.
So, the song "Ironic" actually contains tragic irony as opposed to situational irony, which is what most people think of when they hear the word ironic. It does indeed contain irony; just not the type of irony that most people expect.
The definition of irony is contrary to expectation.
Rain on your wedding day? A toss-up. (Unless you're marrying outside, in which case, you should definitely expect rain!)
A free ride when you've already paid? And why did the cabbie let you pay?
Good advice that you just didn't take? Your own damn fault! 😅
@@HerbalMoon17 That’s _situational_ irony; _dramatic_ irony is where the audience is aware of an impending tragic situation that the character(s) is/are unaware of. The ninety-eight year-old man likely didn’t know he was going to die the day after winning the lottery; likewise, the guy in the second verse didn’t know he was going to end up in a plane crash.
@@carlolombardi1998 except we the listeners were also not aware the man on the plane was going to crash or that the old man was going to die after winning the lottery ahead of it being sung either, so it's still not ironic. As the video pointed put, it's tragic.
The song doesn't contain any form of irony.
@@sirgeorgescott2995 and isn’t that ironic?
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
My favorite line in Hallelujah is, Maybe there is a god above but all I ever learned from love is how to shoot someone who out drew you. It's not a cry you hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah. That has always been the story of my life.
The entire song is beautiful!
All 80-some verses
@David Ponseigo, it's a sad cry in the Biblical stories referenced in the song, too.
@@taligordin-kaviani1569 it is not a biblical song. At all. It is 87 verses about the end of a toxic relationship. The few biblical references are to toxic relationships, too - David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah….these relationships all ended in death.
Puff the Magic Dragon is a coming of age song. It’s about a child who plays with an imaginary dragon Puff and have imaginary adventures together. Child innocents. The child grows up and doesn’t play with Puff anymore. It’s kind of a sad song. I feel really sad every time I listen to it. 😢 It’s torture because my little boy loves listening to this song in the car. I watch him sing along and I want to cry. I say to myself don’t grow up little one stay joyful and innocent. You are so Naïve to what the world is like when you get older. 😥
I've always said that Imagine was about communism just as Every Breath You Take is about stalking someone
That’s hardly a groundbreaking, original thought😆 It’s common knowledge and has been for decades. 🙄
@@fashiondiva6972 I know this
But the way they presented this is as if it was a brand new revelation that has only been revealed after decades of research like finding out the destination of a centuries old treasure map instead of something fans hadn't known for decades
Every Breath You Take is about Overbearing Government Surveillance
@@justinnelson9787 Overbearing Government Surveillance? In 1983?
Being done by The Police, it's not stalking, it's surveillance.
More that Words was the only one I was surprised by, but I had heard most of the "alternative" meanings at one time or another. Great list!
17:55 I heard Sting had a fan tell him that was the song at their wedding. And he said, "I'm sorry you misunderstood the song."
I remember when Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) was played during Wayne Gretzky's retirement announcement. He was emotional, I was thinking "Why would you choose this song? Read the title before playing it."
I knew you had to have "Born in the U.S.A.", Horse With No Name", "Puff The Magic Dragon" and "Every Breath You Take" if you read the lyrics and listen to them, the allegories jump right out and bite yoi
Especially puff the magic dragon . The stoner in me thought it was a weed song for a long time. The sober me realizes a deeper meaning .
@@cliffarthur6549 Yep, Noel Paul A Stookie and Peter Yarborough being Fundamentalist Christians. They wouldn't write stoner songs.
Most people don't, they just like the beat and the sound of a song.
@@chrisrj9871 Yes, but a lot of songs are more interesting if you know the lyrics
@@chrisrj9871 Yes, but a lot of songs are more interesting if you know the lyrics
Here are some more songs:
1. Thompson Twins - “Wish You Were Here”
- Played at the end of the movie “Sixteen Candles” when Samantha meets Jake at the church. Cute little love song? Listen to the lyrics and you find a completely different scenario than what you think. “…If you were here, I could deceive you…”
2. Human League - “Human”
- the woman crying in the song lyrics is not crying because her husband cheated on her while she was away. She’s crying because she cheated on him as well and feels shameful about it
3. Rupert Holmes - “The Pina Colada Song”
- a man is bored with his wife so he responds to a personal ad. Little does he know, the personal ad he responds to is his wife’s, which means she was bored with him long before he was bored with her, since she wrote the personal ad in the first place
The thing about Time of Your Life/Good Riddance is that even the lyrics suggest nostalgia
i believe puff the magic dragon is about growing up and the loss of our childhood.
Good Riddance is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. And I’m not even a big Green Day fan.
It’s not even close to the best Green Day song.
@@twenty1thirteen I agree
That’s a really boring and shitty song and I’m a green day fan. BJA would agree with me lol
@@twenty1thirteen Whats your best? Just curious. Mine is Jesus of Suburbia
@@twenty1thirteen what's the best in your opinion
I always had good chuckle when I heard Republicans playing “Born in the USA” as thinking how it supported their message of patriotism.
How could you not hear the clear message in that song?
Probably because the lyrics "born in the USA" are so prominent and repetitive that they're all most people remember about the song.
Just as; "there are none so blind, as those who will not see" (appropriate for Jan. 6 Sedition deniers), so are there none so lacking in intelligence, as those who will not listen. I, too, will always enjoy the sweet irony of hearing "conservatives" (another word whose definition is ignored and used ironically) using songs that are antithetic to their politics. So many of them like the title (and refrain) and don't listen to the rest of the story. It's indicative of their lack of intellectual depth or laziness and a source of amusement for me. War-Hawks using an anti-war anthem at their rallies...that was rich.
This list, including the honorable mentions, would be an awesome mix tape.
Wake me up when September Ends is my anthem. I HATE September. My son passed away at age 17 on Sept 7th, and I just wish I could jump to October. Every day is painful and I always knew he meant the loss of someone he loved
I also dislike September, mostly. But my sister gave a great nephew in late September. Then some twenty years later we lost our dad in September. Shits a mixed bag.
@@james-russellgause4735 I'm sorry for your loss. I have two beautiful granddaughters who brighten my day, just September is hard for me still after eight years.
I don't share your feelings about the month of September. My mother, my wife and I were all born during that month, plus my wedding anniversary falls in September - on my wife's birthday, no less.
My dad passed away on September 1st. I never felt this song so deeply as after that day.
@@shimeraleader I am so sorry for your loss. 😢
What about Audioslave - Like a Stone ?? Contrary to popular belief its not about waiting for lost love but rather waiting for death. Damn you Chris Cornell !
Music has the magic of saying one thing and passing on something else via its tones and colors
I have always taken "More Than Words" to be about showing your love "In The Little Ways", the ones that really count, like a plea for proof beyond sex and declarations of love. Never thought once that it was about "Sexual Pressure". If anything I felt it was about an insecure person's wonderings about the true depth of feeling their partner had for them in regards to a future together.
Who didn't know "every breath you take" is about a stalker? I've literally heard people call it the stalker's national anthem as a joke! It's pretty obvious what the song is once you actually listen to the lyrics.
I feel like people say it as a joke but some assume it originally had a less dark meaning
I wanna bang my head on the table every time a video has Every Breath,In the air,Good riddance,I will always love you,born in USA...these songs meanings have been explained over and over again...along with some of the urban legends attached to them!
Seizure warning
If that's you in the picture, don't do it! 😊
How do people not know that “every move you make” is about a stalker? It’s so creepy!
But they’re saying “every BOND you break, not bone”.
Well puff daddy sampled the song to be about biggie’s death so that might have something to do with it.
This was very interesting. There were several that I had pegged all along, and it seems I was right. Most notably, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The misconception comes from knowing only this one song. If you know Cohen’s writing well, both poetry and lyrics, you understood this the first time you heard it. Also, a verse is very often left out when the song is covered or done in public. It doesn’t seem to fit with the religious anthem people want, so they remove it. “Well, maybe there’s a God above, But all I’ve ever learned from love, Is how to shoot somebody who outdrew you. But it’s not a crime that you'll hear tonight; It’s not someone who has seen the Light, it’s a cold, and it’s a broken Hallelujah.” It is a brilliant piece with the meaning Cohen intended.
I didn't know that was removed. Every version I've heard includes it.
My high school graduating class had Good Riddance as our class song
I think all the classes of the 80's and 90's picked this song.
Born in the USA isn’t criticizing America and everything we stand for. It’s trashing how we treated our Viet Nam war vets.
It's run by Canadian's. Are you really that surprised 😂
Mind explaining how that's the case?
Edit: I would say it's both. Considering the fact it's bringing up blind nationalism as "patriotism," while ignoring the plight of veterans that fought a meaningless and brutal war only to come home from Vietnam disaffected and feeling hopeless when the people they ACTUALLY fought for (the government) treated them like shit.
@@kingeatking It's run by Canadian what?
Canadian's superior sense of humour?
Canadian's chill demeanor?
Also, if you are referring to multiple Canadians then the apostrophe is in the wrong place, and should be placed after the final s.
However if you are referring to a single Canadian then you are missing an indefinite article. Is it a Canadian's, or perhaps the Canadian's?
Maybe you're (note: proper use of an apostrophe) just trying to suggest that the channel is run by more than one Canadian. In that case you don't need to add the apostrophe. There's (look, again proper use) more than one of us. Canadians will suffice.
Usually not the grammar police, but your comment is ridiculous, so you get a ridiculous, but correct response.
..........which is something America has done to vets since it's inception.
@@klew83 to tell you the truth I stopped reading after the couple first of sentences. All I could hear was blah blah blah you know? Ye Canadians are a sensitive lot! Ye gave us Jim Carrey and and maple syrup but then turned to the dark side and became humourless robots. Taking away people's freedom of speech is a perfect example of that. You know when you think about it a lot of Canadians are kind of like the Nazis. Not all as you can't paint everyone with the same brush but definitely the lefty's. Bottom line is I'm better then you 😌
Thank you for including Hallelujah.
Wake me up when September ends. The song playing when I left for baisc training. I still remember my wife crying. Can’t forgive or forget.
Taking anything John Lennon said at face value is a dangerous thing - he is one of the great masters of taking the piss, a thing Americans frequently miss
He knew it would be a hit and make him a great deal of money.
He got the lyrics from a mentally handicapped dude from Alabama, he's not that clever.
his benevolence as a human being was also misinterpreted, he was actually a rotten human being
7:36 "Why a song named "Ironic" contains no real irony?"
Well, simply because people don't know why Irony is...
Even worse, some people don't know _what_ irony is, much less _why._
@@uuouuo5480 Ironic.
Seriously! None of the things she describes are made entirely of iron. None!. Oh, Alanis.
Like how Bryan Adams has a different meaning to the song he sings, but Jim Vallance wrote and has talked about how it was about his high school friends and their band breaking up after high school
My favourite thing about Born in the USA is how republican politicians always try to use it for rallies, and Bruce is like "no"
There first time I heard it, I despised it. Even El Rushbo hated the song. It ranks up there next to Sweet Home Alabama--which is not an anthem you want to sing.
@@katemaloney4296 Cool? I'm not American but I think it's a genius song.
@@katemaloney4296 sweet home Alabama is the best song ever. I played it when we would leave our FOB and when we would return. It’s the best all American song.
Bruce is a Weiner
Bruce is one of my favorite songwriters,but his political support for this tyrannical administration is beyond disappointing.
"Bicycle Race" by Queen. Everyone assumes that it is about Freddie Mercury's bisexuality, when it is literally about riding a bicycle. There is actually nothing cryptic in that song and is supposed to be taken at face value.
Maybe us citziens
But Europeans never thought like that
Pretty sure Bohemian Rhapsody has more to do with his bisexuality
Freddy was inspired by the Tour de France
@@sheilarough236 so it's a song about taking drugs ;)
@@engeltjebaleno what-
Mojo needs to do better research when they compile a list that’s supposed to clear up misconceptions because they always misconceive the explanation
Ever since I was eight or nine years old, when I first heard that song by Green Day, I knew that it had something to do with death, and I knew that it must’ve been on a personal scale. I just had that feeling when I heard it. I started to think about how I would feel if I was in that situation.
Pink Floyd's "comfortably numb" should be on this list!!
Some of these songs featured on the list are absolute classics.
Swimming pools by Kendrick Lamar talks about drinking being bad but everyone thinks it’s about getting drunk
Imagine wasn't "sneaky" at all, those of us growing up when it was even more popular knew exactly what it was about because we knew Lennon's beliefs.
John lennon is a legend
@@manialord1699 John Lennon was actually a really rotten human being, not only is his song misinterpreted but his benevolence as a person is also.
He was even called out in American pie, "...and Lenon read a book on Marks...", so his beliefs were well known.
@@manialord1699 I think Julian would disagree just a bit.
@@_Y.Not_ Yeah I know that but he still a legend. Part of the top selling band of all time.
My daughter thought you should have included Mamma Mia because everyone seems to think it's romantic. It's really about not being able to leave a bad relationship.
As most abba songs have a very dark and nasty background tbat not ma y people are aware of
Man after midnight is about cbeatiing fernando about war and one of us is nust sick when you meep in mind the ex hus and wrote the tekst and sbe totaly makes a fool oht of her r selve especily sbe should think sbe never zbould ve lived at all is mind blowing.But happy music does the tric.I very sboking relevation i had when k found out where nirvnana's polly was refering to