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Songs that are often interpreted the opposite of intended

 
 
 
thebeave said:
credoconsolans said:
The song clearly about stalking is Lionel Richie's "Hello"

I've been alone with you inside my mind
And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times
I sometimes see you pass outside my door
Hello, is it me you're looking for?
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
You're all I've ever wanted, and my arms are open wide
'Cause you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much, I love you ...
Ohh yeahh...
I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again how much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow
Hello, I've just got to let you know
'Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely, or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven't got a clue
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More like he's longing for her, or obsessed with her. I don't see any stalking behavior in those lyrics.
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Yeah, longing isn't the same as "I'll be watching you".
 
Alive, by Pearl Jam

According to Eddie Vedder, this song is about some kid who's real dad dies and he apparently looks just like him so his mom, still being in love with her deceased spouse falls in love with her son--has sex with him and obviously fucks him up. It's the first part of a trilogy that you'd never know about if the internet didn't exist.

Alive Lyrics

Son she said
Have I got a little story for you
What you thought was your daddy
Was nothin' but a fool

While you were sittin'
Home alone at age thirteen
Your real father was dyin'
Sorry you didn't see him
But I'm glad we talked,

Oh I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, hey, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey I, oh, I'm still alive

Oh she walks slowly
Across a young man's room
She said I'm ready, for you
I can't remember anything
To this very day
'Cept the look, yeah the look
Oh, you know where

Now I can't see, I just stare
I, I, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive

Is something wrong
She said
Of course there is
You're still alive
She said
Oh do I deserve to be?
And is that the question? Oh
And if so, if so
Who answers?
Who answers?

I, I, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive
I'm still alive

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
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When this song came out, I was in the army and my wife left me while I was in basic training. I'd see my daughter twice over the next two and half years. And this song will always make me think of that.

It doesn't matter to me what the writer was thinking. What matters is what it means to me.
 
Just about all of Randy Newman's best-known songs are pieces of misdirection. When he had a mid-career hit with Short People, there had to be laborious explanations in the media that Newman was a satirist. When you listen to his album about white working class palookas in the South (Good Old Boys) you can hear some real affection for the milieu along with swipes at the craziness of the Jim Crow era. Etta James responded to Newman's humor and recorded a bunch of his songs, which lent yet another layer of ambiguity to them.
 
Uwe said:
I've been to post-breakup Pink Floyd concerts, and seen teh obvious KKK-types cheerfully screaming along with:

http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/in-the-flesh-2-wall-lyrics.html
In The Flesh (Waters) 1:36

So ya
Thought ya
Might like to
Go to the show.
To feel that warm thrill of confusion,
That space cadet glow.
I've got some bad news for you sunshine,
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel
And they sent us along as a surrogate band
We're gonna find out where you folks really stand.

Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint,
And another with spots!
If I had my way,
I'd have all of you shot!
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That's a good illustration of why I prefer Roger Waters' solo shows. You don't get the mindless fans who just there so they can say they saw the legendary "Floyd", but who don't actually understand or feel what's behind the music. Ironically, those mindless fans are exactly who that song is about and who inspired The Wall which represents the Wall waters felt between himself and the stadiums full of screaming fans.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
Alive, by Pearl Jam

According to Eddie Vedder, this song is about some kid who's real dad dies and he apparently looks just like him so his mom, still being in love with her deceased spouse falls in love with her son--has sex with him and obviously fucks him up. It's the first part of a trilogy that you'd never know about if the internet didn't exist.

Alive Lyrics

Son she said
Have I got a little story for you
What you thought was your daddy
Was nothin' but a fool

While you were sittin'
Home alone at age thirteen
Your real father was dyin'
Sorry you didn't see him
But I'm glad we talked,

Oh I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, hey, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey I, oh, I'm still alive

Oh she walks slowly
Across a young man's room
She said I'm ready, for you
I can't remember anything
To this very day
'Cept the look, yeah the look
Oh, you know where

Now I can't see, I just stare
I, I, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive

Is something wrong
She said
Of course there is
You're still alive
She said
Oh do I deserve to be?
And is that the question? Oh
And if so, if so
Who answers?
Who answers?

I, I, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah I, oh, I'm still alive
I'm still alive

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Click to expand...

When this song came out, I was in the army and my wife left me while I was in basic training. I'd see my daughter twice over the next two and half years. And this song will always make me think of that.

It doesn't matter to me what the writer was thinking. What matters is what it means to me.
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Oh, great! Now I have:

Oh I, oh, I swallowed a fly.
Hey, hey, I, oh, I swallowed a fly.
Hey I, oh, I swallowed a fly.

Stuck in my head.
 
Underseer said:
One of the funniest ones is Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, which came about because of something the songwriter misunderstood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smells_Like_Teen_Spirit

Cobain came up with the song's title when his friend Kathleen Hanna, at the time the lead singer of the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill, spray painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his wall. Since they had been discussing anarchism, punk rock, and similar topics, Cobain interpreted the slogan as having a revolutionary meaning. What Hanna actually meant, however, was that Cobain smelled like the deodorant Teen Spirit, which his then-girlfriend Tobi Vail wore. Cobain later claimed he was unaware that it was a brand of deodorant until months after the single was released.[10]
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In a way that actually fits perfectly with the song. My interpretation of the lyrics is that it was partly a mockery of his own fans and of the pretense that they are rebelling though music when they are just engaging in safe, ineffectual mindless conformity.

"With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us"
 
Stairway to Heaven.

A song meant to be meaningless ala Jabberwocky but misinterpreted by legions of Christian fanatics to be somehow about Satan or other similar nonsensical hysteria.
 
Celadon said:
We Will Rock You

A song encouraging rebellion or dissuading it?
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Encouraging it, because I have no idea what the lyrics are other than "We will rock you" and something about some disgrace having mud on their face. Poor guy.
 
Robin Thicke's song, 'Blurred Lines' has garnered him a lot of crap from some of my coworkers.

Part of they lyrics:

"You the hottest bitch in this place.
I feel so lucky,
You wanna hug me
What rhymes with hug me?"

And they ask, what kind of songwriter not only cannot rhyme 'hug me,' but brags about that failure AND RELEASES THE SONG ANYWAY?"

They miss the point. Of course he could rhyme 'hug me' with something. The point is to draw attention to the rhyme scheme. 'Hug me' is not a good rhyme for 'Lucky.' At least, it's not the most obvious rhyme.

The most natural lyrics here would be 'I feel so lucky/you wanna fuck me.'
He didn't do that. He forced a less comfortable rhyme, then drew attention to that fact. After that, you only ever HEAR the f-bomb, even though the radio's play the song.
 
No idea what a Robin Thicke is, but Alice Cooper's School's Out used a similar admission.

Well we got no class
And we got no principals (principles?)
And we got no innocence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes
 
Most women I know hate Blurred Lines because they feel the lyrics are about taking advantage of an intoxicated woman (ie: rape).
Keith&Co. said:
Robin Thicke's song, 'Blurred Lines' has garnered him a lot of crap from some of my coworkers.

Part of they lyrics:

"You the hottest bitch in this place.
I feel so lucky,
You wanna hug me
What rhymes with hug me?"

And they ask, what kind of songwriter not only cannot rhyme 'hug me,' but brags about that failure AND RELEASES THE SONG ANYWAY?"

They miss the point. Of course he could rhyme 'hug me' with something. The point is to draw attention to the rhyme scheme. 'Hug me' is not a good rhyme for 'Lucky.' At least, it's not the most obvious rhyme.

The most natural lyrics here would be 'I feel so lucky/you wanna fuck me.'
He didn't do that. He forced a less comfortable rhyme, then drew attention to that fact. After that, you only ever HEAR the f-bomb, even though the radio's play the song.
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Jimmy Higgins said:
Celadon said:
We Will Rock You

A song encouraging rebellion or dissuading it?
Click to expand...
Encouraging it, because I have no idea what the lyrics are other than "We will rock you" and something about some disgrace having mud on their face. Poor guy.
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It's calling the rebellious protesting youth "disgraceful" and then says "Somebody better put you [this protesting guy] back into your place".
 
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