Misinterpreting the meaning of songs...

I always thought the VU's "Waiting For My Man" was about a blind date. Really. I can't bear to have anyone tell me different; spoils it for me entirely.

My friend thought the Kink's "Art LOver" was about a child molester.

Whaddaya mean, it's *not* about a child molester ??

I thought "My Sister" by the Tindersticks was a totally true story and everything in it happened to Stuart Staples. I wonder how naive I must therefore have been at 15.

It took me until I was 14 to figure out what Madonna was going on about in Papa Don't Preach. I thought she was saying she was in this really serious relationship and her dad hated her man, like it's some Shangri-Las song or something.

That's definitely my pick as well, Ally. I mean, have you seen the video? (of course you have) it's all "oh I like this cute guy but he's a greaseball and my dad wants a better life for me" but hello that's not at all what Madonna was talking about in the song. who the hell made that video?

Some friggin' crackhead. If it was a Foo Fighters video, they would've dressed up their drummer like a pregnant woman and the dad would've had huge hands and something psychopathic would've happened in it. It would've been great. Instead, Madonna's all going out with some guy that looks like Joey from Friends and she's not at all pregnant looking and her dad is mad and famous. It's ridiculous. I just assumed "baby" meant Joey from Friends.

before i paid any attention to the song i thought Jeremy by pearl jam was about some loner kid who finally spoke..and the uncensored i saw years later proved me wrong.

I thought "Under the Bridge" was about vampires (drawing blood, "it took my life away" = the undead, right?). My friend thought that Gin Blossoms song "Hey Jealousy" was about a girl who died in a car crash, but he says it turns out it was about a girl who slept with many men. I'm sure I have examples of less ridiculous songs...I am constantly misinterpreting things.

There was an Elvis Costello song a few years ago which was called something like '13 steps lead down', but which I heard as '13th century girl', and so presumed was some kind of wacky conceit of an answer record to '20th century boy', about some hot tomato of the medieval era.

More recently, I was convinced the Gabrielle song 'Out of Reach' was called 'Valerie' and was a touching love song from one woman to another.

Maybe I should clean my ears out.

Of course, Lester Bangs used to claim that he thought the line in 'Good Vibrations' was 'she's giving me citations', and was about an adorable female traffic cop.

Hot tomato?

Do they not have hot tomatos on your island, the pinefox?

I thought "Under the Bridge" was about vampires (drawing blood, "it took my life away" = the undead, right?).

Oh my god, that song would have been so cool if that was what had really been about! Then in the All Saints remake they could have run around like the chicks from Coppola's version of Dracula and Jude Law could have played Dracula. Now that would be fantastic! As it is, I really am not too concerned nor interested in Anthony Kiedis' struggles with heroin. Call me callous.

I think the meanings listeners assign to songs are ultimately a hella lot more interesting than the songwriters original intent. Should the songwriter's intent be taken into account when listening to a song, or is it ultimately unimportant? I really don't care if Michael Stipe meant to write a song about acid rain when he wrote "Fall On Me", because it works better when I read it as an obscurish love song.

The worst thng is when someone else's (mis?)interpretation totally affects how you see the song. Dave Marsh does this a lot in his 1001 singles book, especially his insistence that "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" is about cunnilingus. I bet in another life Dave would have been one of the indie kids at Uni who would always go and dance really badly to "You Suck" by the Yeastie Girls (and to no other hip- hop!) for reasons which I trust are obvious.

I agree re. Papa Dont Preach but I think it's intentional - especially on such a 60s/girl-group referencing LP as True Blue. It struck me as an attempt to write a veiled-but-not song a la "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"

I often just dont know songs are even about anything for years and then suddnely I read what they are about. Like "LOver's Rock" by the Clash. I didn't know they were kind of spoofing Disco.Wait, Are they? Now I'm inseecure about it. Will I ever be able to trust my interpretation of a song again?

The worst thng is when someone else's (mis?)interpretation totally affects how you see the song. Dave Marsh does this a lot in his 1001 singles book, especially his insistence that "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" is about cunnilingus.

Eeurgh. Well, thanks so much for passing that one on, you've probably ruined the song for me as well! ;-) See, there are good reasons to nevah evah evah read Dave Marsh, and that is just one of them.

Misinterpretation can easily become re-interpreatation as well, for instance when I hear "you're much too young girl" on Capitol Gold, I always think that's a bit dodgy, but of course it's quite innocent really, I think, or at least hope.

Mike: I always assumed -- especially coming from them -- that "lover's rock" was a reference to that form of reggae, which is sort of a Philly soul/reggae blend that, unsurprisingly, focuses on romantic relationships rather than things such as class or social struggle.

I don't think a songwriter's intent should be taken into account when you listen to a song, because half the time what they claim their intent is is either shielding the true meaning or it's just out and out lying. Forget it, make up your own decision, because musicians are full of crap.

At least that's what I think.

When I was very young I got away with extremely wide music tastes, as my parents went on the theory that any lyrics dealing with 'adult' themes wouldn't be understood by me anyway. Being aged 7, my favorite band was Kiss, and I used to merrily sing along with "Hot, hot, hotter than hell, you know she's gonna leave you well done" thinking it was about an out-of-control barbecue. "Black Diamond" ("Out on the street for a livin'/the bitch has only begun"), I thought was about a bad-tempered road sweeper. Really!

I think that songs can be interpreted many ways. Even though we may misinterpret the writer's actual intent it could still be true. What it means to us is just as important as its actual meaning.

i would actually suggest what it means to *us* is more important than its actual meaning.

I always thought Springsteen's I'm on Fire was about a guy during summer, until my mum informed me that I shouldn't audition for the kid's choir with that particular song...

Oh come on! How can anyone not realise what Madonna was singing about in Papa Don't Preach? It was obviously about teenage pregnancy. Give the girl some credit, just because she didn't look nine months pregnant in the video isn't an excuse to believe she was using the term baby to describe her boyfriend. wake up and listen to the words. finally, the song outraged Middle America for it's very substance. Many thought she was either encouraging girls to go out and get pregnant or persuade those that were to keep their baby's. As with everything she has done, she is simply stating that we have a choice in the direction of our lives. She tackles issues head on and breaks down the barriers. It's fanatastic song and by listening to the opening bars, there is a real sense of urgency. The strings set the scene - frantic, panic, scared. She's asking her father to help and understand and not isolate her.

I have a thread for you, Mike Weston.

Now, this may sound stupid, but now that I think about it......IT IS!!!!

I always thought that the line "get away" from "At the Drive in" was eat some hay. Since they sang really hard music and screamed into the microphone, I wasnt the wiser for about a month when I had the song stuck in my head and a schoolmate asked me why I kept repeating "eat some hay."

The worst thng is when someone else's (mis?)interpretation totally affects how you see the song. Dave Marsh does this a lot in his 1001 singles book, especially his insistence that "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" is about cunnilingus.

OMG! that is soooo grossss... i would have been able to go my whole life without knowing that. cause i actually liked that song before.. ughh remind me never to read Dave Marsh.

i tht the song was stupid till i read marsh saying that

I'm with Mark S, I didn't like that song before so now I kind of find it more interesting. Can anyone come up with a similar interpretation of 'I Am Woman'?

I used to listen to 10CC on headphones when I was about 7 because it had lyrics in the liner notes, and I treated it basically like a talking book, like my Puff the Magic Dragon record. So when it said 'like walking in the rain and the snow when there's nowhere to go' I felt really sorry for the guy and thought it was about a terrible scene where he was trapped in the snow on the way to his girlfriend's house, it made it really intense. Also I know all the words to many 10CC songs. It's great listening to any crap when you've never heard the cliches before, and the words haven't lost their meaning. But this is what we modern pop listeners still do. People say it's the age of irony, but really it's the age of complete and necessary credulity. They say we buy Coco Pops ironically, but really we chose to take the claims of 'a mouthful of chocolate heaven in every bite' literally.

She roars because of the quality of the head she is receiving.

I haven't read the book in years but thought Marsh was saying 'natural woman' was just post-orgasmic bliss. The cunnilingus reference i remember was the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me"

yeah yr right, but once the subject is in yr mind, you discover it applies to all songs evah hurrah

Yes, applying the rule to the output of Hurrah! has had me sniggering for, ooh, minutes.

"This boy's angry, this boy's sad ... This boy's seen the twinkle in your eye while he just holds your hand, I sigh".