Misinterpreted Song Lyrics

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PetrolHead

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So I'm on the verge of a rant, but....

'Perfect Day' by Lou Reed is an irony laden ode to heroin addiction...

'You're Gorgeous' by Babybird is about an exploitative photographer...

'Time of You're Life' by Greenday is just about the angriest f-you song ever written...

'More than Words' by Extreme is a guy trying to talk his girlfriend into 'pleasuring him'...

'Every Breath you Take' by The Police is about a bitter, jilted lover stalking his ex...


...and yet each of these are seen as love songs and regularly requested on the radio or used at weddings in just this context...

Do people just not bother actually listening to lyrics...?
 
The best must be the original dubya and his adoption of Born in the USA as a patriotic anthem.

Oh and recently, The drugs don't work as being an anti-drugs song when it was about the death of his father.
 
"The One I Love" by REM is another song common misinterpreted as a love song
 
Caveat said:
The best must be the original dubya and his adoption of Born in the USA as a patriotic anthem.
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I know... classic example of Americans failing to understand irony (and also ignoring those boring non-chantable verse bits in a song).
 
I think people take their own meanings from the songs, not necessarily the meaning that the songwriter intended in the first place. We all have our own interpretations of everything.
 
Summer of 69 by Bryan adams - nowt to do with the year rather the position! :D

If you listen to the 'lyrics' of songs these days it's no wonder people don't pay attention to them!.

Of course people read things into lyrics that just aren't there, Puff the Magic Dragon springs to mind!
 
Caveat said:
The best must be the original dubya and his adoption of Born in the USA as a patriotic anthem.
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The original Dubya was George W Bush. His father was George HW Bush, who was VP to Reagan, whose campaign tried to appropriate Born in the USA in the campaign for his second term.

And more likely that is was a campaign manager decision, rather than Reagan. Just like it was James Carville who coined the phrase "It's the economy, stupid", and not Bill Clinton.
 
Ok, but you know who I meant.

Anyway, George snr had a W in his name too so he was still an honourary dubya. :p
 
Caveat said:
Ok, but you know who I meant.

Anyway, George snr had a W in his name too so he was still an honourary dubya. :p
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True, but if the OP can be pedantic about song lyrics, I can be a pedant too about US politics :p

And GWB was Dubya because of his association with Texas, despite the fact he is an East Coast Ivy League WASP. GHWB never forgot his patrician roots and would not have welcomed such a nickname.
 
Quentin Tarantino's interpretation of "Like A Virgin" was allegedly corrected by Madonna herself

From Wikipedia:

When Madonna met Quentin Tarantino at a party, after the film [Reservoir Dogs] was released, she gave him an autographed copy of her Erotica album, signing "Quentin: it's about love, not d**k
 
The OP has all the classic ones in there, just this week the Green Day song was used again in a sentimental sense.

One more is Woodie Guthries "This Land". Pretty much seen now as a gung ho pro-Republican American Dream song, when it's quite distinctly the opposite and anti Government, anti establishment and pretty pro communism.

It's even sung in schools after the good ol' pledge.
 
Latrade said:
One more is Woodie Guthries "This Land". Pretty much seen now as a gung ho pro-Republican American Dream song, when it's quite distinctly the opposite and anti Government, anti establishment and pretty pro communism.
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and as Bruce pointed out in his fantastic live cover of the song, it was written as an angry song, an answer to Irving Berlin who has just written "God Bless America".
 
Purple said:
and as Bruce pointed out in his fantastic live cover of the song, it was written as an angry song, an answer to Irving Berlin who has just written "God Bless America".
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There's a fantastic scene in the Billy Bragg/Wilco documentary (where they record lost Woodie tracks) when it's revealed to one of the stereotypical Good Ol boys that Woodie was a Commie and that song was to the left of The Red Flag.
 
Latrade said:
There's a fantastic scene in the Billy Bragg/Wilco documentary (where they record lost Woodie tracks) when it's revealed to one of the stereotypical Good Ol boys that Woodie was a Commie and that song was to the left of The Red Flag.
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I didn't see it. Can you send me details and I'll look for it on Amazon.
 
Totally off topic but did anyone hear Cait O'Riordain on the radio this morning- she mentioned a Claudio Villa song but I can't remember the name?
 
And then there was "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors .

The man wasn't really turning japanese at all!!!!!
 
Alanis Morrisette's Ironic

The song is full of events which are meant to be ironic but are not ironic at all (which is kinda ironic ;))
 
pixiebean22 said:
I don't like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats.
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What's wrong with this song

Isn't it supposed to be about a young girl who started shooting people going about their daily business one Monday morning and when eventually caught and questioned she replied "I don't like Mondays"

At least I think that's what Bob Geldof said in his autobiography

I'm off to Wikipedia to check
 
Zig & Zag managed to get a years worth of material out of such lyrics, years ago on 2FM with Ian Dempsey.

Apparently Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax had another meaning - not just about taking it handy :confused:.
 
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