Reader Survey: Misunderstood Songs (Story Relevance!) · 10:19pm Jun 19th, 2016
So I'm working on a new chapter of Just Girls Talking.
In order to give it appropriate heft, I'm going to need to survey my readers, because I'm having a little trouble jogging my memory right now--odd, given the subject matter in question.
Readers, please nominate songs with severely misunderstood lyrics. Songs that people tend to interpret one way, which are wildly different in meaning.
I'M NOT ASKING ABOUT MONDEGREENS! Don't bother with mondegreens. I'm talking about songs whose meaning, NOT the lyrics, are misinterpreted. Like how "Born in the USA" is thought by a lot of people to be a patriotic chest-beating anthem when it's not. THAT kind of thing. NOT things like "Excuse me while I kiss this guy!" or "Racist Barn!"
Do not include the following songs:
"Everything Is Awesome!!!" (This one's already in the chapter and is actually the entire point of the chapter.)
"Born in the USA" (Doesn't work in the context of Equestria Girls.)
"London Calling" (See above.)
-- Anything that is region-specific, era-specific, and overtly political.
Thanks in advance!
I have a whole horde of mondegreens but unfortunately right now I can think of only one. Can I get back to you?
The one on the surface of my mind right now is the Partridge Family/David Cassidy's
Ain't that one stupid?
Okay, here are a couple more (including the Grand Panjandum of them all):
First is the repeated line (and title) of Bruce Springsteen's song "A Bridge in Disguise."
And second, the biggie, from Rod Stewart's "Motown Song":
I have often remarked on the latter but no one has paid much attention. I think it's a hoot.
4034523
I'm not asking about mondegreens. I'm asking about songs whose meaning is misinterpreted, not the lyrics.
You know, like how "Everything is Awesome!!!" is NOT, in fact, about everything actually being awesome? THAT is what I'm looking for.
4034539 Oops. I'm afraid I can't help you then. Sorry.
'Pour Some Sugar on Me' becomes 'Pour Some Shookup Ramen', at least that's one I've heard.
4034549
Reread the post. Carefully.
America's Horse with No Name? Technically a song about heroin but maybe could be used in context of Pinkie having a caffeine addiction?
Side note: I read and wrote this on 1 hour of sleep, so if i missed the point, sorry.
The only thing I can think of (and that's after looking some stuff up) is:
"You Gotta Fight for your Right to Party" by the Beastie Boys, which was meant to mock partygoers and the whole 1980s party scene, but is universally appreciated as a party song.
How about "Another Postcard" by BnL? It sounds like Ed Robertson is JUST singing about getting stationery filled with chimpanzees but it's actually about someone dealing with someone who he broke up with getting back at him in a cool and unusual manner while he has no clue as to who could be doing it because he's a man-child focused on boom anime babes that make him think the wrong thing. The lyric "If I had to guess, I'd say the monkey-sender thinks it's great/Maybe he (maybe SHE)'s sending them just to see me get irate" tells you what the song is really about. (Perhaps it's the woman from One Week.)
4034556
That's...actually a good one. I didn't even know that one was about drug addiction.
4034557 Hmm. Possibly. Thanks.
4034558 I'll have to check it out, I know exactly two BNL songs and that ain't one of 'em. Thanks!
"Playing With The Boys" by Kenny Loggins and "YMCA" by the Village People are both thought to be about being homosexual, mostly because of the reputation of The Village People and Top Gun. There are definitely some suggestive lyrics but I'm not 100% on either song.
Hope this helps...
4034572 Umm...every single song the Village People ever recorded is 100% about homosexuality.
ESPECIALLY "YMCA", because back in the 60s and 70s the Y was used for clandestine gay meetups.
"Whip It" by Devo. Everyone seems to think that it is about bondage when in fact it is supposed to be a motivational song about improving things.
American Pie is sort of a gimme.
But I don't know if there's an 'official' meaning to that song.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which everyone thinks is about drugs while the writer insisted for decades that it really isn't?
4034550 Oh, whoops.
Guess could say 'Sunshine in a bag' then. Sounds like it should be rather upbeat but it's rather not for much of it.
4034580 I've never met a single person who ever thought that song was about bondage. Or ANYTHING.
4034606 And you just hit on the other thing that bugs me about people misinterpreting music: people who think they know the title of a song when they really don't. (Psst: the title of the song you're talking about is "Clint Eastwood".)
-Every Breath You Take by The Police. Everybody thinks it's a love song, but it's about a stalker.
-White Wedding by Billy Idol is a protest song about shotgun weddings (specifically his sister's,) but it's often played at weddings.
-Paradise City by Guns N Roses is about how life is boring during a tour, but people think it's a party song or about an awesome city.
-Closer by Nine Inch Nails is thought to glorify sex, but it's about a guy that uses sex to escape his self-loathing.
-I Am The Walrus by The Beatles. A lot of people think it has some kind of meaning, but it was written to confuse people that looked into their lyrics looking for meanings. Not sure if you'd count this, though.
4034592
John Lennon apparently got a big kick out of people trying to find meaning in Beatles lyrics. Thus "I Am the Walrus," the intentionally meaningless song that's still being debated to this day.
Lips Of An Angel by Hinder is often considered to be a very sweet, romantic couples song, yet the lyrics are basically about being unfaithful to your partner.
Flowers by Liz Phair is one I always laugh at when I read people's comments. The overtly sexual nature of lyrics mean that people often take it as a song about sex - but it's actually a highly ironic, bitter song showing the inhuman nature of sexualising people by turning the tables and reversing the situation. The dark, flat tone of voice shows just how little care people show in others and the inherent selfishness of people's desires. No idea if it's useful in this situation, but maybe?
4034635 Ooh, "Every Breath You Take"...good call! The rest of those are a little bit much for the tone of this fic, though.
4034576
I have to ask, are we counting "In the Navy" in that group?
4034809 EVERY Village People song.
dont stop believing most people dont make the prostitution connection
How about My Ding-a-Ling by Chuck Berry?
4035173
No.
what about happy songs that are actually quite depressing? (Mr Blue Sky by ELO or Today by Smashing Pumpkins)
Bono says U2's One is about breaking up and not some beautiful union.
Anyone who doesn't listen closely to lyrics might miss out on the fact Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People is about school shootings.
Imagine by John Lennon is about socialism/communism.
Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones is a bouncy, upbeat song... about sexing up slave girls. that may be a little dark.
Cherry Pie - Warrant
Under the Bridge - Red Hot chili Peppers
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Hello has been accused of being a clone of Someone Like You before. It's not. The latter is about someone acting passive-aggressive towards an ex they're not over. Hello is far more expansive. It's about loss and regret of all kinds, not just the romantic variety, and I've always thought it fit Celestia and Luna's relationship very well.
Lady Gaga's Do What U Want is easy to take as yet another song about one night stands and sex without love, but if you pay attention it's actually about her relationship with the media, which was apparently pretty strained when the song came out.
Kendrick Lamar's Swimming Pools (Drank) is an anti-drinking song disguised as a drinking anthem. Or maybe the other way around. It's just a tad ambiguous.
Radar Love? Cheeseburger in Paradise? Best I got off the top of my head.
Blumencranz maybe?
Not sure if it fits your criteria, but, here goes:
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax"
R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
Manfred Mann (via Bruce Springsteen) - "Blinded by the Light"
Nick Gilder - "Hot Child in the City"(oops, sorry)Genesis - "Invisible Touch"
I've heard Sunday Bloody Sunday is not actually about hating sundays in general...
And this doesn't count, but I want to tell this anecdote. Before I understood english well enough to listen to the lyrics of songs and understand the words, none of my group of friends knew what Welcome to my Life was about, and supposed, based just on the title of the song, to be about someone getting a new loved one in their life, like a spouse or a baby. Of course, hearing just one verse correctly was enough for us to know maybe that's not what the song is about.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/3bg6l0/the_chorus_of_little_mix_black_magic_sounds_like/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkElfR_NPBI
http://www.sugarscape.com/music/news/a1078034/little-mix-what-black-magic-about/
4035381 Those songs are all rather unambiguous in their meaning, sorry.
4035350 "Today" is perfect for what I'm doing. "Imagine", not so much. Thanks!
4035498 Those songs are all pretty straightforward and difficult to misconstrue. Not quite fitting the theme here.
4035713 "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is about a specific historic event, and thus doesn't work for my purposes.
This may seem silly, but for the longest time I was under the impression that Day Tripper by The Beatles was about acid, not a cock-tease. Maybe not a common misunderstanding, maybe a little too racey for your story. Idk.
4035768 Believe it or not, they actually were misconstrued back in the day. It seems obvious to you now in 2016, but in the 80s, pre-Internet, pre-easy to find lyrics, the obvious was not so obvious.
Relax - The UK knew it, and banned the song. But the US missed the meaning completely.
Losing my religion - folks thought it was really about religion.
Billie Jean - folks thought this was a love song, not a false paternity claim.
Blinded by the light - thanks to the mondegreen lyrics, folks had no idea what is was all about. (That reminds me, how about "Louie Louie"?)
Invisible Touch - probably because of denial, since a lot of folks in the 80s were addicted to coke and/or heroin.
4035386 What possible way could anyone construe "Cheeseburger in Paradise" as anything other than a paean to a particular food?
4035768 glad I could help!
"Today" is my favorite out of the bunch, by far. 
if that isn't love by weird al