When you hear some of
your favourite songs, you’re trying to find a meaning.
Usually you’re right: most
songs (especially pop songs) are easy to understand. But sometimes you get it
wrong – and when you discover the real meaning, the song completely changes for
you.
Over the years, some of pop and rock’s most famous songs have been completely misunderstood. Here are the real meanings for 5 of them…
1. GUNS’N’ROSES - Nightrain
“I’m on the night train
/ Love that stuff! / Can’t get enough!”
WHAT YOU THINK IT’S
ABOUT: Axl
Rose is travelling on a late-night train, probably over a long distance
somewhere in the USA.
WHAT
IT’S REALLY ABOUT: In reality, he’s going to get pretty, unpleasantly drunk on “NighTrain”, a very strong, very
cheap wine from California.
The difference
is in the punctuation. The actual title of the song - “NighTrain” – is the name
of the cheap wine. On the other hand, a train travelling at night would be
called a “Night-Train”.
2. THE BEATLES - Norwegian Wood
“So, I lit a fire /
Isn’t it good? Norwegian wood”
WHAT
YOU THINK IT’S ABOUT: A
one-night stand with a woman living in a place called Norwegian Wood.
WHAT
IT’S REALLY ABOUT: A
one-night stand with a woman whose furniture is all made of a cheap material
(like the 1960’s IKEA) called “Norwegian Wood”.
At the
end of the song, it seems John Lennon starts a fire to keep himself warm after
the woman has left.
In fact, the meaning of this line is much more violent. In his famous Beatles
book Revolution in the Head, Ian
MacDonald mentions Lennon and McCartney deciding together that “the house
should burn down, a dramatic insight into the lyric’s casually obscure last
three lines.”
3. THE CLASH – London Calling
“London is drowning and
I live by the river.”
WHAT
YOU THINK IT’S ABOUT: London is waiting
for you to visit.
WHAT
IT’S REALLY ABOUT: London is at war, and broadcasting a radio
signal (from a BBC message during World War 2)
The song
is an anthem for London tourists these days, but its theme is apocalypse and destruction
in England’s capital.
The Clash lived in an apartment block called “The World’s End” in Chelsea. It is on the edge of the River Thames, which inspired the famous yell: “London is drowning and I live by the river.”
The Clash lived in an apartment block called “The World’s End” in Chelsea. It is on the edge of the River Thames, which inspired the famous yell: “London is drowning and I live by the river.”
4. BOB MARLEY – I Shot The Sheriff
“Every time I plant the
seed / He said ‘Kill it before it grow’.”
WHAT
YOU THINK IT’S ABOUT: An
outlaw criminal confesses that he shot a police officer.
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT: The
doctor of Marley’s girlfriend, who caused them to fight over birth control.
Esther
Anderson, who was Marley’s girlfriend at the time, wanted to take the Pill (to
prevent her getting pregnant). Bob Marley was opposed to this, and expressed
his anger at her doctor (who's trying to "kill the seed") through this song.
5. SEMISONIC – Closing Time
“Closing time / Open
all the doors and let you out into the world”
WHAT
YOU THINK IT’S ABOUT: A
barman is closing the pub late at night, asking his customers to leave.
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT: A
baby is being born.
When he
wrote this song in the 1990s Semisonic’s singer, Dan Wilson, was expecting a child with his
girlfriend. He admitted that, at the time, “I had birth on the brain” (= “The
idea of birth obsessed me”).
His song became a huge international hit, misleading millions of people!
His song became a huge international hit, misleading millions of people!
