Or maybe you still love it, but now you have a different perspective.
“Vamos a playa” by Righeira carries a lightweight, upbeat tune that vacationers might hum on the way to the beach. But the Spanish lyrics reveal that it’s about the devastation left behind by nuclear armaments. And the schism between trying to live an ordinary life whilst having a nuclear Damocles sword waver over your head. That it became such a world wide hit makes it all the more ironic. I love it all the more for it.
99 luftballoons is similar.
The 80s was oddly dark.
“Opens up one eager eye” is an incredibly eldritch lyric.
Ay dios mio! I never knew this and always thought of it as cheesy vacation song.
In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry. It’s such a nice catchy tune that I enjoyed until my partner pointed out:
Have a drink, have a drive Go out and see what you can find If her daddy’s rich, take her out for a meal If her daddy’s poor, just do what you feel
Which, ew.
Sting. Every step you take. It’s actually angry and malicious. There’s an interview with Sting saying something to that effect.
Do you maybe mean “Every Breath You Take” by The Police? That’s a common answer to this kind of question. A lot of people think of it as cute and romantic at first, but the song really talk about the Big Brother (from George Orwell’s 1984): a state of constant surveillance watching “every breath you take, every move you make”.
I have no idea how anyone who’s even vaguely tuned into that song thinks it’s romantic.
Heck, there a folks out there that still insist that “The Boys of Summer” is about baseball.
Since you’ve gone, I’ve been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it’s you I can’t replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying, baby, baby please
Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take?I understand the full lyrics, but most songs generally default to romanticism. If you’re not paying attention it’s easy to misinterpret.
If you’re not paying attention, you hear the “I’m watching you” part, which is creepy as fuck.
Yes that’s the one I’m talking about. I could have sworn I heard an interview about him talking about how it’s about someone stalking a former lover. Memory is weird that way. You’re interpretation is probably the one I’m going to go with from now on though I like that more.
I could see it being a bit of both. Lyrics are often inspired by something and describing something else. In this case, someone stalking a former lover could be seen as “going full 1984’s Big Brother” on them… and it makes sense with the whole romantic mood that the song has: the stalker sees themself as romantic and sings it that way, but when you look closer you realise it’s actually very creepy.
most of Rammstein, but specifically Mutter
For me it was Mein Teil. I’m used to most of Rammstein’s dark stuff, but man, this one is deeply disturbing.
Lyrics for those who are curious and not squeamish
https://genius.com/Genius-english-translations-rammstein-mein-teil-english-translation-lyrics
In case people were unaware, this references a real event where a man posted an ad for a man willing to be killed and eaten.
I just listen to the Left Podcast on the Left episode about him.
Here’s another song that explicitly references it. Better song too, IMO.
at least it was consensual, not like Wiener Blut or Ich tue dir weh
A cute girl I knew a few years ago got the Orion Experience (group) on my radar and I learned recently that while yes the songs are clearly about a sexual deviant (which is what made them cool bruh), it’s about that kind of sexual deviant, because Orion very much likes kids apparently
That fucking ruins everything and they’re bops that I can’t get out of my head sometimes, so that’s nice
Don’t look into the story behind “My Sharona” by The Knack.
In the other direction from most of them here, “Losing my Religion” hit a lot harder before I realized it was just about anger.
Wait till you read and watch Take me to church
Tears in heaven from Eric Clapton. I always liked this song, and didn’t have a special connotation. But after learning its backstory, now I just feel sadness when I hear it. :-(
I don’t like Mondays from the Boomtown Rats.
Mind, when I first heard it my English was not that good so I really only got the Chorus about not liking Mondays (and who does, eh?). Dismissed the “shoot the whole day down” as an idiom for something which I did not know.
Then at some point much later I realized it’s actually a school shooting.
Someone should make a spotify Playlist of all of these songs
Well, as I said, I never paid attention to the lyrics before I looked them up. 🤷♂️
Such an upbeat 90s pop song with lyrics like “doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break.”
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I remember listening to Frank Zappa’s Bobby Brown when I was a kid, not knowing English at all. Great song but very inappropriate for kids, which my parents probably thought was funny.
Uncle Kracker - Follow me. I used to sing the shit out of it, because I just liked the tune. Until I learn there was a whole different meaning than just “I’m the better guy” lyrics.
I still humm it, but it hits differently.
5 minutes alone by pantera, I mean come on…
Nuttin No Go So
The original “football moves” clip went viral a long time ago, and the song goes along well with it. Took me a while to understand just how awfully reactionary the lyrics are.Despacito. Kinda weird lyrics.
