Or maybe you still love it, but now you have a different perspective.

27 points

“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.

permalink
report
reply
18 points

99 luftballoons is similar.

The 80s was oddly dark.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

“Opens up one eager eye” is an incredibly eldritch lyric.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Ay dios mio! I never knew this and always thought of it as cheesy vacation song.

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

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.

permalink
report
reply
10 points

Sting. Every step you take. It’s actually angry and malicious. There’s an interview with Sting saying something to that effect.

permalink
report
reply
8 points

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”.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

I have no idea how anyone who’s even vaguely tuned into that song thinks it’s romantic.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Heck, there a folks out there that still insist that “The Boys of Summer” is about baseball.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
51 points

Semi-Charmed Life, by Third Eye Blind. Basically, it’s a song about doing meth… Spent almost twenty years just singing the chorus with absolutely no idea what the rest of the lyrics were. Now, it kinda feels weird, ngl.

permalink
report
reply
24 points
*

I, as a child, did a music class presentation on “my favourite song of the year” on this little ditty.

Whoops!

Edit: To clarify, then, much like now, I listened to the music and not the lyrics. I don’t know if that’s common at all, but the singing is basically another instrument to me, and I hardly ever pay attention to the actual words.

permalink
report
parent
reply
14 points

Much of the time I can’t even make out the lyrics, so I listen to music the same way

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

I think it’s fairly common to not always pay close attention to the lyrics. Most of the time, you hear a song on the radio, and you can’t always make out what it’s saying, but you’re still able to enjoy the music and the singing melody. Until you pay more attention or you seek out the lyrics, then you’re often surprised about what it’s saying, cause the lyrics weren’t the point when you used to listen to the song. It doesn’t mean that it’s world-changing or anything, but it just takes you by surprise.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

You’re not alone there, snoop had an album come out the year before and after that both sold as explicit but that album didn’t.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

I listen to music the exact same way. I will maybe pay attention to the chorus or catchy line, but a lot of lyrics are lost on me.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

I’m the same way, actually.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

ITT: People on the spectrum

permalink
report
parent
reply
16 points

But it’s about how the excitement of meth, like that of a new relationship, fades and leaves the speaker wanting something more substantial while still fondly reminiscing about the good times.

The speaker thinks of the girl as a “sunburn” he “would like to save.” He describes meth as something that “will lift you up until you break.” I think these characterizations point very strongly toward nostalgic longing and away from the glorification of addiction or even that of drug use. So no reason to feel weird I think.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

I think these characterizations point very strongly toward nostalgic longing and away from the glorification of addiction or even that of drug use.

There’s also an extra verse, which wasn’t in the radio edit, that I think further supports what you’re saying.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I guess you’re right, I just never gave the song much thought. It’s just that it kinda felt like some happy song and I never paid attention to what it was saying, then I looked them up one day, out of curiosity, and I guess it juat felt unexpected to me, and that’s why it felt weird. Thinking about what you said makes me want to give the song another listen with an open mind, I guess.

permalink
report
parent
reply
14 points

Not so much a song about doing meth as it’s a song about the ramifications of doing meth. “Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break” it mentions lockjaw at the end and even talks about watching the love of his life die to an od.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

Fun fact: Semi Charmed Kinda Life made it into a late '90s Disney film about surfers. They didn’t even bleep anything because, I assume, they couldn’t understand what he was singing.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Another fun fact is that the original radio edit that charted is different from the album version / version that is on streaming these days. It lacks verse 3

And when the plane came in, she said she was crashing The velvet, it rips in the city We tripped on the urge to feel alive But now, I’m struggling to survive Those days you were wearing that filthy dress You’re the priestess, I must confess Those little red panties, they pass the test Slides up around the belly face down on the mattress one And you hold me And we are broken Still it’s all that I want to do, just a little now

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

I love people being surprised by this song when a verse literally says ‘doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break’.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

"It won’t stop, I won’t come down

I keep stock with the tick-tock rhythm

I bump for the drop, and then I bumped up

I took the hit that I was given, then I bumped again

Then I bumped again"

That entire verse, but honestly rereading the lyrics, I’m amazed that got radio play in the Bible belt. I know it did, because I heard it uncensored in southeastern Indiana.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

I didn’t know it was about Crystal meth for a really long time because I only heard it on the radio for many many years and they only played a clean version where the phrase “Crystal Meth” is cut out in a way that’s not really obvious it was edited so I just never understood the lyrics.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

“The sky was gold, it was rose, I was taking sips of it through my nose…” didn’t clue you in?

permalink
report
parent
reply
9 points

Nope. That song came out when I was ten, so I had no clue it was about anything like that until probably a decade later.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
parent
reply
44 points

Mr Brightside by the Killers. The tune was good and felt energetic when it came about, but it’s about a guy being cheated on. Having had someone cheat on me around the time it came out it hit really close to home and I just don’t enjoy listening to the song.

The problem with being in the UK is that it’s so overplayed and I just have to tune it out.

permalink
report
reply
50 points

It’s not. It’s about a guy who can’t beat jealousy and believes he’s being cheated on “except it’s all in [his] head”

permalink
report
parent
reply
13 points
*

Ah my bad. I thought the song was written by Brandon Flowers after catching his girlfriend cheating on him in a bar in his hometown of Las Vegas.

https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/the-killers/what-is-the-killers-song-mr-brightside-about/

During lockdown in April 2020, the frontman looked back at the video and noted: “It’s just a song about betrayal. I was betrayed and I was able to turn it into a masterpiece”.

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

From the article “The lyric is about a man who is obsessed with a girl that is seeing another man… and the thoughts that go through his head, imagining what they’re doing behind closed doors…” I guess I was wrong, it’s envy not jealousy.

permalink
report
parent
reply
17 points

No, it’s a song about a nice guy not getting his crush.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

I second one of the other commenters who says that the song is about the perception of being cheated on. It’s funny, after the first day I ever went on with my partner that song played and for a little while we considered it our song, then eventually kind of faded as they both realized the song didn’t relate to us very well. Now I can look back years later, after going through a lot of therapy and self enrichment and I can realize that those kind of paranoia really did plague our early relationship. I’m glad that we were able to move on from it

permalink
report
parent
reply

Ask Lemmy

!asklemmy@lemmy.world

Create post

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don’t post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for ‘how do I?’, type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


Community stats

  • 11K

    Monthly active users

  • 2.5K

    Posts

  • 77K

    Comments