Songs you didn't get until years later
Posted by Much_Cardiologist180@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 196 comments
At least my friends and I got the sexy songs, but there were songs that had deeper meaning we didn't get until we outgrew our party phase.
For example, "No Rain" was such a happy and positive tune that it was my late teens that I understand the lyrics and it's about trying to be happy when you're sad and everyone sees it but won't say anything.
I've heard a similar situation with "Brick" by Ben Folds Five, "Loser" by Beck, and most songs by the Dave Matthews Band: lets be honest, they only sound good and lyrics mean less than nothing. There are better songs on Blind Melon's album than "No Rain" but that doesn't' make them a better band.
spunzy_hops@reddit
For most of my life I thought the Piña Colada song (Escape) was about....well, Piña Coladas.
Turns out it's about a dude trying to cheat on his wife by responding to a personal ad, then finding out she was the one who took out the personal ad to try and cheat on him.
So they realize they were both trying to bang other people but it's ok apparently because they both like piña Coladas and also they do not like yoga. And then they fall back in love. Or something.
Anyways, after 30+ years of assuming it was an ode to tropical frozen beverages it was a hell of an unexpected twist.
Blue-Album-1994@reddit
I thought that song was about escaping
Eighth_Eve@reddit
I had the same thoughts about 50 ways to leave your lover, which is also about cheating.
Far-Watercress6658@reddit
This song always mystified me. They are both totally cool with the others cheating.
Eighth_Eve@reddit
It was the 70s. Swinging was in.
ianmoone1102@reddit
And together, they have half a brain. Aww! Love.
Cool_Dark_Place@reddit
Kinda like the song "Breakfast at Tiffany's," only with pina coladas instead of an old movie.
_buffy_summers@reddit
And also no cheating.
Take-it-like-a-Taker@reddit
It’s a great adultery song for sure. It’s also about losing touch with your spouse because you put each other into boxes.
We’re different people every couple decades, so it’s only natural that we should redefine what love we want and what love we want to give.
Growing with your spouse takes patience, understanding and kindness. It’s so much more common to stop growing, feel stifled and lash out or just shutdown. When these two lash out though, they still find themselves together - but with a renewed sense of who they each are now
spunzy_hops@reddit
This is such a beautiful take, thank you for the perspective.
In my description I was trying to nail down my reaction when I first read the lyrics, and how wildly (and hilariously, to me) far off from my original assumption the actual lyrical content was.
But there really is more to it than that, I guess the double surprise is that a song that was once presumably about frozen cocktails actually has layers of subtle meaning.
Also your comment is extra poignant for me as I'm getting married in just over a week, I'll be sharing this with my soon-to-be wife as we had a similar conversation the other day when we were talking about our vows and ceremony.
Cheers to you, internet stranger!
Equivalent-Mousse-93@reddit
What a true statement. In October, my husband and I will celebrate 20 years married and we may both be different people than we were when we met and I don’t want to take for granted that we grew together.
twobit211@reddit
quick point: it’s the dude who takes out the personal ad and the wife that responds but otherwise your assessment is spot on
tkage7@reddit
This is incorrect. First verse:
I was tired of my lady We'd been together too long Like a worn out recording Of a favorite song So while she lay there sleeping I read the paper in bed And in the personal columns There was this letter I read
twobit211@reddit
you’re right, i got confused by the second verse:
tkage7@reddit
It happens. We’re over 40.
wheres_the_revolt@reddit
I love ruining this song for people 😂
LeftHandofNope@reddit
And they like making love after midnight in the dunes on the Cape
Kittylove1213@reddit
Waterfalls by TLC...it wasn't until recently that a friend pointed out the three letters are "HIV." I always thought the song was about him being in a gang and being shot with the three letters "GUN." Knowing what was going on during that time, it makes so much sense to be about HIV.
Allureme@reddit
That Humpty Hump was really Shock G
cardnialsyn@reddit
Jack and Diane by John Mellencamp. It doesn't matter how many times you heard "life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone", you can't really understand it until you've reached that point.
Also, On the Turning Away by Pink Floyd. That is one of the few songs I feel has gotten more relevant as time goes on.
Fun-Leadership-5419@reddit
So hard to believe the thrill will ever leave when you're young. I would do anything to get that back.
DannyHusk42@reddit
The song You Were Right by Built To Spill takes the song Jack and Diane amongst many others and looks at them through the eyes of someone who now understands the lyrics. It hits so hard.
Immateriumdelirium@reddit
Upvote for the Floyd. Even when I was younger, I cried.
Crowedsource@reddit
This just happened to me last week....I went to karaoke and decided to sing Cherub Rock nu Smashing Pumpkins. As I'm singing it, I see that the words to the chorus are completely different than I thought they were. I had no idea he was singing "who wants that honey/as long as there's some money"
I thought he was saying who walks behind me or something like that.
So the song never really made sense to me.
But now it does. It's about the indie rock scene in Chicago and how the pumpkins weren't trying to just be cool hipsters - they were trying to be successful, and not getting caught up in being artistically pure but struggling like other bands in their scene.
anchises868@reddit
I didn’t get how rapey of a song “More than Words” was until I was in my late teens/early twenties and someone suggested I replace “more than words” with “have sex with me”. It’s basically “you don’t have to say ‘I love you’, just show me by putting out.”
Also, the Cranberries song “Zombie” hits me hard, especially now that I have kids.
Related: I totally read “No Rain” as “November Rain” at first and wondered what the hell you meant by “happy and positive tune” lmao.
Plane_Chance863@reddit
Is More Than Words really about sex? It's definitely about physical touch, I'm not sure it goes as far as sex though?
dhobsd@reddit
It’s absolutely not. Extreme is a metal band and this is the only song of theirs many have ever heard. The whole album is a concept album about the dangers of lust, decadence, and thirst for power. The song is from the perspective of someone in a relationship with another who’s been swept up in these lifestyles and is only following the motions of being in a relationship. The song is incredibly straightforward, and to understand it like GP is suggesting is wholly missing the point of the whole album.
I’ll grant that if you change the lyrics you can make it say anything you want. But that’s neither surprising nor deep.
FoppyDidNothingWrong@reddit
More Than Words is about love being more than someome saying "I Love You," someome wants to experience something "More Than Words"
littleyellowbike@reddit
Hell it doesn't even have to be physical touch that he's singing about. You can say "I love you" but it's rote and meaningless if at the same time you do shit like forgetting important dates, dismissing your partner when they're upset or sad, refusing to take care of them when they're sick, treating them unkindly or disrespectfully, etc.
bounceswoosh@reddit
I don't consider it rapey, but I do think More Than Words is a guilt trip about sex. And I was pretty recognizable growing up as a teenage girl.
Immateriumdelirium@reddit
How about Possum Kingdom, Toadies? Rapey and murdery!
bootyhole-romancer@reddit
I think that's a pretty skewed and almost disingenuous way of interpreting More Than Words.
Can it not just be about a look, or a touch, or a sense of sincerity?
I think a fair treatment has to explore the entire territory of the non-verbal first before we can say "oh just substitute that with sex, that's the real meaning."
I mean you can interpret the song as rapey if you wish, I just feel like that interpration is so forced.
OutInTheBlack@reddit
My 4 year old absolutely loves Zombie. She'll ask for it in the car almost every time we drive somewhere. I'm going to have to sit her down in a few years and go over the lyrics with her and explain imperialism and insurgency.
PoJupiter@reddit
Save Me, by Shinedown. I am embarrassed to say that whole first line up to the chorus went over my head. None of it made sense to me. I honestly thought the band threw a bunch of words in a hat and came up with the first part of the song. It wasn't until many years later when it randomly came on the radio and I was like, "I love this song!" And started singing it at the top of my lungs in front of my (at the time) 8yo, that it clicked why someone would have a candle and a spoon, and then the rest of the first line made sense. And I really think it only clicked for me because of a scene from Breaking Bad.
Grand_Introduction36@reddit
3rd eye blind i want something else. I didn't know it was about meth!!
ninersguy916@reddit
Had to scroll way too far for this one.. first thing i thought of.. took the bump that i was given then i bumped again and bumped again.. lol
orangepaperlantern@reddit
Semi-Charmed Life
fragdoll4u@reddit
Time Pink Floyd
_Maui_@reddit
🥺
frumionuminous@reddit
Oh, fuck... this one. This one right here. Used to be "that song with all the clocks that jolts me out of my stoner haze" when I was young... now it straight-up makes me ugly cry.
Ok_Kaleidoscope_6442@reddit
Idk I understood just thought I had more time to kill
No-Wonder1139@reddit
Enter Sandman. Like WTF. Sang that song since I was 10, loved it, thought it was just a weird song about putting your kids to bed and them having nightmares.
SnooDrawings7662@reddit
We had such a crappy radios that I genuinely thought that ac/dc song.. "dirty deeds, done dirt cheap" was "thundercheek" ... .. because it made more sense at the time to a 9 yr old me... " You got a lady and you want her gone .. Thunder-cheek".
I thought it was a giant fart joke ..for years until I finally had me own car with decent speakers and I heard the song clearly... And.. then I got it. More of a misheard than misunderstood... But I stand by my misheard lyrics as being superior and having more hilarious meaning than the original.
Utenlok@reddit
When I was younger I didn't pay attention and assumed Dirty Deeds was about sex. When I was maybe 20 ish I listened to the verses and realized it's about murder for hire.
SisyphusButOnSpeed@reddit
So you guys must not of heard what the song “Alive”, by Pearl Jam is about, huh? Do yourself a favor: don’t look it up.
Shadowblade79@reddit
The "Who answered" part hit me hard as a teenager.
SisyphusButOnSpeed@reddit
I encourage you to belt this one out next time you shower. Gotta do your absolute best Eddie Vedder.
yourlittlebirdie@reddit
Ewwwwww 🤢
SisyphusButOnSpeed@reddit
I frickin told you not to look!
yourlittlebirdie@reddit
You know perfectly well that “don’t look it up” is the best way to get people to look something up.
SisyphusButOnSpeed@reddit
👹
_buffy_summers@reddit
Go roll a boulder. :)
CottageGrove81@reddit
You know... I'm not surprised that's what it's about cause it always seemed off
fyrefly_faerie@reddit
I recently learned that “Hey Jealousy” by Gin Blossoms was about the songwriter’s alcoholism (who later got kicked out of the band and died).
orangepaperlantern@reddit
And I think I heard that the title of their Congratulations, I’m Sorry album after he died was what people often said to them about the success of New Miserable Experience, and his death.
tadpole332@reddit
Fuck me I thought it was Hey Chelsea
Prollyjokin@reddit
Sort of related—I’m holding on to the Baz Luhrmann line “some of the MOST interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t” from Everybody’s Free to Wear Screen
It was a throw away line when I was 15 and heard that.
Peanut083@reddit
That whole song hits different in your 40s. The line that gets me from that song is “And one day you’ll fantasise that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders”. Like I know none of those things were true at the time, but the world seems way more fucked now and I’d take any of those politicians back then over what we’re seeing all around the world now.
Equivalent-Mousse-93@reddit
Who knew we would long for a Bush?
Peanut083@reddit
I’m not American, but I’d even take Bill “I did not have sex with that woman” Clinton over what you lot currently have. I draw the line at Regan, though. That bloke struck me as all kinds of weird.
Equivalent-Mousse-93@reddit
I think a lot of our current problems stem from Reagan’s regime.
_buffy_summers@reddit
Old Mother Reagan And her crew Took away From me and you
Equivalent-Mousse-93@reddit
Ding, ding, ding.
Peanut083@reddit
Oh, I completely agree with you. His response to the AIDS crisis was seriously messed up, for one. Here in Australia we got a largely effective, multi-pronged public health campaign response. You lot basically got a ‘pray the gay away’/purity culture response.
Bay-Area-Tanners@reddit
I was 41 when I finally found a job that I loved and was good at (not including when I was a SAHM). I struggled for years, slogging through shitty jobs I wasn’t suited for. The job I have now is perfect for me and I’ve mentioned to my manager that I’m planning to stay from now until retirement 😆.
Sensitive-Junket-833@reddit
And now I'm sad...
Sabres00@reddit
A lot of Tragically Hip songs. However in my defense I’m a music first guy.
FoofaFighters@reddit
Oh my god I finally figured out the Hip like a month ago. I had tried for years to get into their music and never much saw the appeal, but then I happened upon some clips from their last show and somehow it all made sense. I don't think I'll ever really understand Gord's overall motivation or what he was trying to get across in his lyrics but I'll be damned if they aren't some of the most unique and creative I've ever heard. So good. RIP Gord.
Hot-Ad930@reddit
Bobcageyon is an interesting one
Letter-Past@reddit
That and Escape is at hand
kteachergirl@reddit
Papá Don’t Preach. I thought “I’m keeping my baby” meant that she was not going to break up with her boyfriend.
bounceswoosh@reddit
I had so many arguments with my friend about this song when I was a preteen. It was clear to me she was talking about being pregnant. My friend Would Not Have It.
kteachergirl@reddit
Ha. I would have been about 9-10 when I heard it so I was definitely young. Pre teen you should catch the real meaning. But now you get to feel superior that you were right!
bounceswoosh@reddit
LOL. I always felt superior. Took me a while to learn humility! She was also fairly sheltered and innocent for her age.
ladymonino@reddit
I did too! But to be fair to my child self I had a dad who would get mad about literally anything (or nothing) so it made sense to me that he would be mad at her for not breaking up with him.
RousingEntTainment@reddit
I was intentional tricked of course, but The Hook by Blues Traveler. Great realization quite recently.
Capn26@reddit
That song is brilliant. And I don’t mean the over used online brilliant. I mean well and truly. It fooled most of us.
Hambulance@reddit
brilliant and hilarious
aero25@reddit
Sara bareilles' Love Song resonates in a similar way.
Mo-Cance@reddit
Watching Emma Stone lip sync this song was friggin hilarious.
Lil_LarrySellers@reddit
Oooh, a meta answer!
Greyburm@reddit
The song kodachrome. _ paul simon.
"if you took all the girls I knew when I was single, and put them all together for one night. I could never match my sweet imagination.(cause everything is worse in black and white)."
I feel now, he is talking about an orgy, I just sung this as a happy little tune for years.
Caslon@reddit
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. When I was younger, I thought it was just a song about a guy who really liked to fish, or something. But somewhere in my 20's, during those lost years everyone goes through, it really hit home hard. I love that song.
Silent_Syren@reddit
The reason it ends with him whistling is because he died before he finished the last verse/outro. So he whistled as a placeholder. When the sound engineer came back to piece it all together, he allegedly had Sam Bluzman Taylor record the whistle which was mixed with Otis's weaker whistles. (Source) Every time it gets to that part, I remember that and it makes me a little sad.
Golden_Enby@reddit
Zombie by The Cranberries
smithwesson586@reddit
"The way"and the real story behind it about dementia
Itsnotbabyyoda389@reddit
Fast car.
Frequent_Alfalfa_347@reddit
I had a quick 5-minute meditation on my porch swing this morning and ended up singing this song. And then the tears.
Itsnotbabyyoda389@reddit
If anyone knows Tracy Chapman tell her I’m sorry it took so long for me to understand it.
aweedl@reddit
I’m not sure what you’re implying with the last sentence, but Blind Melon was a great band. Their underrated second LP, ‘Soup’, is one of the best records of the ‘90s overall (in any genre) in my opinion.
frenchinhalerbought@reddit
Vernie is one of my favorite songs ever.
UnklVodka@reddit
I won’t say I didn’t get the songs, but they didn’t resonate with me until I was going through adult shit and leaning on my escape (music). Songs like Breakdown from GnR hit me totally differently when things were going sideways. I spent a lot of time listening to music when I was a kid, growing up, whatever you want to call it, and I also read the liners for the lyrics while listening. It was an active thing on my part so I could understand the songs and keep singing them (in my head) when I wasn’t able to listen.
Maybe Poundcake from Van Halen, but that was just because I was like 9 when it came out. I dunno.
And also, Change from Blind Melon is their best song (imo). That one hits no matter what.
elephantspikebears@reddit
My personal favorite is Mouthful of Cavities
frenchinhalerbought@reddit
You soul's a bowl of jokes
Mudcreek47@reddit
I just love my baby's pound cake
UnklVodka@reddit
Like you’d think I would’ve picked up on all that, but at 9 I had no idea what he was singing about. Hahaha
runningskirtsnmanis@reddit
Upvote for mentioning Breakdown, such an underrated song.
Unit_79@reddit
Breakdown! Such an awesome tune. That, into Pretty Tied Up, then Locomotive is my favourite part of that album.
Just_Razzmatazz6493@reddit
Oh god. Change. So good.
LilyDaze10@reddit
“It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.”
I took that very literally for decades until I realized it may refer to drug abuse and suicide.
Hot-Ad930@reddit
I thought it was just yet another incorrect example of irony
Redflagpolesitter@reddit
Really?? 😧 I just thought she was hungry. :(
usernames_suck_ok@reddit
There are a lot of them, none of which specifically stand out right this second--I'll get my phone and look at my recently played stuff. But I think one of the main reasons why there are now so many songs that make sense is I'm not a "lyrics" person like the average person seems to be. I notice literally everything else about a song before the lyrics, most of the time. That means it usually takes me tons of times hearing a song before I pay attention to lyrics and consider their meaning. "Brick" is kind of one like that, and songs like "Brick" make me a bit surprised they were "hits" at the time. Now that I'm thinking of it, the same goes for Whitney Houston's "Miracle." Neither song was a huge top 40 hit, but I don't think either could be released today without a lot of bullshit and some stations refusing to play them because of our political climate.
Ok, let's look at my phone...
"Hold On" and "Do What You Have To Do" by Sarah McLachlan
"Open Up Your Eyes" by Tonic
"Winter" by Tori Amos
Some of these songs are not particularly deep (I'm including Whitney's song), but just are more so ones where I am now listening and am like, "Oh..."
Hot-Ad930@reddit
The story behind Hold On is heartbreaking
frumionuminous@reddit
"When you gonna make up your mind? When you gonna love you as much as I do?"
😭
yourlittlebirdie@reddit
Speaking of Whitney Houston, “Saving All My Love For You” seemed like a romantic song when I heard it on the radio as a kid. I had no clue it was about a guy cheating on his wife.
Agreeable_Address807@reddit
Candy licker by Marvin Sease
glamb417@reddit
Was like 10 when I got an MC Hammer album... Me just playing in my yard singing "Soft and Wet" as my neighbor asked if I knew what I was singing... Poor guy...
DocSmith03@reddit
Hey ya by outkast he even says in the song yall don't want to hear me you just want to dance.
NachoOrdinary@reddit
"All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You." By Heart. I recently went to one of their concerts and they said because of current knowledge, they no longer play it. Can't say I wasn't disappointed.
hmmqzaz@reddit
You ever hear the ripped away version of no rain? Blind Melon had good songs and a couple of great songs
draculasbloodtype@reddit
Change is on my top 10 list. The first time I heard it I was absolutely floored.
bluefunksta@reddit
Not sure they had any bad songs. That band was fantastic
Azcrul@reddit
Sort of related but my spouse and I were driving earlier and Flagpole Sitta came on again and while we both absolutely love this song she was like “This feels like such a happy summer song until you listen to the lyrics.” I was vibing to it as always and was just like yeah…the main chorus was my anthem many times over the past few years lol
Redflagpolesitter@reddit
That’s actually where my username comes from. I didn’t think ahead and everyone thinks it’s dirty! 😂
Azcrul@reddit
Rofl that is quite a name!
Far-Slice-3821@reddit
Not from our adolescence, but I didn't realize what Pumped Up Kicks was about until it was mentioned in a This American Life episode.
draculasbloodtype@reddit
I had this same conversation with my coworkers when we were discussing songs and lyrics. My boss didn't know Lola was about a transvestite. I brought up Pumped up Kicks and had two people think it was about shoes. HOW? The chorus is all the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run better run faster than my bullet. The first verse is literally about how he found a gun in his Dad's closet and he's coming for you.
Sparkle8022@reddit
I didn't either until my husband explained it to me.
Azcrul@reddit
Jesus. I didn’t recognize the song, but I was like man that sounds like the shoes we might have during the 90s, why is this relevant? Googled the meaning of the song. Played it and instantly remembered it, now with the connotation as I realized what it was referring to. My wife listened and was like “That sounds like referring to a school shooting.”
And now I’m slightly sobbing. Excellent example. Shit.
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
Omg “Flagpole Sitta” is such a happy-song-until-you-read-the-lyrics.
But I was too fixated on how the censored version was better than the original. It felt more dangerous, and I didn’t know what I liked
Azcrul@reddit
I can’t recall the censored version, and even after watching a documentary on the song a few years ago with buddies I know it has some layers about 90s music and what not. But yeah it sounds so happy but I feel is one of those songs that is anything but. Like whether it’s fitting in to the mainstream, or hell, mental health
Glass-Marionberry321@reddit
No Rain was kinda obvious with the video, no?
DotNervous7513@reddit
I need to precursor this statement with stating that I am not a hateful or sexist person, but I grew up in an abusive house and a mother who was beaten down emotionally and most of my time (and my brothers) was spent away from home and trying to protect myself emotionally, so I didn’t get a lot of stuff.
Basically the answer to this for me is ANY song written by or sung by a woman. I didn’t get any of them unless they were completely shallow. Probably mostly because my dad didn’t listen to a lot of female sung or performed musicians unless they were “hot” to him and then it was always for that reason. I heard a lot of songs from a lot of artists I really enjoyed but have only recently (in my forties) started to really listen. My example here would be Jewel’s original album. When it came out I enjoyed the singles and thought she was a great singer but didn’t really hear what she was saying. Then I listened to that whole album for the first time in like 25 years and realized how deeply sad it was and even identified with some of the things she sang about. This has been happening to me consistently since I’ve been in therapy, and not just with music but all sorts of things.
Oceanbreeze871@reddit
I never fully paid attention to the lyrics of that 80s song “into the night” until I saw the video as a meme online….And holy shit, the first verse.
Didn’t realize how many pop/rock songs are grown adult men singing about teenage girls…there’s a lot.
mel060@reddit
Killin in the name by rage against the machine
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
Talk about a song that waits until you understand the lyrics and then beats your head against a wall until you get it.
mel060@reddit
Right.
Hot_Future2914@reddit
I was tickled by that moment we told a friend what Frankie Sats Relax is about.
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
So you found out you were gay?
Hot_Future2914@reddit
Well, not from the song.
exqvisitely@reddit
Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls. She sure came a long way from Morning Train!
FoppyDidNothingWrong@reddit
"What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers
The songs sounds so cheerful and optimistic, but pretty much it's about the fact you can't talk sense into somebody in love. Sucks to live through it.
frenchinhalerbought@reddit
I don't know what you mean that Dave Matthews Band's lyrics mean less than nothing - a few drug references but they had songs about loss, apartheid, hopeful nostalgia in an uninterested world. May not be everyone's cup of tea but lyrically, they don't slouch.
Weird_Anteater_6428@reddit
Now, I don't want to shock anyone, but "pocket full of shells" in Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine is NOT about seashells.
Dantez9001@reddit
I thought it was about making shells and cheese as dinner for the family.
unendingbeauty@reddit
Well, I’m afraid you did shock me. I thought it was a reference to colonists buying New York with glass beads. (I just read on Wikipedia that this was disproved) but buying some land with seashells instead.
Weird_Anteater_6428@reddit
I didn't even go that deep I thought it was literal seashells in pockets while hanging out with your family 😬
tipseymcstagger@reddit
2 Become 1 by the Spice Girls.
I sang that song all the time as a kid and had no idea what it was about.
It wasn’t until my 6 year old niece discovered the Spice Girls and that song popped on and she started singing along
Omg. I was so uncomfortable hearing the lyrics come out of a 6 year olds mouth! I had no idea what the song was about until that moment.
Ghosts_of_the_maze@reddit
You like Huey Lewis and the News?
spaceace321@reddit
Ænema by Tool. I had no idea what it was about until I did.
FriedBreakfast@reddit
The first few times I heard AC/DC song "Big Balls" I seriously thought they were referring to testicles. I didn't know it meant a ballroom dance thingy.
gooch_norris_@reddit
Two things can be true at the same time
When they’re held for pleasure they’re the balls that I like best
Neither-Principle139@reddit
There’s a term for it…
Redflagpolesitter@reddit
You mean they’re not?
balding_git@reddit
🤔
KittehKittehKat@reddit
Flagpole Sitta
burgundyblue@reddit
It wasn’t until I was going through my mental health journey about four years ago and Unwell by Matchbox Twenty came on. I was kind of singing along and the lyrics clicked in my head. Brain canon followed by tears.
Hung_like_a_turtle@reddit
Diamonds hits harder. That song makes me cry now that I understand the lyrics.
Squigglepig52@reddit
"Long Day" is about an ex GF with BPD - as somebody with BPD, yeah, they nail it what it feels like.
Itsnotbabyyoda389@reddit
Great song.
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
It’s the simple songs that hit the hardest
OhTheHueManatee@reddit
I've always loved the song Landslide. But about ten years ago it totally blindsided me emotionally speaking. I genuinely bawled from it.
erraticcompendium@reddit
Simply cannot listen to it without crying.
Equivalent-Mousse-93@reddit
This song broke me driving 4 states away for my first ‘big girl job.’ I had to pull over and cry my eyes out.
SweetCosmicPope@reddit
Your Love by The Outfield. I was embarrassingly older by the time I realized it was about fucking around on your significant other.
intensenerd@reddit
Sitting at the airport at 5 am waiting to board my flight for a 3 week work trip out of the country and Cats In The Cradle plays on the overhead speaker system.
I had a 3 year old and a 1 year old at home. I was a fuckin wreck the whole day.
moonbunnychan@reddit
Weird one but...Mmmbop. The happy bubblegum sound hides some pretty deep lyrics that I was too young to understand until much older. In an Mmmbop they're gone indeed.
ObligationJumpy6415@reddit
I wasn’t into them or the song when it came out, but listening to them sing it acoustically years later I was like oh shit, that’s deep.
AffectionateFig5864@reddit
Had to look up the lyrics because I’ve only ever paid attention to the chorus. Y’all weren’t lying, that kinda gave me chills.
IsraelZulu@reddit
It didn't hit me that Free Bird is a breakup song, until I was going through one a couple years ago.
Funny thing about it is, I was relating the lyrics to her perspective and, instead of really feeling super melancholy about it (although I was indeed still dealing with a lot of depression from the split), I actually found myself feeling happy for her. That was the moment I realized I was starting to heal.
ShakeItUpNowSugaree@reddit
One Headlight by the Wallflowers
sleeperninja@reddit
Mr. Jones. I love it now.
JaxxisR@reddit
I'm pretty sure "my polyamorous friend" from the Breaking Benjamin song is his penis. Took me awhile to pick up on that.
BreakfastBeerz@reddit
Cat's In The Cradle by Harry Chapin (Ugly Kid Joe also an acceptable answer). I mean, I always, "got" it.....but I didn't realize how true it was until I became both the child and the dad in that song.
littleyellowbike@reddit
It's not from our generation, but at some point in the last decade Bob Seger's "Like A Rock" made the transition in my soul from "Chevy commercial" to "ugly crying on my commute" and not to be dramatic but it kind of kicked my ass in gear to start turning my "maybe one day I'll..." to "the flights are booked."
Sparkle8022@reddit
"What It's Like" by Everlast. As a college kid, I just thought it was just a song about people going through bad things. I heard it the other day, and now, at this age, I realize it's more about having empathy for the struggles of others, rather than the struggles themselves. Maybe more relevant now than when the song first came out.
Texas_Bookworm@reddit
One of my all-time faves. I grew up in a very poor community, so it resonated with me even as a teen, but with the loss of empathy in today's world, it really hits home.
cats_n_tats11@reddit
I was a sweet summer child and had no idea most of Third Eye Blind's songs revolve around sex and drugs until I was in college, at least.
McCQ@reddit
Semi-Charmed Life being the prime example. Almost everyone sees that as a typical, basic, upbeat 90s song. Even the sound takes on a new meaning when you realise the lyrics are taking you into a pretty dark place.
Nicobeak@reddit
Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break
psyclopsus@reddit
I took the hit that I was given then I bumped again, then I bumped again, she said…
IndomitableAnyBeth@reddit
Oh heck, in high school choir in 2000 the Spring pops concert was a medley of popular music from every decade in the 1900s. Part of it for the early decades was figuring out exactly what the slang of the day meant so we knew what we were singing. Some of those songs from the teens over a hundred years ago were nasty-dirty but probably not the ones that sound most like it. "Spooning" was pretty chaste, but other things that sounded sweet really weren't. And basically all the risqué stuff was sexual in that none of the drugs were banned yet. A lot of our great-grandparents were already listening to dirty songs, they just used terms we don't recognize anymore.
truffles76@reddit
...gives new meaning to cranking one out on the phonograph. Heyoooo
niobiumnnul@reddit
God of Wine is another great one.
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
I traded my brother for his Third Eye Blind CD with my Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill”. We now joke about the insane trade and how we introduce any of these songs to his kids
Maximum-Tomatillo743@reddit
Took me way past my teens to learn that Golden Brown by the Stranglers wasn’t about a girl with a good looking tan.
Serious_Lettuce6716@reddit
Most of them. As a music lover who’s been “lyric deaf” most of my life I used to mainly just listen for the sound. I got the lyrics of even my favorite songs all wrong. Artists that were renowned for their deep lyrics were mostly just “meh” to me. Tool, meh. Radiohead, meh. I’ve even mistaken French lines and verses in songs for nonsensical English. For example the Beatles’ “Michelle”… “Me shell, my bell, Sunday monkey gone play piano song play piano song” I basically have the audio processing ability of Alexa or Siri. I wish real life had subtitles. The first thing I did when I bought a tape or CD back in the day was yank out the liner in hopes that the lyrics were printed in it. The internet was a game changer for this. I’ve always loved to sing karaoke, but a few songs I couldn’t even sing because the words on the screen were nothing what I thought they were and I didn’t know where to place the syllables. Around age 40, I suddenly began correctly understanding song lyrics and now songs that I’ve heard all my life are like new to me again. So weird.
nojoblazybum@reddit
Haven’t seen Pumped Up Kicks but man that changes once you listen to the actual lyrics.
Redflagpolesitter@reddit
Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead It’s about a sex doll. I had no clue until I was watching an interview with Noel Gallagher and he referenced it (I know he’s from Oasis).
I was floored. Sorry it if I ruined the song for anyone.
Plane_Chance863@reddit
I can see there's a few lines that suggest that, but I feel the song is more about depression/feeling worn out than specifically about a blow up doll.
stuffwiththing@reddit
Ebenezer Good
One-Earth9294@reddit
Lots of songs by Peter Gabriel. I used to think he was yuppie music. But he's so subversive. It's kind of like how American Psycho is taunting yuppie culture and not celebrating it.
Now he's one of my favorite artists of the era.
WittyClerk@reddit
Most of the Clash, especially main tunes like Rock the Casbah.
Austaras@reddit
Oh No Rain was totally about battling depression. I've witnessed the struggles friends and family have had with it.
KoRaZee@reddit
Super freak
zipty842@reddit
It took me 20 years to realize Kid Rock wasn’t warming up the mower behind the garage.
LadyDayinDC@reddit
It's Morning, was about being the side piece.
Scurrymunga@reddit
Dancing in the Moonlight - Toploader. And now I can't hear it without thinking about it.
KoRaZee@reddit
Everything linkin park wrote
MisterHyman@reddit
Billy Joel - Vienna
NobleMofoKing@reddit
Any song that sounds like it's about sex but isn't.
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
They’re all about sex. It’s what the song fixates on that makes it great. And they’re not great.
Interesting-Goose82@reddit
Me an 84, love No Rain, but thought nothing of it. Fun weird song right?
...Blind Melon has other hits "listen, can you hear the cats?!"
...no idea what No Rain was about. Listening to it now, and man im dense, i dont get alot of it. ...i habe a masters in econ, i tell myself im smart. But poems/songs, i just dont get. They go over my head. Then someone like you exlpains it and all of a sudden Ghost - Badflower is about suicide? Who knew??!?!?
Apparently everyone except me.
I still am not sure i get No Rain? Im literally listenting to it now. Well not now, at this point Ghost is on, im a slow typer.
...please explain the me, the idiot who thinks he is the smartest person on the room, but is now asking for a basic break down of a son ice jammed to for 30 or so yrs. What is it about?
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
Just insert different bands and this is exactly how I felt.
Much_Cardiologist180@reddit (OP)
I’m getting the feeling that this album hit us years before we could understand, and it felt good thinking we understood life better than everyone else…but we didn’t have a clue