Songs that you hear different now
Posted by Kind_Worry_9836@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 802 comments
A sports radio host made a reference to Luka by Suzanne Vega today. I recognized the song and when I listened to it on YouTube I remembered the melody. It hit me differently because I actually listened to the words this time.
When I was younger I was really into crunchy guitars and didn't really listen to the lyrics. Are there songs from your younger days that you hear differently now?
bmyst70@reddit
"Into the Night" When I first heard it I thought the main singer's character was 18 and the woman was 16.
Finding out he was in his 40s really hits differently.
Ahleanna-D@reddit
If you can completely disregard the lyrics, the song’s sound still holds up. Dude could sing.
bmyst70@reddit
Agreed.
Camaschrist@reddit
This song is so messed up. I even knew it as a child. Aren’t the first words something like she’s just 16 years old, leave her alone they say?
baloney_dog@reddit
Yep, and then followed that with the line "separated by fools" (I guess by "fools" he meant "the law" or "common decency"?)
bmyst70@reddit
Yeah they are. At the time I assumed he was 18 or something which technically would be quite illegal but understandable.
ryamanalinda@reddit
Just don't watch the video.....
baloney_dog@reddit
Well, that removed any shred of ambiguity...
(I couldn't help myself - this is the first time I've ever paid attention to the lyrics, so of course I had to check it out)
Designer_End5408@reddit
How about Under My Thumb. Worthy of a discussion.
ConsequenceTop4344@reddit
Yeah, that one's awful. Also: Brown Sugar. Yikes. 😬
tacos_for_algernon@reddit
So many RS songs that I just can't listen to anymore. Lots of songs, actually. RS, RHCP, anything by MJ. The songs come on, my brain is like "fun and catchy!" then the ANNOYING part of my brain is like, "Hey, remember all the sexual assaults these people perpetrated?" Then I have to switch things up. Ignorance certainly is bliss.
Designer_End5408@reddit
Yes RHCP is one for me. Loved them But Anthony now gives me the creeps. Especially even more after seeing him in the Netflix doc
DreamFighter72@reddit
Holding Back the Years by Simply Red Simply Red - Holding Back The Years (Official 4K Remaster) - YouTube It has a whole different meaning and feel at my age than when I was a teenager.
DefaultUsername11442@reddit
I always think that More Than Words by Extreme sounds like a dirt bag boyfriend trying to manipulate a girl into sex.
ConsequenceTop4344@reddit
This one. I was never a huge fan (liked it well enough, though I liked Hole Hearted a lot more), but I've heard it a few times recently and, listening to the lyrics for the first time in decades, realized that it's just gross.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I need to reread those lyrics. I always heard it as don't only say I love you.
Or maybe it is my husband couldn't actually speak for 3 months of our marriage. So we needed more than words.
norfolkgarden@reddit
That's exactly what it was. It always makes me sad. My sister and her POS boyfriend loved that song. My sister never figured it out. Boyfriend eventually became husband. So that was 'better'?
StreetEuphoric2757@reddit
100%
Traditional_Sir_4503@reddit
I never heard most of the lyrics. My car radios were never that great fidelity and the recordings usually stressed the guitars and drums at the expense of lyrics. I love the lyrics feature on Spotify. I am finally learning the words to so many songs.
Jude_the_obscurest@reddit
Slow disco by St. Vincent. I thought it was about a relationship gone bad. Apparently its not.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I thought of Hot Child in the City. I could easily relate to that song. Young teenager new in town (sort of) who's parent doesn't really care what she is doing as long as she is home by midnight.
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
I remember it from Big.
lifeisdream@reddit
I still remember the moment in the movie when a grown woman slept with a child (in a man’s body) fondly 🤮
Cinisajoy2@reddit
You are younger than me. I was 14 when it came out.
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
Cinisajoy2@reddit
1966.
Schlechtyj@reddit
This will hit hard with oh about half of Gen X women, but being named Jenny omg if I never hear 867-5309 again it will be too soon. Took years to realize that song was about some ho bag slut. Everybody thinks they are so original when they bring up that song. I always say something like “Never gets old does it?” Or if I’m feeling pissy “Wow you’re the first person to ever bring that song up.”
SheShouldGo@reddit
Its not though. Its about some weirdo who's calling a number he saw written on a bathroom wall. "For a good time call Jenny- 867-5309". There's nothing about who she is except she might change her number, probably b/c randos are calling her.
Schlechtyj@reddit
Wellllll the thing is, people didn’t usually write “for a good time call Jenny” on walls unless they were Jenny or they’d laid Jenny. And given that there are “others before”, I really do think it’s about a chick who is easy. But yeah Jenny is Soooooo common. I had to change my name on the Starbucks app cause doordashers kept taking my orders ahahahaha
SheShouldGo@reddit
I never thought any number on a bathroom wall was a legit hookup 🤣, I just thought it was some guy being an asshole and torturing a girl who rejected him or something. Maybe I got that from watching 80s teen movies?
Schlechtyj@reddit
Could also be that. But dude is calling from a pay phone not his house phone. Seems sus to me ahaha
Creatableworld@reddit
And Jenny was such a common name then. My best friend in high school was a Jenny and I can think of two others just off the top of my head.
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
Push It, Salt N Pepa. Amazing that my parents let us listen to that and sing along in the car. I guess they didn't want us to realize what it was actually about?
Thick_Journalist7232@reddit
The 70s and 80s were filled with innuendo and double entendre that meant something different to the adults vs the kids. Go back and watch the love boat for a completely different show that when you were 10. But by the time push it came along, I pretty much got that one. I was probably dumb enough to think the message was hidden up a generation also. More like our parents didn’t care at that point
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
There ain't much subtle innuendo in that song to be fair.
bobthenob1989@reddit
Are you my daughter? 🤣
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
Lol maybe, did I also drive you nuts by listening to Front 242 at maximum volume all the time? 😂
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Front 242! Fuck yeah!
CountHonorius@reddit
Yeah! Parents never told us 'stop singing that disco filth!' or anything like it.
Vivian-1963@reddit
Horse with no name. Didn’t understand the meaning until I was an adult. Still love America though.
e1p1@reddit
Also, Ventura Highway.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Another good one.
Vivian-1963@reddit
Rocket Man. Became so much more meaningful when my child was burning up his fuse up there alone.
I realize that to me, it was about extreme pressure and expectations, sexual identity, and drug use in those lyrics.
Elton and Bernie have written so many great songs.
e1p1@reddit
I usually get a chuckle out of that song. Specifically, the line "I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife."
Always imagine it being a Rodney Dangerfield line: "I miss the Earth so much... I miss my WIFE!!"
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
That's what he was saying? Thank you.
Plane-Fan9006@reddit
Pink Houses - John Mellencamp
Thought this was so silly/lame when I was a kid. Amazing what context does for you....much like Born in the USA, when you're naive and not paying attention, you think it's a compliment to the USA. With context, it's clearly a "we're fucked up" commentary
Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit
Same with Allentown, except it never pretended to be anything other than depressing.
dropthemasq@reddit
They've taken all the coal from the ground.
And the union people crawled away....
octoberhaiku@reddit
No, they never taught us what was real Iron, and coke, chromium steel
drivingthelittles@reddit
Blood on the scarecrow - 97 farmers who lost 97 farms, I sang it as a teenager but only got the ramifications of this as a much older adult.
Own_Celebration5462@reddit
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, and 100 years by Five for Fighting. I know the second was from 2004, but my husband and I met at 15, and I still felt young in 2004. It just hits different now.
Intrepid_Practice956@reddit
I'm not a fan of Fleetwood Mac but I listened to the Dixie Chicks version when my son was tiny.
Many many times.
norfolkgarden@reddit
"I'm not a fan of Fleetwood Mac"
Huh? Could you explain that please? Not angry. Just sad and confused. Tusk was meh. Rumours was the soundtrack of a decade and still hits.
wolfysworld@reddit
100 years has always hit hard but I was an adult already when it came out. Landslide started hitting hard when I was going through hard things with my family and needed distance between us.
Own_Celebration5462@reddit
I was in my 30’s with a kid on the way when that song was popular.
wolfysworld@reddit
100 years came on the radio as we were having our dog put to sleep and no one in our family can hear it without a few tears
Own_Celebration5462@reddit
I’m sorry!😭
wolfysworld@reddit
💗
Mpg19470@reddit
Every Breath You Take. It’s creepy now.
Feelin1972@reddit
To be fair, it was always intended to be creepy - but I didn’t pick that up as a kid, either.
Pure_Literature2028@reddit
Maggie Mae is about a cougar taking advantage of a college kid.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Are we sure it was college?
Pure_Literature2028@reddit
“It’s late September, and I really should be back at school.”
Cinisajoy2@reddit
It might have been high school.
Pure_Literature2028@reddit
Does it matter?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Very much so. College is young adults. Yeah I've seen the studies. High school is teenagers age 14 to barely 18. There is a huge difference between a high school junior and a college junior.
Either way, not good but one is way worse.
Pure_Literature2028@reddit
If it’s late September and she’s local he’d be going to school
Cinisajoy2@reddit
No. Back at school could be either.
Pure_Literature2028@reddit
You win
Excellent_Valuable92@reddit
It could have been high school was the point
Public-Air-8995@reddit
It really strikes me in the feels for Maggie.
Thegarlicbreadismine@reddit
So if it doesn’t bother him about her face, why even bring it up? The morning sun thing.
AhrinEss@reddit
Well, I thought the lyrics were "I wish that I WAS Jesse's girl," so there's that.
SunTzo@reddit
Jesse: "What?"
YinzerChick70@reddit
Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp.
My mom turned it off immediately when it came on the radio. Later, when I finally heard it, I thought it was the "The devil is my savior" line. (That might have been it, but my mom had priority boarding on the Tipper Gore train.)
I was playing cards at a casino and I finally really heard it and I blurted out "This is about one night stands." The rest of the table had a TIL moment, too.
OtherwiseMechanic322@reddit
One of my absolute favs. I feel to me it’s more about being a loner and detached, but still getting your needs met in a consensual but transactional way. I really dig it
YinzerChick70@reddit
That feels like a very eloquent description of... a one night stand.
Randomly_Cromulent@reddit
My parents listened to Supertramp so I was familiar with their songs as a kid. I definitely didn't know what that song or Take the Long Way Home were about. My mom liked to drive so sometimes she would take a longer route so that's what I thought the song was about. As someone who has been through a rocky at times marriage, it makes more sense to me now.
seriallyuninterested@reddit
Priority boarding on the Tipper Gore train is amazing. Thank you for the laugh.
QueenRotidder@reddit
The Office ruined this song for me
Fluffypus@reddit
I'm a long term Supertramp fan who also copped it from Christian friends about the "devil is my savior" line, but the next one is "and I don't pay no heed". So I guess they stopped listening?
Dogzillas_Mom@reddit
Boys of Summer
Sounded like boomer whining about the good old days.
I get it now.
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
I thought it was about baseball.
Dogzillas_Mom@reddit
Oh yeah? What do deadhead stickers on Cadillacs have to do with baseball?
gregzywicki@reddit
You got it then
Cinisajoy2@reddit
This post has got me thinking about how much I absorbed subconsciously as a child growing up. I wasn't necessarily a wild child, but I wasn't a good girl either. Much to the amazement of a vice principal when he asked about my broke toe. He asked first if I went to the doctor (legitimate reason to ask) and I said no because of who I was with which included a bunch of medical personnel. He asked what I was doing with those people. I said one was my boyfriend. He thought I was a good girl who didn't date anyone. I didn't date anyone in my high school.
gobaldridefaster@reddit
Seventeen by Winger. Now, I want to grab a shovel and a sack of lime when I hear that song.
Dramatic-Selection20@reddit
Like a prayer Madonna Jack and Diane John mellenkamp
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
Jack and Diane legitimately made me cry in public recently. Those lyrics hit hard when you’re in the “life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone” phase of life. I never realized it but that song is a damn masterpiece.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
How is a song about a guy telling a girl what to do a masterpiece?
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
Just the chorus really
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Then the song is not a masterpiece and I do hope Diane got smart.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Love is a Battlefield.
Jef_Wheaton@reddit
"100 Years" by Five for Fighting.
Halftime HAS gone by. The only ages left that are mentioned are 67, 99, and 100.
67 is only 13 years away. I doubt I'll see the other 2.
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
I hope not about the other two. I did not take care of my body.
Melodic_War327@reddit
Definitely feeling that one.
KarlJungus@reddit
Pink Floyd, Time. Specifically this verse ,
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
Turning 50 really got me.
GeordieAl@reddit
Was going to post the same. I’ve always loved the song, but as each decade passes the lyrics hit closer to home.
Two years ago the line “and then one day you find, ten years have got behind you” really hit me.
I’ve always been a big birthday celebrator.. proper party animal. When I was coming up on 40 I decided I didn’t want to do the “big 40” like everyone else, but instead do the “big 42” ( the answer to life, the universe, and everything!)
I had it all planned out, I’d do a big night out here in Canada, then take a trip back home to the UK to celebrate again and visit family and friends. I had the trip booked for early May (birthday is near end of March).
Shortly before my birthday my mam got taken into hospital back in the UK with breathing problems. We spoke on the phone and she was looking forward to my trip home. My birthday came and I went out and had a good night out… not quite the big night I planned as I was concerned about my mam.
I woke up the next day on the couch with a hangover to my phone ringing. It was one of my brothers to tell me that it was lung cancer and if I wanted to see my mam again I should get home ASAP. I booked a flight for three days later and flew home. I spent a week there and visited my mam in the hospice she was in. When I left she was in good spirits and there was talk of her going home.
Four weeks later she passed away, two weeks before my original trip date. So my trip back home, instead of being the big 42 celebration ended up being for her funeral. Siblings argued, one refused to attend the celebration afterwards, another announced they were contesting the will (despite there being nothing of value). A week later I flew back to Canada.
Two years ago I turned 52 and realized that I’d not spoken to any of the family for 10 years… and that’s when that line really hit home.
And here we are now, two more years have passed and the line “Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death” feels more real too… maybe time I quit smoking..
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
The follow up to those lyrics you mentioned was “no one told you when to run/ you missed the starting gun” as a person who always had felt like they were doing life wrong, those were the ones that struck me the most. Accidentally wasting your life.
picture_it_2@reddit
Great lyrics, they really capture the feeling of growing older. The verse that you picked is one that runs through my head a lot these days!
AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit
Thought I'd something more to say...
Then that female session vocalist who did her part in one take. And never got paid or credited until decades later. Look up that story. Interesting stuff.
paddedpothead420@reddit
Ah Clare Tory and the great gig in the sky. This is my grieving song whenever someone close to me passes. I just crank up the volume and let her voice speak for me
in-a-microbus@reddit
On the flip side there is:
The two songs compliment each other to remind us that life is a balancing act.
KarlJungus@reddit
Still lyrically and musically amazing 50+ years and counting!
All_Dogs_Love_Me@reddit
I'm about the same age. I soo agree...and the song Time metaphorically clinks glasses and says Cheers with the song Wish You Were Here.
One of the worst parts of living a long, healthy life is all the people you know who don't
K-Dub59@reddit
“Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time.”
This song hits SO much different now.
helippe@reddit
John Cougar Mellencamp Jack & Diane : life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone. Hits different the older I get.
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
Oh shit, I just commented the same thing before I saw this comment. I never thought much about this song until it was playing (loudly) while I was browsing in a thrift store. Those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks, and made me lose it right there in the store.
Public-Air-8995@reddit
That phrase has come into my head so many times over the years during struggles.
El-Viking@reddit
I think he originally wrote it where Jack and Diane were an interracial couple but that hit too differently for the record execs to get behind it. I'd be curious to hear the original version.
SemperP1869@reddit
iv never heard that. source?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I thought he wrote it while thinking about his own teenage years.
Elendril333@reddit
Pumped Up Kicks is about running from a school shooter.
PocketFullOfPie@reddit
And you got that just from the lyrics? "You better run, better run, faster than my bullet"?
Elendril333@reddit
It's an oddly upbeat song that a lot of people, at the time, were not paying attention to the words of. It was all over the radio in the background music of life.
norfolkgarden@reddit
Lol, it was huge. And, no, we weren't paying attention worth AF.
The music was banging. Then, oh....
KeaAware@reddit
It took me I'm not going to tell you how many years to realise Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer was basically I Want to Give You a Good Pounding. I think I just associated it with fruit, not sex!
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
I loved that video when it came out & declared it my favorite song. I was 5.
Public-Air-8995@reddit
TIL 🤣It was a catchy tune
QueenRotidder@reddit
I only realized this like 6 months ago LOL I am way too old to have missed that…
CountHonorius@reddit
Bumper cars bumpin' and all that...
Quaranj@reddit
David Wilcox - Laying Pipe
All during the time where an effort was made to insinuate rather than state out loud.
Setthescene@reddit
In the Meantime by Spacehog
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
I still have no idea what dude was saying
EclecticLandlady@reddit
Jailhouse rock. There are no gender neutral jails in the US.
RubeHalfwit@reddit
I don't remember the line where Number Three consents, now that you mention it.
EclecticLandlady@reddit
Something like: number 47 says says to number 3, I sure would be delighted with your company. The whole song is filled with dubious meaning.
AddendumParticular25@reddit
You the cutest jailbird I ever did see
Pretend_Ad_3125@reddit
I always assumed Elvis was talking about another man.
EclecticLandlady@reddit
How could I forget the diamond centerpiece of the song!
Trick_Egg_6999@reddit
Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt.
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
Touch of Grey - Grateful Dead.
When it came out it was just this catchy song. Now it’s something that I almost need to hear to get through the day.
JahBohling@reddit
It's alright.
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
I will get by.
Science670@reddit
We will survive!
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
Draw the curtains, I don't care.
External_Trainer9145@reddit
Good one, it’s such a wonderful song!
LiveLoudWithPride@reddit
There are 2 that come to mind. Bruce Springsteen’s Born in The USA is not a patriotic song as I used to think, it’s actually slamming the government for how Vietnam vets were treated when they came home. And The Police’s I’ll Be Watching You is literally about stalking a woman.
Resident-Condition-2@reddit
The Police song is "Every Breath You Take" and yes it is a stalker song. Just like Sarah McLachlan's "Possession"
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Sting was so alarmed by people using Every Breath You Take as a romantic wedding song that he wrote Love Is The Seventh Wave as an antidote.
Resident-Condition-2@reddit
Yeah. People play highly inappropriate songs at weddings because they don't understand the lyrics.
Embarrassed_Eye_7079@reddit
Hello Lionel Richie
henhennyhen@reddit
Wait a minute… is this comment… political?? 😏
Padres_Guy2765@reddit
Little Red Corvette. I was 10, our neighbors wife had one and I said at dinner, Mrs X has a Little Red Corvette!!! “Yes, she does.” said my dad. “Excuse me?” my mom.
hamster-cow@reddit
Wait, is that song not really talking about a car? I feel naïve.
norfolkgarden@reddit
"All of the boys who had been there before" um, maybe she was a redhead?
shandelier_23@reddit
I thought it was about a car
MissPicklechips@reddit
She had a pocket of horses, Trojans and some of them used?
Not a car.
Prairie_Crab@reddit
Her privates, dear.
Excellent_Valuable92@reddit
These days, people are less likely assume.
fabgwenn@reddit
Everything. Not just the lyrics but I’m more appreciative of the vocals now, and the way the band comes together.
blaspheminCapn@reddit
Cat's cradle
Embarrassed_Eye_7079@reddit
😭😭😭
Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit
Dust in the wind.
Just the refrain of "All we are is Dust in the Wind" makes you feel so small and insignificant in the overall world of things.
madame_de_la_luna@reddit
"All in all you're just another brick in the wall" has a similar effect.
octoberhaiku@reddit
I can never hear Dust in the Wind anymore and not think of Socrates.
CountHonorius@reddit
Something about "If I had a rocket launcher/I'd make them all pay" - used to see it as restroom grafitti in college.
Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit
That's it!! It had a great sound. You barely listened to the words as you sang them. Now, it's like, man, that's horrific!
BaldGuy813@reddit
Oh can I Jump in again. That disgusting Piña Colada, song Escape. And they used to play it at weddings. It's not romantic. It's disgusting
blacktrufflesheep@reddit
And I hate how they play it in that Xfinity Jurassic Park commercial! Why would you want that awful song on your morning jog playlist?!
madame_de_la_luna@reddit
I hate that commercial so much. It's on constantly, like every commercial break on every channel. I try to mute the sound before that Pina Colada song kicks in, but I'm not always fast enough. I was neutral on that song before that commercial. Now I HATE it with a passion.
Infinite-Hearing2629@reddit
This one. I will never understand why people think its a love song. They were cheating on each other.
Billazilla@reddit
With each other, meaning not only were they dishonest, they were also dumb.
Infinite-Hearing2629@reddit
Yeah, they were each looking for someone to step out with and found each other...which honestly, they deserve each other at that point.
Just stop playing it at weddings, lol
baloney_dog@reddit
Exactly! To both your points. (also, jinx, I owe you a Coke, as I just commented that they deserve each other too)
And I'm saying this as someone who really likes the song
baloney_dog@reddit
Yep, they deserve each other.
baloney_dog@reddit
I love this song - but I don't find it romantic, I find it darkly funny. And I think the two cheaters in the song deserve each other.
drhagbard_celine@reddit
My cousin sang Paradise by the Dashboard Light with his wife at their wedding.
BaldGuy813@reddit
Ok NGL that's kinda cool and ballsy! At least there was real passion
charlottethesailor@reddit
You are absolutely correct. And man, that song was very popular. There's actually a reggae version of the song that I actually like better than the original.
The writer of the song, Rupert Holmes, also wrote some short mystery stories that are pretty good.
hamster-cow@reddit
His novels are much better than this song, I agree!
Odd-Prune2254@reddit
I actually read the words to mmm bop recently. It's pretty deep for a couple of kids to write.
wildcat_crazy_zebra@reddit
It's completely overlooked too. A victim of it's popularity but not as bubblegum as once thought.
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
I hope they made a lifetime of money from that song.
PeevedProgressive@reddit
Alone again, naturally.
Unhappy_Permit2571@reddit
As a kid I loved the song Sugar Walls by Sheena Easton. I thought it was a wholesome song about a gingerbread house. Boy was I wrong.
dustin91@reddit
Written by Prince, so… yeah.
JoeyDawsonJenPacey@reddit
I was an adult before I realized why my mom wouldn’t let me listen to Little Red Corvette and Raspberry Beret.
2dznotherdirtylovers@reddit
What am i missing here?
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
They're about sex and private parts.
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
Yea, alot of us were definitely wrong about that one. I never looked at Sheena Easton the same after I learned she was talking about her "sugar walls." 🥵
crazdtow@reddit
I still love listening to her songs, especially strut which I think I knew all along what it was really about. Fantastic singer/performer!
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
I loved watching her videos on MTV....especially U got the Look with Prince. 🥵🔥
crazdtow@reddit
lol as a woman I just genuinely enjoy her music but I can’t disagree she’s incredibly attractive as well. Kinda just oozes sexy
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
Oozes is definitely a good word to describe her 😝
crazdtow@reddit
It’s not wrong though right 😉
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
Nope, not wrong at all. 😜 think ill go on YouTube and pull up a couple of her old videos and reminisce back when I was a teenager (also, cant forget her singing the James Bond theme "For Your Eyes Only")
crazdtow@reddit
Kinda forgot about that one for some reason but she’s definitely a regular on my Spotify playlists. Enjoy your morning wank-I mean you tube 🙂
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
🍆💦
Quix66@reddit
I remember being an older GenX stuck in the car with my Prince-loving mother. She didn’t change the station.
Hard cringe.
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
I listen to old Casey Kasem reruns on Sundays. I got a good chuckle out of hearing him introduce that song in his usual matter-of-fact delivery.
Wyndeward@reddit
My Dad, for reasons I shan't get into here, was a boy from the urban part of southern New Jersey who listened to country music. Because I was his gofer for a lot of matters, I ended up hearing a lot of country music.
A stress response of mine is to lean into the familiar. This impulse brought me back around to country music -- the sound of my early childhood. Being older, I started listening, rather than just hearing.
Decades later, I suddenly realized "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is about wake.
twobit211@reddit
oh shit
Wyndeward@reddit
To be fairly honest, "Oh shit" is where my reaction started.
Vivian-1963@reddit
I can cry to those lyrics.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
That was one of my dad's favorite songs. George was his favorite singer. Actually knew him too.
wendx33@reddit
Oof, the lyrics give me chills.
imtheorangeycenter@reddit
Knights in White Satin isn't about Monty Python and the Holy Grail knights (Google a picture if you're not familiar).
It's not even Knights.
I pay that little attention to lyrics. And I found that out at 47.
PeevedProgressive@reddit
One Christmas YEARS ago, a local station played (only once) Nights in white satin with the lyrics replaced with twas the night before Christmas.
Excellent_Valuable92@reddit
Satin made for lousy fightwear, so of course they never reached the end of the battle. That was for the ones sensible enough to wear armor.
cre8majik@reddit
😆
Ok_Raspberry_5655@reddit
Young Girl by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. Hits way wrong now
Upset_Peace_6739@reddit
I recently added Sinead O’Connor’s Emperor’s New Clothes to my playlist. This verse is hitting differently:
Everyone can see what's going on They laugh 'cause they know they're untouchable Not because what I said was wrong Whatever it may bring I will live by my own policies I will sleep with a clear conscience I will sleep in peace
Upset_Peace_6739@reddit
I made a point to watch that episode of SNL solely because of her appearance. When she ripped the picture I instantly knew two things - how fucking proud I was of her and that this action destroyed her career. The aftermath was so vicious.
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Kris Kristofferson's reaction made me fall in love with him.
kittybigs@reddit
I was raised catholic and I remember being shocked that she was treated like crap over her SNL appearance, it was eye opening for me. It surely solidified being ex-catholic.
HilariousBosch@reddit
What a powerful song. I didn't take her seriously back then, but now I know I'd never be able to walk a mile in her shoes.
JayJoeJeans@reddit
She was a million years ahead of the rest of us
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
I love her. RIP.
VintageFashion4Ever@reddit
She fucking told us about the atrocities being committed by the Catholic Church and people mocked her.
jfrankparnell85@reddit
“Once in a Lifetime”
Same as it ever was….
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
My fave since it came out.
gregzywicki@reddit
What have you done?
Just4kicks19@reddit
I woke up in that song in 2008. Blew up my life for the better and haven't looked back (kept the family, though)
Corginzola@reddit
Pretty in Pink
whiskeywomyn@reddit
For me it was Like a Prayer by Madonna. I was in elementary school when I first heard it, It was even the first record I owned. But I was well into adulthood by the time I knew what it was about. Also Like a Virgin was one that I didn’t quite know what it meant. I was in early elementary I believe when that came out so didn’t know what a virgin was but would sing out loud with my friends.
shandelier_23@reddit
I had no idea what LAP was actually about till 2025
justajerklurker@reddit
I remember being about 5 and singing 'Like a Virgin' at the top of my lungs while I swung as high as possible on the swing set at the neighborhood park with no parental supervision of course. Perfectly appropriate in the 80's.
Fair-Wishbone-1190@reddit
First of all I love that song Luka by Suzanne Vega!!! Always have ever since it came out. But I've now listened to the words of Total eclipse of the heart by Bonnie Tyler and I understand them obviously as an adult and it hit me different. Back then I just liked the melody and the tune of it all never really listening to the words as a kid.
LordChauncyDeschamps@reddit
Total Eclipse of the Heart is about vampires. It was supposed to be part of a Nosferatu musical. I only learned this recently. The song honestly makes more sense to me now.
Fair-Wishbone-1190@reddit
About vampires? Wow I never knew that! That's absolutely Wild, I'll have to look into that because that's very interesting. thank you!
LordChauncyDeschamps@reddit
"With 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', I was trying to come up with a love song and I remembered I actually wrote that to be a vampire love song. Its original title was 'Vampires in Love' because I was working on a musical of Nosferatu, the other great vampire story. If anyone listens to the lyrics, they're really like vampire lines. It's all about the darkness, the power of darkness and love's place in the dark."
Jim Steinman
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Fucking amazing!
DontHugMe73@reddit
One way or another - Blondie Take your Breath away - Sara Mclachlan
shandelier_23@reddit
it's called Possession and it's about a stalker
MrRetrdO@reddit
Well, I remember when I was in 3rd grade, everyone loved the Village People. I even still have their 1st album which I got for Xmas that year. Never gave a thought to the lyrics till I was an adult.
VixenTraffic@reddit
Seasons in the sun.
Afternoon delight.
otbnmalta@reddit
Luka wrecked me then, wrecks me now
CountHonorius@reddit
When it first came out I thought it was about spousal abuse.
BarracudaFar1905@reddit
It isn't?
otbnmalta@reddit
It's about child abuse
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
The video is about child abuse. The song is about spousal abuse.
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
It is.
Public-Air-8995@reddit
And now I wonder how Luka’s life went. I hope he’s ok.
QueenRotidder@reddit
Such a good song. Made me sad even as a kid though
Meesh1137@reddit
I listened then, too.
ChiefinLasVegas@reddit
*differently
TheBat3@reddit
I actually think different can make sense here - the implied meaning is that the songs hit you in a different way. In that case, the word doesn’t actually modify “hear” as an adverb.
gregzywicki@reddit
You could just accept the correction. We're not millennials... We don't have to change every rule to suit our own tastes.
TheBat3@reddit
Sure. It’s not my post so I don’t have a dog in the fight. It was just that the correction got me thinking about the ways we use grammar, etc., so it was more of a thought experiment. OP actually used “differently” in the body of the post, so I was pondering whether it could work grammatically to use “different” since that it is a common usage (folks say things “hit different” a lot for instance).
gregzywicki@reddit
That's exactly what I'm talking about..."common usage" has become an excuse for stubborn ignorance.
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Language changes. You don't have to like it but you can't stop it.
gregzywicki@reddit
If we insist on it's correct usage we can at least slow it down. Or, should I say, bl33ble blorble kitten insurgency?
ChiefinLasVegas@reddit
The sentence would need to be rearranged. Certainly, you can say something like this
"The different impression of songs I now hear vs before."
Peony519@reddit
Once in a Lifetime. Heard it on the way to the church on my wedding day, changed from a jangly, up beat tune to the cautionary tale that it is, and have never heard it otherwise since. All good, solid spouse choice, together 30 years now. But still. Holy shit. Those lyrics.
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Been my favourite song since I came out. For some reason it hit 11-year-old me right where I lived.
CountHonorius@reddit
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...
Alert_Thing_4322@reddit
Back door man
Left_Interaction_288@reddit
The Howling Wolf song? I'm pretty sure it means he's sneaking in the littrral back door of the house while her husband is away, rather than it being about anal sex, but who knows? It's another one that refers to women as "little girls", but as with the Bruce Springsteen example, I don't think it means a child, any more than calling a lover "baby" does. Nevertheless, I sometimes like to change the lyrics in my head to say, "the girls don't know, but the gay men understand".
Excellent_Valuable92@reddit
It was a double entendre: both the back door and the back door
aspleenic@reddit
I always got it, but I think many people miss the point of Zombie by the Cranberries. Like, listen, it's a great song, and it has it's place. But I get put off at karaoke when people are singing a song about political oppression and children dying for hundreds of years in Ireland.
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
The Charismatic Voice's analysis of Zombie is eye-opening and heartbreaking.
Jef_Wheaton@reddit
I work at an amusement park.
They play it during the "Family Friendly" hours of our Halloween event.
THAT'S NOT THE KIND OF ZOMBIES THEY'RE SINGING ABOUT.
aspleenic@reddit
Holy shit, that’s awful
PMMeYourPupper@reddit
I read an interview with O’Riordan last year about how she wrote the song and I’m sad whenever I hear it now
platypusandpibble@reddit
“Like A Rock” by Bob Seger. “20 years now, where’d they go? 20 years now, I don’t know…”
When I was younger I totally understood and agreed. I believed I wouldn’t live past 30. (Like a lot of us I think.) Today that line just makes me sad. More than 20 years and now I am so far away from standing arrow straight.
Also “Every Breath You Take” and “My Eyes Adored You” (and so many others). Glorifying stalking. Not cool.
Oh! And “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon” by Neil Diamond. Talk about a song to give the ick.
Ok. I’ll stop now. LOL
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
"Tonight's The Night" by Rod Stewart
tgrantt@reddit
Here's another Segar line for you:
"Everything changes, it's been ever thus; one day you're a comet, the next day you're dust."
pepperw2@reddit
Talking Heads Once In A Lifetime.
joshw42@reddit
I don't really hear it differently. it's the same as it ever was.
tinyradar398@reddit
Same as it ever was
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Same as it ever was
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
That has been my favourite song since it came out. Blew my eleven-year-old mind.
graygarden77@reddit
For me, it’s naïve Melody. Midlife and can’t stop thinking about it.
KalelRChase@reddit
‘Fix You’ is pretty clear but it hits me differently as a parent.
Yes, I know it’s about Gwyneth Paltrow.
Excellent_Valuable92@reddit
And we know that he did not, in fact, fix her.
disgirl4eva@reddit
Chris Martin told Howard Stern it was about the band. They were going through a rough patch. Everyone says it’s for Gwyneth and it surely fits but I’ve never seen him say that anywhere. Either way it’s my favorite Coldplay song.
https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaning-behind-fix-you-by-coldplay-and-who-it-helped-fix/
tgrantt@reddit
Hey Little Schoolgirl. Icky-ick.
shamy52@reddit
Fast Car Tracy Chapman. I was in college, It made me think of a friend; but over 20 years later it’s been remade some country music dude and it IMMEDIATELY makes me think of my first disastrous marriage.
MissPicklechips@reddit
I read somewhere on Reddit this week that someone had that song as one of their wedding dance songs. I was like, you do know that the song is about institutional poverty, right?
corpus-luteum@reddit
Diamond Smiles - The Boomtown Rats.
Never knew the lyrics to the last verse, was singing along and choked up as the subtitles unfolded in front of me. Couldn't sing the last line.
I always thought it was one of their more upbeat tunes.
Sad-Wolverine6326@reddit
I recently started putting some Boomtown Rats on my Playlist after not listening to them for 30 or so years. That's a tough one to get through. Sometimes I have to skip it.
tgrantt@reddit
Spoiler alert:
"kicking at the perfumed air."
dropthemasq@reddit
How about a video? Heard the song decades before I saw the video, and let me tell ya, it sure hits different after that.
Metallica "Turn the Page"
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Have you heard the Bob Seger version?
dropthemasq@reddit
Ofc but Bob Seger is talking about being a lonely musician by choice.
Metallica is shining a harsh light on a different set of choices, none of which are purely consensual.
wickedlyzenful@reddit
What? Can you explain further because I'm not sure where you're getting that?
dropthemasq@reddit
Metallica reinterprets the identity of the narrator in their video. Maybe you should watch the video.
wickedlyzenful@reddit
No need to be like that, I just didn't get what you were saying. I haven't watched the video because I didn't even know they did a cover of it. But thanks for the helpful information.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Isn't it the same song?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
If we want to continue down this path, shall we do some country music. Dad was country, mom was top 40. Basically anything by Conway Twitty. Delta Dawn, Lay me down in a field of roses and What's your mama's name all by a young Tanya Tucker.
pepperw2@reddit
I still have no idea what Delta Dawn is about. Haha
h3rs3lf_atl@reddit
Broken hearted, living in the past, expecting her lover to return for her, hence the suitcase. Though, I always felt "take you to his mansion in the sky" was a reference to suic*de.
tgrantt@reddit
I thought it was like "castles in the air", essentially a pipe dream.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Sounds like it.
Tanya7500@reddit
Southern woman screwed over by a man. Typical country song.
MTHiker59937@reddit
Suddenly loving everything Bryan Adams lately. Never listened to him much in high school, but now he's all over my Spotify.
bndgk12358@reddit
Yeah, summer of 69 was not about the year. In high school we used to sing that on the bus when we traveled for sports games, as well as other songs on which I don’t remember off hand. I am sure the coaches were super amused by that.
Inessence4@reddit
Little Res Corvette. I knew it was latent with innuendo but I thought she really had a car.
chillaxtion@reddit
Sonny Came Home is about Heroine addiction. I mainly hear it in Muzak situations, like in a supermarket or something.
Excellent_Valuable92@reddit
Is it? I thought it was about planning to kill the people she resented, which is actually darker.
bndgk12358@reddit
This One’s For the Girls, by Martina McBride. Not so much about the meaning, but what it represents for me. When I am in the feels it’s hard to listen to. I had a sister that passed at 24, so she never made it to 25 and all the things she sings about getting to experience life hits hard.
Also, almost any song I loved growing up seems to be about sex. Makes feel a little gross.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Husband just mentioned Harper Valley PTA.
SunshineAlways@reddit
Even as a kid, I knew that was messed up, and totally believable.
stormer1_1@reddit
I love "Luka" but I never could listen to it fully. Source: lived it no thanks
MoeBlacksBack@reddit
Same
Beautifile@reddit
I'm sorry.
PanicAtTheShiteShow@reddit
Tracy Chapman's Behind the Wall hit hard as well.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Must ask everyone's opinion on The Pill by Loretta Lynn.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino.
abbagodz@reddit
'When All Is Said and Done' by ABBA. When it was a hit back in '82, it was a catchy dance song. Now that I'm old(er), the lyrics really hit hard after living a life.
wildcat_crazy_zebra@reddit
Slipping Through My Fingers will forever remind me of my oldest. ABBA could always be counted on for their lyrical/musical dichotomies; Fernando, anyone?
Over-Cranberry-4637@reddit
Landslide...Fleetwood Mac
mrsmarcos2003@reddit
Was looking for this one. Having a kid really made that song hit differently for me. Kid is finishing up 8th grade and heading to high school in the fall and I'm not joking when I say it feels like it went so fast. That saying "the days are long but the years are short" is so true. Kid is already considering military duty after high school or technical college for airplane mechanics and I can literally still picture the "babyish" squealing and pointing to an airplane in the sky every time one would fly over.
And at the same time my parents are aging, great uncle and great aunt died within a few months of each each other last fall, Landslide makes you feel all of it.
asez5@reddit
Dirty Laundry Don Henley. I was too young when it came out to get it, it personifies everything going on in media today.
baloney_dog@reddit
"You don't really wanna know just how far it's gone" 😬
dearestnomad@reddit
I remember listening to this when I was a kid and wondering why they were so into dirty laundry! Now it makes so much sense!
No_Parking_4195@reddit
So, I'm guessing everyone got the bit about Reagan being shot? "Is the head dead yet?" I remember where I was when I heard, wondering what would happen.
InWaves72@reddit
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down...
LAStreetNames@reddit
When I was young, I thought the next lyric was "Kick 'em when they shit". (It's "Kick 'em when they're stiff.")
Accomplished-Math740@reddit
Pearl Jam, Last Kiss
https://youtu.be/mxszQT2esuc?si=SI4VhI4jTSMRlK33
stunneddisbelief@reddit
I hate this version so much (nothing against you lol). The only version for me is Wednesday’s: Wednesday
baloney_dog@reddit
An excellent version!
Accomplished-Math740@reddit
I did a quick search, I'm sure you're right 😊
baloney_dog@reddit
I remember listening to the 1964 version on our local oldies station growing up: https://youtu.be/bh4se9YMV3A
tacos_for_algernon@reddit
Can't help but to tear up every time I hear that song. It finds all my heart strings and pulls them simultaneously.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I am an older Gen-X, try the 70s for some interesting lyrics.
Also, if you want a something to think about song Bloodrock's DOA.
wildcat_crazy_zebra@reddit
Scrolled way too long for this one.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
All song lyrics from the '70s were really just about sex.
Icy-Mixture-995@reddit
A lot of breakup and relationship songs were about band members or their management in tiffs, except the songwriter would change the lyrics to a "she" to hide that he was fighting with the bass guitarist or the drummer.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
To be fair, most songs from earlier eras were also mostly about sex.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Not all of them. Listen to the song I recommended or look up the lyrics.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
I was joking.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Here's another one for you. The night the lights went out in Georgia.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
I still don’t know what that’s about
Cinisajoy2@reddit
It's about a murder.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
Driven by sexual infidelity.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Or domestic violence.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
Yeaaaaah… listen to the song again.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Admitting to mishearing the lyrics.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
The one thing I’ve never understood about this song is why Little Sister allowed her brother to take the rap for the murder she committed.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Me either. Or did he know and take the rap for his sister?
karma_the_sequel@reddit
An intriguing suggestion, but the lyrics indicate that the brother was railroaded in court, which could not be the case if he were willingly taking the rap for Little Sister.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
True
JitteryTurtle@reddit
And a few were about Norse mythology.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
Well, everybody knows Vikings fucked. 😂
KimBrrr1975@reddit
Joey by Concrete Blonde. I just liked the voice and would sing along. Then I spent 12 years with an alcoholic who eventually died from his addiction. Hits different for sure now.
SPL15@reddit
Cliche, but “Cat’s in the Craddle” by Harry Chapin.
Also “Hook” by Blues Traveler.
wildcat_crazy_zebra@reddit
Both of those I caught early, especially cats cradle..
The whole album, Fore where Hook is I've of the singles, is tops. The song Just Wait hits so close to home for several people and reasons that it can be hard to listen to. The Mountains Win Again stands out too. John Popper's voice conveys so much.. it's a shame they're not more popular.
According_Check_1740@reddit
Yes! Just Wait and The Mountains Win Again pulled me through some very difficult times...
According_Check_1740@reddit
It doesn't matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection. It makes you feel like I'm revealing some inner truth or vast reflection... 🔥
CatPurrsonNo1@reddit
I always liked “Run to You”, and then I really paid attention to the lyrics. What an asshole. Still catchy, though.
I was JUST talking to my friend about “Born in the USA” and how many people seem to think it’s a patriotic song. I remember singing along with it at Independence Day fireworks shows.
Plus-Ad1061@reddit
“Born in the USA” is a patriotic song. It’s just not a rah-rah one. The character in that song is a proud American who has served his country in the military and been a productive citizen, but the government is failing him. Using his First Amendment rights is absolutely patriotic.
wildcat_crazy_zebra@reddit
When I was in 5th grade that song was pretty popular and my teacher printed the lyrics and as a class we analyzed them line by line. Never took lyrics for granted from that point.
iheartmycats820@reddit
My ding-a-ling! My grandma bought that record for my brother because she thought it was a cute, innocent song 😂
Unique-flowerlady420@reddit
My adoptive father would get drunk and sing that... pure cringe
Western_Lecture_5079@reddit
What?! Your adoptive father sang 'Luca'? That is definitely cringe.
Unique-flowerlady420@reddit
Oh, my word.That made me laugh way too hard.Yeah, him singing Luka, cringiest of cringe!!! Bad enough hearing My Ding a Ling or classic Why don't we all get drunk and screw... 🙃🤮🤢
Vivian-1963@reddit
A JB fan I see. Just got a waterbed, fill it up for me n you. 🎶
Unique-flowerlady420@reddit
🤣🤣🤣🤭
Western_Lecture_5079@reddit
WTF. I've just barfed. I'm laughing at the ick factor.
Unique-flowerlady420@reddit
I'm definitely laughing with you.Unfortunately, welcome to my world l o l
iheartmycats820@reddit
I love that!
Unique-flowerlady420@reddit
Wish I could say the same.Although I do giggle, every time I hear the song
Cheetah51@reddit
My parents gave us preschool children the 45 - we loved it! “Johnny B Good” was on the other side.
Competitive-Isopod74@reddit
It was a favorite on the school bus on field trips.
Melodic_War327@reddit
A lot. My usual reaction is "Well... that was nice and creepy."
pepperw2@reddit
Haha. And little kids singing Queens “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Ummmm. Okey Dokey.
menum78@reddit
One by Metallica. Metallica is one of my favorite bands. However, since being a nurse, the song has changed for me
No_Parking_4195@reddit
Have you ever read the book Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo? Or seen the movie? If not, you should check it out.
wildcat_crazy_zebra@reddit
For a trailer to the book watch the extended video for One. Used to play on MTv all the time when the M stood for music and not money.
No_Parking_4195@reddit
Right. The song itself is based on the novel, so the video being made from the movie made perfect sense.
corpus-luteum@reddit
Down from Dover - Dolly Parton
My sister and her friends would get overly emotional at this song, and my friends and I used to find it hilarious.
Now that she's gone to dover and isn't coming back, it hits different.
ptindaho@reddit
Superman by Goldfinger definitely hits differently now that I am in my 40s. Love it even more now!❤️
DamYankee77@reddit
One of my favorites!!!!!!!
stunneddisbelief@reddit
I was way too young at 11 to realize what the lyrics for Good Girls Don’t by The Knack meant.
11 year old me:
“Get inside her pants?”
“Sitting on your face?”
Chemical-Flan-5700@reddit
Just last night, did I realize “where the grass is green”, in Paradise City; Isn’t exactly about lawn care 🤦🏻♀️🙄🫠
Xryanlegobob@reddit
What is it about? I always thought it was him singing about remembering the Midwest, where he was originally from.
Chemical-Flan-5700@reddit
I’m thinking he wants decent pot lol
Vivian-1963@reddit
More simple than it seems lol
Xryanlegobob@reddit
If that’s the case, don’t feel bad about learning that last night because I learned it this morning 😂
stunneddisbelief@reddit
Also “Dr. Feelgood.”
Didn’t realize for the longest time that he was an actual person.
Pristine-Speaker-768@reddit
Alice in Chains songs. I didn't like them back in they day, but then I found myself in a terrible relationship with a person that had addiction issues. I was unfortunately able to relate to some of the songs.
tacos_for_algernon@reddit
The entirety of Dirt slaps, and it's all about the H-Train. The depression and isolation really clicked with my adolescent brain. Still my favorite group.
Taelasky@reddit
I need to create a playlist out of all the songs mentioned in this thread.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Add Dance the Night Away by Van Halen.
RiverSirion@reddit
Not me, but when I was in middle school I had this teacher for an elective who was just this really nice lady who related how she was going around the house singing "Boom, boom, boom, let's go back to my room" until her kids stopped her and told her to think about what that means.
tacos_for_algernon@reddit
Paul Lekakis! I have no idea how I remember that, but here we are.
ungapatchka@reddit
i was just singing that a song at work this week. how could she not realize the meaning when it blatantly says:
hey, babe. i’d like to talk to you. how’s about going back to my room for a little boom boom.
boom boom boom let’s go back to my room, where we can do it all night and make me feel right.
RiverSirion@reddit
I don't know, but it's a catchy song and was briefly on the radio all the time around then.
Prudent_Charge_8101@reddit
get deep bud
Buttercreamdeath@reddit
I always listened to the lyrics. I still ponder Hotel California though. Aliens? Ghosts? Memories? Drug haze? Yes.
Camaschrist@reddit
I had an art teacher in high school that told us the song hotel California was demonic and we weren’t allowed to listen to it in his class. I went to the hotel when on vacation in Mexico and it was very cool to see it in person. I didn’t feel any evil entities.
Buttercreamdeath@reddit
My parents were the ones who got high and said it was about aliens. I loved to listen to them make up wild interpretations of songs. They never found any demonic songs. That was for the church ladies!
Camaschrist@reddit
My dad was like your parents, he believed in demons as much as he believes in any God, not at all.
Camaschrist@reddit
LOL I just Googled that hotel Todos Santos and the Eagles sued the hotel for saying it had anything to do with the song.
Spot_The_Purple@reddit
Hotel California is about checking into a treatment center to dry out. Makes perfect sense when you listen with the setting being DT hallucinations.
Buttercreamdeath@reddit
Frey says it's about L.A. and Hollywood but he's into everyone's weird interpretation. They wanted to write a weird twilight zone style song. I think they did that.
Spot_The_Purple@reddit
“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” is a pretty clear reference to the permanent state of being an addict. The album was released after a member went through some serious addiction and treatment issues. Addiction is also a common theme on the album. Life in the Fast Lane being much clearer. Some artists like to leave interpretation of their lyrics open and not go on the record beyond a vague statement that comes up in a wiki article.
But I’m sure Boomers referring to treatment centers as The Hotel California while I was growing up is purely coincidence.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
It could have been both actually. Just look at how many OLD musicians are doing tours again after decades off the road.
Words can mean more than one thing.
The Eagles are definitely doing that.
Pale-Mud-1297@reddit
I used to sing this frquently while doing household chores. My sons, who were unfamiliar, thought I might be having a mental health episode. I told them that if I'd made the lyrics up myself, we'd have been rich.
drhagbard_celine@reddit
It’s the Same Old Song. They told us but I still didn’t get it.
Brewdude77@reddit
Tom Waits: House where nobody lives and "Pony."
Irredeemable loss is not a thing most young people have a default setting to accept. The older we get, it doesn't get easier, but it somehow settles into making sense.
octoberhaiku@reddit
I was just thinking about The Piano Has Been Drinking
Public-Air-8995@reddit
I hope it settles into making sense 🥹
paddedpothead420@reddit
Peter Gabriel sledgehammer. Cool song and excellent music video but when I learned every lyric was a euphemism for sex it just makes me sing along giggle more
octoberhaiku@reddit
Wait, wait, what’s the documentation for that?
paddedpothead420@reddit
Peter has admitted in the past the song is filled with sexual inuendo and the video reenforces it however the music is an homage to 60's and 70's pop music
octopus_pi@reddit
TIL!
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Ok what does everyone think of Meat Loaf's Paradise by the Dashboard lights full version.
KJParker888@reddit
I played that for my kiddo a couple of years ago, and they just did not appreciate it. I feel like I failed that part of parenting
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I feel like that would be a great song to play for 12 year olds.
CatPurrsonNo1@reddit
Interesting and kind of sad how the relationship evolves. The baseball “metaphors” are hilarious.
IP_Janet_GalaxyGirl@reddit
Under Pressure, by Queen & David Bowie. Definitely hits differently in my 50s compared to my teens. I didn’t cry hearing the song in my teens, though I did feel some anguish at the time.
OtherwiseMechanic322@reddit
I had the absolute treat of seeing Bowie in 2002. He sang this with Deborah Anne Dyer - also known as Skin from Skunk Anansie. It was INCREDIBLE.
Top-Net779@reddit
Bowie and Annie Lennox doing it at the ‘92 Freddie Mercury Tribute memorial concert at Wembley is even rougher, if that’s possible.
CountHonorius@reddit
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
KnoWanUKnow2@reddit
I only recently found out that "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats is about a mass murder.
No_Parking_4195@reddit
Two killed, nine injured. Only because she didn't have an AR-15 or other automatic combat rifle.
moonmothman@reddit
1979 in Cleveland, Brenda Spencer
Internal-Base8276@reddit
San Diego, not Cleveland.
The school was Cleveland Elementary School, named for Grover Cleveland.
moonmothman@reddit
Thank you. You are correct. I meant to reference the school not city. My fault.
Public-Air-8995@reddit
Loss of innocence somewhat for me as a young teenager in remote Australia. I didn’t know there was such a thing as mass murder
still-at-the-beach@reddit
I really thought that was common knowledge back when it was released and on the charts.
EyeSawYa@reddit
A local alternative station stopped playing that song a few years ago because of the subject matter. Not sure where exactly the pressure came from.
W0gg0@reddit
TIL
Impressive-Shame-525@reddit
That one floored me.
According_Check_1740@reddit
Change by Blind Melon (RIP Shannon Hoon)
Find the River by REM
phrenq@reddit
Almost every song on Automatic for the People, for me. I listened to that album a LOT in high school, but it sure hits different now. I listened to Nightswimming recently and started tearing up. I’m not sure how a band of 30-somethings managed to capture the sense of lost youth so well.
MiaWallacesFoot@reddit
I LOVE Nightswimming. It’s always broken my heart.
OtherwiseMechanic322@reddit
Such a timeless and amazing album.
WileyCoyote7@reddit
Take The Long Way Home - Supertramp. “…And when you look through the years and see what you could have been, Oh, what you might have been, If you would haaaave moooore time…”
Hits pretty different now vs. then.
Meesh1137@reddit
Differently. Hits differently. “Use the adverbs!” said my 8th grade English teacher. Apparently, I haven’t forgotten her. 😆 Like and subscribe for more Grammar Police info.
InWaves72@reddit
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here
KnoWanUKnow2@reddit
Similar vein, Time by Pink Floyd:
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun.
So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
STFUisright@reddit
Amazing song. There’s also a book by that title by Susan Gordon Lydon about her life and drug addiction so this song is all intertwined with extra feelings for me.
Top-Net779@reddit
One Night in Bangkok: especially knowing the whole story of Chess. Actually, anything about the Cold War seems more real now.
Glory Days: understood it at the time but a few decades later, it packs a wallop.
OtherwiseMechanic322@reddit
I grew up having to listen to the Chess album on repeat. Not long ago I learned that One Night in Bangkok was understandably banned in Thailand for quite some time. It’s such a catchy song, but so problematic.
Cheetah51@reddit
Chess has excellent songs that hit hard on that.
squiblet12@reddit
Only a few weeks ago I looked up the lyrics to I Know Him So Well, from Chess. Never really listened to them before. Now I realise they're actually infuriating - his wife and his mistress, bonding over how much they love this wonderful, flawed man. He needs his fantasy and freedom! I was just a little careless, maybe ... wasn't it good? Wasn't he fine?
Cheetah51@reddit
Ugh, yes. Skip that one
Padres_Guy2765@reddit
Safety Dance. Never mind still hate it.
OtherwiseMechanic322@reddit
Well you’re no friend of mine
bavindicator@reddit
But you can dance if you want too.
RexCelestis@reddit
"Every Breath You Take" or "Confessions of a Stalker."
alex_dare_79@reddit
and ‘Jamie’ by Ray Parker Jr. Charted to #14 in the U.S.! Crazy!!
‘Watch what you say about Jamie, she used to be my girl, it’s hard to imagine her with another guy. I don’t want to see her kissing anyone besides myself. I trained her just the way I wanted her. Watch who you’re laying with Jamie, because to me you’re still my girl’
Sensitive_Note1139@reddit
So many songs from the 80s glorified having sex with underage children both boys and girls.
CatherinePiedi@reddit
Winger has entered the chat.
CaliGrlNVA@reddit
Was looking to see if anyone had mentioned Winger. I loved Seventeen when it came out, as an adolescent/pre teen girl.
CountHonorius@reddit
Chuck Berry had them beat. Little Queenie, anyone?
Libertyler@reddit
And 70s, and 60s, and 50s...
DelvianSeek@reddit
"All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" by Heart. I was 17 when this song came out, and while I liked Heart's earlier, more punchy classics like "Barracuda" and "Crazy on You", this one struck me at the time as yet another of their more watered down 80s soft-rock sound and I certainly didn't pay much attention to the lyrics.
Then I heard the cover of the song by Halestorm that they put out about 15 years ago and really listened to the words and wow! I had no idea it was about a woman having a one-night stand so she can get pregnant. Plus the twist in the meaning of the title line between the verses is just phenomenal songwriting.
Impossible_Girl_23@reddit
I was listening to the radio a few years ago and the DJ played that and said it was his wedding song. He REALLY, REALLY didn't understand it. (And even if it wasn't about a one night stand to get preg, wtf??) 😳
Bloody_Mabel@reddit
I like my husband's version which went "all I want to do is get sperm from you."
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
My Sharona. Downright Pdf song.
Mediocre-Fuel-6323@reddit
I'm surprised how far down I had to scroll before seeing "My Sharona" on this list. 😩
freerangeXkid@reddit
So many of those:
Stray Cats - Sexy & 18 (didn't even feel right typing the real number)
Benny Mardones - Into The Night (the opening line alone)
I'm On Fire - Bruce
I don't like to impose today's mores on past cultural norms, but hindsight right? Some culture belongs in the past, even if our younger selves enjoyed the culture of the day
spintool1995@reddit
For "I'm on Fire" this is change in common terminology. When he says, "Hey babygirl is your daddy home," "babygirl" was a term of endearment often applied to a young woman. "Daddy" in this case was her husband or boyfriend not her father, which is obvious when Bruce asks if he satisfies her the way Bruce does.
jd732@reddit
In the music video, Bruce is a mechanic working on a rich older woman’s car and fantasizing about her.
PocketFullOfPie@reddit
It's "Hey, little girl." I'd agree with you if it were "babygirl," but "little" hits differently.
Acceptable_Mirror235@reddit
I always took it to mean she was a young woman married to an older man . It made me think of The Eagles “Lyin’ Eyes “ , but from the POV of the guy the trophy wife is sneaking of to meet.
JayJoeJeans@reddit
I don't think that was meant to be literal. Seems pretty out of character for him
LevelPerception4@reddit
We’ve all seen the video for Into the Night, right? If not, take a flying carpet ride back in time to appreciate the true creepiness of this song.
Practical_Tip1034@reddit
Wow, how did I never see that video before? I'm ready to call the cops right now.
CatPurrsonNo1@reddit
Oh, DAMN. I don’t think I have ever seen the video before!
I had a much different vision of Benny Mardones in my mind.
CatPurrsonNo1@reddit
I LOVED “Into the Night” as a teen, especially since I had a crush on an older guy.
I still like the song, but that line hits WAY different now.
“I Love Rock n’ Roll” has an icky feel now, too. “I knew he musta been about 17”. ABOUT 17?!? Ew. That is a BOY, not a man!
Zealousideal-Sky3412@reddit
Those songs were creepy and gross back then too!
TheSwedishEagle@reddit
They dated for 4 years. He was 25 and she was 17.
NoTomorrowNo@reddit
That was a pretty frequent combo back then too!
_flowerfox@reddit
So Excited by the Pointer Sisters. I remember my whole brownie troop singing along to that coming home from a outing. 🤭
Mediocre-Fuel-6323@reddit
I am scream-laughing at this! My 6th grade gym class had to break into small group and create aerobics routines to this song, and the gym teacher recorded us!
Padres_Guy2765@reddit
I think of Jessie from Saved By The Bell when I think of this song…
MountainTomato9292@reddit
I’m so…SCARED
QueenRotidder@reddit
the visual, I am DYING 🤣
makes me think of my friend whose son was about 10 when the Flo Rida song “Lollipop” came out, kid sang along with it so wouldn’t let him listen to it in her car LMAO
jrtski@reddit
Every Breath you Take - Police... stalker song deluxe
bavindicator@reddit
Along with don't stand so close to me. I believe Sting was working through some stuff following his days as a teacher.
Weary_Act_2314@reddit
If I happen to hear this song, I can't help but sing the hook 'I'll be watching you' as 'I'll be stalking you'. Total stalker song.
Leading-Summer-4724@reddit
I was actually being stalked by an ex in my 20’s when I suddenly listened to the words to this song for the first time after years of not noticing. I had been driving and had to pull over at a gas station to have what I now know was a panic attack from the “you belong to me” line. I then became the weirdo at parties who pointed out it was a stalker song, not a love song, and everyone always gets defensive about it first then horrified as they continue to listen.
idiotsbydesign@reddit
I think even Sting called it a song about obsession. It was not a love song.
bullgoose1@reddit
Superman by Goldfinger. Those lyrics hit different in my late 40s... So here I am Growing older all the time Looking older all the time
Cultural-Pea-1516@reddit
The one that gets me is Pretty In Pink by the Psychedelic Furs. I didn't spend the time to really think about the lyrics, so it was much much later when I realized they're so ugly. I mean, they describe horrible people. "...first in line was the last to remember her name." It's a great song, but it took me far too long to get it.
Western-Bug1676@reddit
Pining , whining , or, I’m so infatuated love songs. Perhaps I’m disillusioned, but, I can no longer listen without feeling a way, like, you poor people lol.
Eww.
SoloSkeptik@reddit
This feeling right here. God, so many sappy-ass men pining for women and whining about it in songs.
Gag me with a fuckin' spoon.
downtune79@reddit
Gag me with a spoon....havent heard that one in a long time. Let's bring back 80s phrases!
Western-Bug1676@reddit
I know! Im just going , what happened to me lol.These are all kinda scary toxic to me , now. Get a grip.
LeafyCandy@reddit
Luka is one of them, as is Tom’s Diner. Pride (in the name of love) by U2 makes me tear up.
CountHonorius@reddit
April 4, shots ring out in the Memphis sky...
Meesh1137@reddit
Oh, I know. Hence, the shame.
bettiegee@reddit
Sunday, Bloody Sunday just makes me angry. I should probably avoid it nowadays.
Meesh1137@reddit
We played that for “Powder Puff Football” I’m so ashamed I didn’t understand then.
Pete-Woos@reddit
“Pissing with a stiffy” by Lamar Cartwright hits different now that I’ve had my prostatectomy.
paddedpothead420@reddit
Nobody cares about your fake ai bullshit music. That kind of shit is a scourge to society
ClassBShareHolder@reddit
I thought I’d be much older. Nope. 53.
It caught me off guard when I got the call. I thought he’d say “let’s keep an eye on it” not we can get you in for surgery in 8 weeks.
Maleficent-Leek2943@reddit
So many of them. I’m sure I’ll edit this comment repeatedly as I think of more, but for now:
I went A LOT of years cheerfully listening to Little Red Corvette before I finally thought “wait WHAT?EW.” about the “she had a pocket full of horses, Trojans and some of them used” line.
No, Prince, the fact that it was Saturday night is neither here nor there and does NOT make it alright.
Every-Progress5590@reddit
Funky Cold Medina is awful on so many levels
angelrat17@reddit
Omg I had a best friend when I was like 5-10 years old and her family made her NICKNAME Funky Cold Medina! Just read the lyrics and realizing how messed up that is!
mrsmarcos2003@reddit
Bill Cosby liked it.
BokBokBagock@reddit
Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop". I was about 10 when that album was released, so I just thought it was a fun song. My parents either weren't listening to the lyrics, or figured I was too young to figure it out (which was true), so they didn't want to draw attention to it and/or have to explain it! They just left it alone!
BetMyLastKrispyKreme@reddit
“Time Stand Still” by Rush.
Ancient-Cow-1038@reddit
“Summer’s going fast, nights growing colder / children growing up, old friends growing older”. Burns brighter every autumn.
ClassBShareHolder@reddit
Experience slips away…
Time stand still.
CountHonorius@reddit
Awesome song
MartinMcFly55@reddit
Ooh. Reading that hit me.
BetMyLastKrispyKreme@reddit
It was already listed here in the thread, and I hadn’t scrolled far enough to see it. I’m glad someone saw my entry!
Mr-Magoo48@reddit
Every Breath u take. Even though I knew ‘Don’t stand so Close to me’ sketchy as fuck, it wasn’t until much later that I realised Every Breath was a stalker’s confession
idiotsbydesign@reddit
I remember hearing "Don't Stand So Close to Me" right after taking a literature class and catching the line about "that book by Nabakov". Ugh.
Sticky_Cobra@reddit
Led Zeppelin - "All My Love".
As a child (and pre-internet) I thought it was a love song (power ballad), not knowing what it was really referencing.
Don Henley - "The Heart of the Matter"
At first, I thought it was a breakup of man and woman / husband and wife.
It's actually about the breakup of The Eagles.
Hits differently.
Bloody_Mabel@reddit
Off the same album as All of my Love, was Fool in the Rain. A song about a missed hook-up.
An' the thoughts of a fool's gotta count, I'm just a fool waiting on the wrong block oh-yeah.
wickedlyzenful@reddit
I didn't know about All My Love and had to go research.
Damn
Luthwaller@reddit
Me too. So sad.
Sticky_Cobra@reddit
I don't know this to be true, but I read that Robert Plant did that song in one take.
If that's true, that just adds to the power.
Winter-eyed@reddit
Father Figure by George Michael. I was too young to be listening to that
disgirl4eva@reddit
I was too young to be singing I Want Your Sex!
tovasfabmom@reddit
Oh my God I was just having a conversation with my friend about songs and the ones that hit us harder. I saw this video too on YouTube that talked about intense feelings and crying. I can’t get into it right now. 😢 https://youtu.be/-PGSshpRerA?si=3hc8U_Y6CSmMs49-
r0mr0@reddit
Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt
“I see my folks are getting on And I watch their bodies change I know they see the same in me And it makes us both feel strange No matter how you tell yourself It's what we all go through Those lines are pretty hard to take When they're staring back at you (oh, oh, oh)
Scared you'll run out of time
When did the choices get so hard With so much more at stake? Life gets mighty precious When there's less of it to waste”
ElFlauscho@reddit
Well… more kind of r/boneappletea … I always heard „Ladislav Bonita“ and thought about a Russian married to a Spanish woman. 🤦🏻♂️
magpie1138@reddit
He’s friends with “some pedro”
Original-Elderberry8@reddit
When I was a kid I heard it as "some bagels"
RecoveringGunBunny@reddit
Possum Kingdom by Toadies. Never paid attention to the lyrics when it came out. Listened to it as an adult, and it's creepy.
Eulers_Constant_e@reddit
This, and Tyler. I think Tyler freaks me out more than Possum Kingdom.
MountainTomato9292@reddit
Tyler is so freakin’ good. I knew a band who used to do a bluegrass version of it that was just amazing.
OneLonelyBeastieI-B@reddit
I read somewhere it’s based on one of the west coast serial killers.
dpalomo10@reddit
Tom's Diner and Fast Car.
WarzonePacketLoss@reddit
Once you realize the majority of the song is "let's take your fast car and leave all this behind" changes at the very end to "YOU take your fast car and leave ME behind" the song is never the same.
BaldGuy813@reddit
Whoa whoa whoa. I literally love and sing Fast Car and it is just TODAY that I recognized the last verse was about HIM driving away from the Singer. What the absolute fuck. Am I brain dead?
That song was brand new and I was going on my first gay date and I was waiting for him to arrive when that song came on. It will be forever ingrained in my brain as the day I came to terms with myself. But damn who the hell did I not comprehend the last line forty years later?
WarzonePacketLoss@reddit
That's the thing, it's not particularly subtle and the lyrics aren't indirect or anything, but a lot of people don't pick up on that, I know it took me an awful lot of years to notice it.
-SQB-@reddit
I can imagine people listening to Fast Car and just thinking, "yeah, I like driving in a fast car!"
What's with Tom's Diner?
dpalomo10@reddit
I was young when Tom's Diner came out and lyrically it just didn't make sense to me at the time.
CountHonorius@reddit
I could listen to the guitar intro to Fast Car on endless loop.
HortenseDaigle@reddit
I guess it depends on where you come from. Fast Car was definitely heavy for me when it came out.
-SQB-@reddit
Same, but I can imagine people only catching a couple of phrases from the chorus, as done people are wont to with many songs.
heffel77@reddit
The Outfield’s Your Love
I still love the song but I didnt realize how much of a POS the narrator was….
MountainTomato9292@reddit
Yes, but Josh Hutcherson’s sketch about it on SNL was gold. We can’t hear the opening line without thinking about it.
Far_Acanthaceae_4226@reddit
My dog is named Josie and just saying her name always triggers that song in my head and I start to sing it trying to change the words so it's not so bad 😂
RaccoonHaunting9638@reddit
Bitter sweet symphony, The Verve, of course the message was clear, the melody catchy, but now, Heard it recently and soooo felt it.
wickedlyzenful@reddit
That song is on my "list" my daughter requested that I make (after her husband passed and a couple of years later her dad passed she told me that she never wants to have to decided on funeral songs again. I agree).
ItsRedditThyme@reddit
I showed my youngest the music video for 8675309, saying I used to hum that song all the time. I even made it the serial number on an android character I played in a TTRPG, once. I didn't realize the singer was a creep. My kid looked at me like I was condoning the singer's behavior in the video. It was bad.
NoSleep2023@reddit
Handle Me With Care by the Traveling Wilburys. The song was released when I was in college, and I thought they were aging rockers. Now I’m older than all of them when they got together. And the song is sadly so relatable.
According_Check_1740@reddit
I discovered Traveling Wilburys at my public library. I checked out each cassette and took the full time allotted me to absorb it all. They were a brilliant supergroup!
End of the Line is that song for me.
Check out Blue by The Jayhawks. It's another relatable song with amazing harmonies!
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
I love the Jenny Lewis version.
DoctorSynScarecrow@reddit
When you’re 10 and it’s 1978 “Christine Sixteen” by KISS is a cool song.
When you’re any older than 18, it’s a felony in the making.
QueenRotidder@reddit
Same thing when you’re 12 and hear “Seventeen” by Winger. I’m sure my parents were horrified by me singing this LOL
Commander_Cyclops@reddit
That whole Love Gun album is a dick joke. “Plaster Caster” was the one that took me years to figure out.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Now, back then depended on the parents.
Just_here_for_AITAH@reddit
"Happy Phantom" by Tori Amos. In my angst filled early 20s, I found it to be just too damn upbeat happy.
Now that I've grown up a bit, I absolutely love the jazzy, upbeat existential tempo!
QueenRotidder@reddit
that’s such a good song
StormStorySpinner@reddit
Right?
CountHonorius@reddit
In later years I realized the 'high raunch quotient' of the song lyrics I'd casually mumbled along to, starting with Barry White and up to and including Duran Duran's "The Reflex", lol.
Bidcar@reddit
Sheena Easton’s “Sugar Walls” raised even my incredibly naive eyebrows.
bitterlemon80@reddit
Well it was written by Prince, what do you expect?!
Joyjmb@reddit
"Hard to Tell You I'm Sorry" by Peter Cetera seemed so nice, but is actually an abusive tale of a fed up partner who is clearly asking for space, but the narrator wants them kept close and to continue to have access to their body.
Zedlasso@reddit
Basically all of yacht rock. I laugh everytime I hear the piña colada song. Such a great song but when you finally listen to the lyrics…🤔😂
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Especially the last verse.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
You all would just love Kate Bush's "Babooshka". :)
CountHonorius@reddit
Just urging couples to get to know each other better, really
silkywhitemarble@reddit
Right?! And they are both just OK with trying to cheat on each other?
BombMacAndCheese@reddit
I cannot stand that song because of this!
double-you-dot@reddit
Rock and Roll Never Forgets
Legitimate_Working11@reddit
Depeche Mode’s A Question Of Time is just….gross.
Ancient-Cow-1038@reddit
Silent All These Years by Tori Amos.
QueenPeggyOlsen@reddit
Yes! The meaning of Winter has changed for me as well.
666ForMySorrow@reddit
"Yes, I know what you think of me, you never shut up" reached out and grabbed me and she has been my favorite ever since.
Ancient-Cow-1038@reddit
“Boy you better pray that I bleed real soon, how’s that thought for ya?”
The song is just full of them.
dysteach-MT@reddit
The entire Sinead O’Connor album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got”
Completely hits different from its release when I was 16 to now.
According_Check_1740@reddit
Love that whole album! Black Boys on Mopeds was pointed, driven, and tragic. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got stunned me, though. What a beautiful, gracious song. That was my second daughter's lullaby that I sang to her. She's 22 now, and definitely took it to heart.
"And this is the advice they gave me:
"You must not try to be too pure You must fly closer to the sea."
So, I'm walking through the desert... 💪🏽 And I am not frightened although it's hot.🙌🏽
I have all that I requested And I do not want what I haven't got." 💗
bettiegee@reddit
Oh I was 20 when that came out. Had just read A Handmaid's Tale, just starting to realize how shitty the Catholic church was, and that the fucking bitch-ass people in charge did not give one, single, shit, if all of my friends died from AIDS.
schumijw@reddit
Fast Car, Tracy Chapman. I think I didn't like it because it was way overplayed. Now that I'm in my 50's I can honestly say I like it, as well as many other songs.
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
It’s so sad.
Due_Perspective_2808@reddit
When she says "We'll move out of the shelter, buy a big house and live in the suburbs" and you realise, no you won't, you'll always struggle
Ianthin1@reddit
This one for sure. On the other end of the spectrum, Ton Locs Funky Cold Medina definitely hits different these days.
According_Check_1740@reddit
Centerfold - J Geils Band Dude Looks Like A Lady- Aerosmith
Nasstja@reddit
All Good Things by Nelly Furtado.
-SQB-@reddit
Co-written with Chris Martin, but only a demo version exists somewhere because of record company fuckery.
Nasstja@reddit
Oh, didn’t know that! Thanks for the info.
-SQB-@reddit
Here you go: https://youtu.be/RlvXSk6-pCM
Nasstja@reddit
Wow, thank you!🙏
jcostello50@reddit
Doctor My Eyes by Jackson Browne. The Pretender, too.
2_Bagel_Dog@reddit
The Pretender for sure. If that comes on during my commute home from work I almost always hit repeat...
AvailableAd6071@reddit
My husband has always listened to the music and when he heard me sing the lyrics, he's like "I didn't know it said that". And I never appreciated the music like he did.
gemma-digger@reddit
Which song?
Massive_Spinach_459@reddit
Dreams by Fleetwood Mac 1977.[ I was 9] never paid attention to the words, I remember music was always playing at the dentist office in the background while sitting in the waiting room, Dreams takes me back to 1977 every time I hear it, my Soulmate passed on 4/21/21 the words of this song hit different now.
CountHonorius@reddit
So sorry to hear that. Fellow bereaved here...it doesn't get any easier...
Massive_Spinach_459@reddit
No it doesn't....5 yrs on 4/21/26 ❤️ is still 💔
Elegant-Leg540@reddit
Afternoon Delight
ElleRyder@reddit
Sky rockets in flight
Ruby__Ruby_Roo@reddit
My mom gleefully told me when I was young that I was an “afternoon delight.” She missed a birth control pill.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
At least you weren't a school bathroom baby on Mother's day.
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
That’s oddly specific.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
That is what my mother told me about my conception.
Ruby__Ruby_Roo@reddit
😬
TheFlannC@reddit
To think I would always hear that song as a kid and then as an adult when I realized the actual meaning and yeah
LadyBertramsPug@reddit
I’m kind of the opposite - I always used to focus on the lyrics. Now old songs come on the radio and I listen to the instruments. And then I’ll be like, hey, that’s Clarence Clemons! I didn’t know he played on this! Or whoever it might be that has a distinctive sound. This is fun. Too bad it took me fifty years to pick up on it.
newwriter365@reddit
It’s good to grow into music appreciation. Don’t beat yourself up, be proud that you are learning new things.
I’m not a concert person. I hate crowds. HATE THEM.
However, Springsteen played See Hear Now (a music festival on the beach in Asbury Park) in 2024. I called my sister, who IS a concert person, but not a Bruce person, and said, “you need to do this with me.” And she did. It was epic, by the way.
I’ve expanded my depth of listening to music since that experience and like to believe it’s good for my brain.
We skipped the festival last year, but are going back this year. And I’m already listening to the line up in preparation.
tranquilrage73@reddit
Fast Car.
WarzonePacketLoss@reddit
Once you realize the majority of the song is "let's take your fast car and leave all this behind" changes at the very end to "YOU take your fast car and leave ME behind" the song is never the same.
youve_got_moxie@reddit
I swear that generations of women were shifting around in my bones every time that song came on, because I had no business feeling that song the way I did at 9. My ancestors were making sure I didn’t get trapped like that.
I might have listened too well, but I’ll take it. No regrets.
Just_here_for_AITAH@reddit
I got chills when I read that. Our ancestors have our backs.
cokefrog22@reddit
Hated that song as teenager in the 80’s. Hits way different now and love it.
Out_of_Darkness_mc@reddit
That song hits hard!
InvestmentMain8414@reddit
I missed that the first time around being the tail end of X.
I knew of the song. My grandparents were actually huge Tracy Chapman fans. So it was just there growing up.
I now have both the original and Luke Combs version on my playlist.
Business_Explorer_59@reddit
Against the Wind by Bob Seger
WarzonePacketLoss@reddit
Night Moves, too
CountHonorius@reddit
Now all I can see is the TV ad when that song is played.
pquince1@reddit
“At Seventeen” and “Against the Wind” hit SO much harder now.
CountHonorius@reddit
Seventeen's a hard musical slap in the face.
buttsackchopper@reddit
Rod Stewart - Young Turks
crashin70@reddit
"Lend a helping hand" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
OriginalComputer5077@reddit
I know it’s not quite the same thin, but Springsteens original minor key Born in the USA is quite something
yountvillwjs@reddit
‘Jack & Diane’ and whole teen pregnancy/abortion thing
vinegar@reddit
Walk me through that? I’m not seeing it.
yountvillwjs@reddit
Diane's sittin' on Jacky's lap, he's got his hands between her knees Jacky say, "Hey Diane lets run off behind a shady tree Dribble off those Bobby brooks, let me do what I please"
Here is where the sex happens
Well you know Diane, we oughtta run of the city Diane says "Baby, you ain't missin' nothin'"
Here is where she goes away to get the pregnancy taken care of.
Let the Bible belt come down And save my soul Hold on to 16 as long as you can Changes come around real soon Make us women and men
Needs to be saved for the sin that made them women & men
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
The sin was the sex.
yountvillwjs@reddit
No argument here - then what’s the trip to the city?
Icy-Mixture-995@reddit
Rural Midwestern kids where he is thinking about life in the city but she likes living where she is. The differences in what each wants will pull them apart, but looking back at that time when they were young and together.
Not about abortion. The Ben Folds Five song is about abortion.
vinegar@reddit
Yeah the sex is pretty clear. But I don’t agree about an abortion. It was the 80s, middle America would’ve flipped the fuck out if their anthem had an abortion hidden in it. I think you have an unusual take on it. Gotta ask Mr. Mellencamp.
vinegar@reddit
So JCM says a 1962 movie, Sweet Bird of Youth, inspired him to write the song. The movie is so much more complicated than the song that it’s hard to tell what’s up- there’s no high school boyfriend and girlfriend, for example. But it has the vibe of small town wistful about growing up like the song. And it does include an abortion.
vinegar@reddit
Ha here’s an old reddit thread about this exact conversation
Training-Finish-2754@reddit
This has to be the most misunderstood lyrics by a casual listener of all time- I mean, you deserve an award. I concur that lyrics are meant to be interpreted whatever way you, the listener, sees fit, but HOLY SHITBALLS MAN.
yountvillwjs@reddit
I’d like to thank you for that illuminating, insightful & shitty response. We are all better for having your thoughts on the matter.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
We heard two different songs. I heard a boy telling a girl what to do.
Marino325@reddit
Whatttt?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
A few weeks ago, my husband and I were listening to one of those you tube channels that cover songs and what they meant. Conway Tweety's You've Never been this far before was on the list. I went oh that's what he meant. My husband looked at me like I had 3 heads or something. I'm 60 and had heard that song all throughout my childhood.
Meesh1137@reddit
I’m 56 and I think about the songs I sang out loud while my mom drove me to Girl Scout meetings! 🤯
Meesh1137@reddit
I was all about The Smiths then. Holy moly.
hof_1991@reddit
After watching the Billy Joel documentary, so many of his songs are trashing his wives. Big shot. My life. She’s always a woman. Banging songs but ….
Icy-Mixture-995@reddit
I think his first wife was his business manager. Her brother took over that role later, and stole all of Billy's money. Billy and the brother settled the lawsuit over the missing money. It's not mentioned in stories if the first wife knew what her brother was doing.
PocketFullOfPie@reddit
Even as a kid, I knew there was something fucked up about Always a Woman.
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
Right? Big Shot. Poor woman probably outshone him at a party and he’s tearing her down.
Ruby__Ruby_Roo@reddit
This is pre-genx but since its all stuff we grew up with on our parent’s radio, I’ll add my 2c:
I read The Warmth of Other Suns last summer, an absolutely amazing book about the Great Migration, and so many classic soul songs hit different now. Otis Redding’s On the Dock of the Bay is pretty heart wrenching in this context.
wizard_of_aws@reddit
Great book.
Intrepid_Practice956@reddit
I read it too, and I agree. Great book.
baconcheeseburgarian@reddit
Rock the Casbah. Context hits harder now.
EmployerUpstairs8044@reddit
Everything hits different now every time I'm listening to the old tunes. Some of it was so great and I took it for granted... Or something.
SemperP1869@reddit
25 or 6 to 4
2dznotherdirtylovers@reddit
Good song but What does that even mean?
Sesquipedalomania@reddit
It’s about being up all night trying to write a song. The song title is referring to the time (i.e., 25 or 26 til 4:00).
sp0rkah0lic@reddit
You know, I didn't know either so I looked it up. Apparently it's a song about writers block. The actual chorus 25 or 6 to 4 is saying what time it is when the song is being written. 25 or 26 minutes until 4 am, so 3:34 or 3:35 am.
Weirdly phrased.
The more you know 🏳️🌈⭐
ThanksLongjumping362@reddit
25-26 minutes before 4 a.m.
dropthemasq@reddit
Perfect Blue buildings by counting crows
There's a skeleton in every man's house
Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hang on everybody
There's a dead man trying to get out
Ok_Command_9808@reddit
Father and son by Cat Stevens also Time by Pink Floyd. Being a father now that those songs hit differently than they did as a kid in the 70s. I was listening to them one day driving with my kids on a road trip and man it really hit home.
sometimes-i-rhyme@reddit
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
That line resonated so hard with me as a teen that it eventually informed my parenting.
TheFlannC@reddit
Cats in the cradle. Dad is too busy for his child. Child grows up and is too busy for his elderly dad.
picture_it_2@reddit
Even as a teenager, this song always hit me!
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
😭😭😭
Peloton72@reddit
Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. It was about something waaaaay different than just a quirky animated video.
Left_Interaction_288@reddit
Yeah, I remember listening to it a few years ago and having that realization.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
Well when I was 6 I thought he was saying women could call on him if they wanted to get pounded.
The_Other_Tucker@reddit
I mean, you weren’t wrong…
Jadacide37@reddit
Matchbox 20 - Unwell
I know exactly what that song is saying now. I was also just having this conversation with the co-worker the other day. I think we were listening to Sublime - What I got and the line
"Life of living, life of loving... Come back to me..."
Stopped me in my effing tracks. How deeply I felt that was probably just a tiny fraction of what he had been going through. Everything truly does hit so much harder these days.
It's stupid and I hate it.
Patient_Year3632@reddit
It's stupid and I hate it.
AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit
It isn't stupid, and I hate it, too.
life of living...come back to me, and to us one and all.
STFUisright@reddit
Great picks both. Uggh.
Jadacide37@reddit
My first concert was third eye blind, nine days, and vertical horizon. I was 12. It was epic. You just brought me back to the ultimate nostalgia so I honestly thank you for that lol.
eperker@reddit
Bonnie Raitt’s “Nick of Time.” I’ve heard this song hundreds of times. I knew the lyrics by heart. Recently I heard it and I started bawling. “Those lines are hard to take when they’re staring back at you.”
atxwendy@reddit
This is the one I scrolled to find.
Admirable-Koala-1715@reddit
Shiny Happy People is said to be written in response to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and a play on the state propaganda and censorship.
Left_Interaction_288@reddit
The B52 connection reminds me of another one that takes on a different meaning with some context beyond the lyrics, name Roam allegedly inspired by an acid trip.
Better-Emu7264@reddit
If you want Luka but also with crunchy guitars, the Lemonheads did a cover on their 1988 “Creator” album; it’s a hidden track on the 1992 version. It starts off slow, then it rocks!
jeclin91092@reddit
The Lemonheads are shockingly great at covers. Their version of "Mrs. Robinson" is actually my favorite iteration, and I personally hold it far above the original
re_gren@reddit
So many great covers by them. I did their version of Skulls from The Misfits for karaoke a little while back. Definitely the wrong crowd for that but it was so funny I couldn't resist.
MeowMeowCollyer@reddit
🎶You’re sixteen. You’re beautiful. And, you’re mine. 🤢
Cinisajoy2@reddit
How about She was only 16.
otbnmalta@reddit
Benny Mardonis Into the Night
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I was 14 when that song came out. Loved it.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
The lyrics of "Luka" were always the defining feature of that song.
Flaky_Instruction215@reddit
It is baffling to me that anyone could hear Luka and not realize that it is about child abuse. There are songs that are sung with an off cadence or where the instruments make it difficult to hear the lyrics. Luca is not one of them.
AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit
This. I can't not hear lyrics though. For many, music is just "stuff" in the background of their lives. Not me.
Elendril333@reddit
I always thought it was about DV with an adult. It's worse. It's about DV against a child. 😟 😡
tellMyBossHesWrong@reddit
What are the lyrics that make it about a kid?
Elendril333@reddit
All the lyrics, the way that they're sung, and the interviews done by Suzanne Vega saying it's about an abused girl.
karma_the_sequel@reddit
Yes, that’s why it caused such a stir when it was released. It and the 10,000 Maniacs song “What’s The Matter Here” were some of the earliest pop songs to address child abuse. An even earlier one is Pat Benatar’s “Hell Is For Children”.
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
Goddammit, Tears in Heaven hit me like a ton of bricks now that there are lots of kids around me.
As a teenager: “Oh, his kid died. That’s so sad.”
As a late 40-something after not hearing it for 25+ years:
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
All of My Love by Led Zep
BetMyLastKrispyKreme@reddit
OMG, I never knew that! TIL! Thanks.
Extension_Sun_5663@reddit
He is a feather in the wind.
Normal_Hat_8461@reddit
Pretenders. Back in the chain gang: " I saw a picture of you. Those were the happiest days of my life. Like a break in the battle was your part. In the wretched life of a lonely heart." My wife died 6 yrs ago. This song is impossible.
SemperP1869@reddit
Incredible song. It’s lost love for me. Either way is apropo.
RIP to your wife
JayJoeJeans@reddit
Sorry for your loss. Hope you're hanging in there
Briaaanz@reddit
Prisencolinensinainciusol . The lyrics are just incredibly deep. It's one of those songs you just have to listen to and decipher the meanings for yourself. Listen to the song and ignore what people tell you it means
Hot-Satisfaction19@reddit
alright!
SemperP1869@reddit
third eye blind songs
RedCorundum@reddit
The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics
Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit
This one just wrenches the heart.
oliveoil123321@reddit
Omg I choke up every time I hear/heard that one. How did the singer get through it all those times he had to sing it at concerts?
Training-Finish-2754@reddit
A lot of people have mentioned ‘Time Stand Still’ by Rush. In that same vein I would add to that ‘I Wanna Go Back’ by Eddie Money. As a kid I just thought it was a great song about an older guy reminiscing about being a kid and wishing he could experience it again- I never took into consideration the implications of the world he was living in at the present time when he sang it.
Ignignokt73@reddit
I do like this song and its message. I add Richard Marx’s ‘Endless Summer Nights’ as one similar. I hated this growing up, but man it hits hard in older age.
CatPurrsonNo1@reddit
Oof, yeah, “Endless Summer Nights” definitely hits differently now.
Money_Engineering_59@reddit
Not completely related but I remember dancing around the living room with my sister signing to “like a virgin”. Can’t imagine what was going through my mom’s head. I had zero clue what it was.
Sassafrasalonia@reddit
😳 I listened to Luka for the first time in years and paid attention to the lyrics. It hit me hard too. I would blithely sing along when I was younger and fuck it all up.
NoTomorrowNo@reddit
Yeah... I d sing along The Mission s "Alicia" .... that ends with "tell your daddy no"...
Willow_Alley@reddit
Voices Carry
IAm5toned@reddit
My subdivision was treated to the spectacle of me (big burly middle aged construction guy) cranking Voices Carry @ max volume (1000w subs lol) while singing along and rolling through the neighborhood last Sunday.
I'll leave you with that visual 😶🌫️
Willow_Alley@reddit
Love that!❤️
NoTomorrowNo@reddit
All those songs I loved that I thought, and well, everyone else thought, were about being mesmerized and falling in love with a person, or dancing, or so many romantic or platonic subjects... and the author/singer since then revealed were about s3x... and very graphic descriptions ... just coded.
It really burst my bubble.
nice-burrito@reddit
Candy Everybody Wants
If lust and hate is the candy \ If blood and love taste so sweet \ Then we give 'em what they want \ Hey hey give 'em what they want \ So their eyes are growing hazy \ Cos they wanna turn it on \ So their minds are soft and lazy, well \ Hey hey give 'em what they want
vinegar@reddit
Pop culture media at the time wouldn’t shut up about Luka being about child abuse.
New_Distribution_263@reddit
Yes! I remember all of those pretentious VJs on MTV acting like it was the most important song ever. I just wanted them to shut up and play something heavy!🤘
Lemonking_@reddit
Listen closely to “Every Breath You Take.”
Ignignokt73@reddit
I know you’re right, but if you filter it through a lens of “someone your longing for” (and not stalking), it changes it just enough. I will always stop and listen to this song.
Ianthin1@reddit
I’m convinced Hello by Lionel Ritchie is a stalker song too.
ErNz77@reddit
Also I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
Apart-Cream-4940@reddit
Loved Corey Hart
Cmgalb14@reddit
Is it me you’re looking for?
Scooter_McGavin_9@reddit
The music video does make that very clear.
lectroid@reddit
Yeah. The police had a number of questionable hits. Every Breath is a stalker song. Roxanne is a guy trying to ‘rescue’ a prostitue, and Don’t Stand So Close to Me is a student/teacher relationship which actually occurs. When I was a teen, I thought the teacher was shooing the girl away because he didn’t want to be tempted. Now it’s clear he already was, and is trying to distance himself to quash the rumors.
Diela1968@reddit
The way I heard it in interviews was that Sting was a teacher at one point in his life and a student with a crush kept acting inappropriately.
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
To be fair if young Sting was my teacher…? I’d be crushing on him too.
Diela1968@reddit
Right? I wonder what kind of stories that student tells now about those days. Do you tell your friends that song is about you? Lol
Lemonking_@reddit
I remember seeing this Sting interview somewhere way back when.
ThePythiaofApollo@reddit
Just like the old man in
That book by Nabokov
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
I knew this was going to be on here. I'm surprised that it's not already the top comment.
Sabres00@reddit
The saddest lyric has to be the chorus of “Jack and Diane”. I just never really thought about when I was a kid because I never got past “Chilidog”.
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
Another JCM classic line that changed with age for me is: 17 has turned 35 / I’m surprised that we’re still living.
Capital-Earth-5945@reddit
Love that song!
burghdude@reddit
He fell asleep with his head against the window He said "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind"
lazygerm@reddit
Mine is: you can't tell your best buddy that you love him
Capricorn75@reddit
So much this.
pajerry@reddit
It’s a song about teen abortion.
Sabres00@reddit
It is not.
jjdlg@reddit
SUGGINOHNCHILIDAWWWGS
colonelangus68@reddit
OWTSYDDAHTAYSTEEFREEZ
Cinisajoy2@reddit
This line makes me sick. "Dribble off those Bobby Brooks Let me do what I please"
Marino325@reddit
Hold onto 16 as long as you can 🥹
Industry-Common@reddit
Golden Brown by The Stranglers. In my defence I was 14 years old when it came out, and heroin was a long way off my radar.
gerardkimblefarthing@reddit
Yeah, if you don't know about heroin, it's just a really pretty song. There's not enough harpsichord in Rock music any more.
SarahJaneB17@reddit
This is the Day, The The.
Has hit close to home at a couple of points in my life.
On a humorous note, riding in the car with mom and What a Feeling-Irene Cara came on the radio. The part about 'Take your passions, and make it happen". My mom yells "WHAT?" TAKE YOUR PANTS DOWN?!!!"
Mom. No.
warriortwo@reddit
“This is the Day” is probably the song I can relate most to.
RecoveringGunBunny@reddit
What if taking my pants down is my passion?
SarahJaneB17@reddit
😆 You do you. No pun intended.
xenxray@reddit
I finally hear "electric boots"
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
Electric boots and a mohair suit?
Extension_Sun_5663@reddit
I thought it was mole hair? Or vole?
snark_maiden@reddit
You know I read it in a magazaYEEEN no ooh
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
Ba ba ba Bennie and the jets.
——
All the young girls love Alice…
Thatthingthis@reddit
She had electric boobs , her mother’s suit !
TheFlannC@reddit
Realizing "I don't like Mondays" was not just about having to go back to work after a weekend but about a school shooting
batmansgfsbf@reddit
And a truly horrific one at that. The perpetrator was a young girl who’s mother had left, the father had begun giving her alcohol and drugs and raping her when she was under 10. He bought her the 22 rifle and they lived across from the school. She shot the kids and adults on the playground during recess from her house. A reporter got her on the phone during the standoff and asked her Q: why did you do this? A: I don’t like Mondays. She has never been paroled and obviously is still mentally ill. Sir Bob Geldolf of the Boomtown Rats ladies and gentlemen.
JitteryTurtle@reddit
Today I learned.
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
Every time I hear Bad Company's "Shooting Star" hits hard because of all of the music and movie stars that our generation has lost in the last 20-30 years. In high school, it was just a cool song to listen to. Alot different for me now...
kittybigs@reddit
It hit me then and it hits me harder now. I love this song. It’s on my funeral playlist.
RetiredPoPo10-8@reddit
On my list is Everybody Have Fun Tonight and New Sensation
mysticlentil@reddit
I liked "Kiss that Frog" as a young teenager and only had the Subtext hit me last year. Gross!
gerardkimblefarthing@reddit
Well, I just read those lyrics and learned something new. Following Sledgehammer, I'm not surprised. Multiple entendres.
grateful_john@reddit
Box of Rain by the Grateful Dead. Phil Lesh wrote the music and asked Robert Hunter (the Dead’s primary lyricist) to write a song to Phil’s father who was dying from cancer. I always knew what the song was about but it means more after watching my father die from cancer.
External_Trainer9145@reddit
I feel this. My dad and I would sit and listen to American Beauty while he was in the hospital dying of cancer. I hear quite a few of those songs so differently now, through a sadder lens
peptide2@reddit
The living years by mike and the mechanics
freerangeXkid@reddit
In my mind this song and Life In A Northern Town are somehow linked. They came out around the same time and they both seem to stir up similar emotions to me. The emotions are still similar today, but my perspective on the songs is so much different than 40 years ago
BlueWater2323@reddit
Oh man, I already couldn't listen to this song anymore as an adult because it's so sad. I've recently lost a parent, and even though we got along great, I'm already wincing at the thought of listening to it
Elegant-Expert7575@reddit
Women in Chains, by Tears for Fears. “Sigh”
syzygybeaver@reddit
Small Town Boy by Bronski Beat. Great dance tune but I only really paid attention to the lyrics much later and could feel the pain in them. It still gets me, even though I've never had to experience that hatred and anger.
Cold_in_Lifes_Throes@reddit
It’s a wonderful song! One of my all time favorites. Also sad that we haven’t moved farther away from people treating others that way.
Sea-Membership-9643@reddit
Put Her In The Buck - 2 Live Crew
the_natis@reddit
As of late, "Live to Tell" by Madonna especially being made more aware of how women are treated.
ActuaryFew6884@reddit
I actually remember that whole "Solitude Standing" album by Suzanne Vega that I would listen to a lot during the years 1988-1993. I knew Luka was a sad song early on (despite the upbeat melody), and the song "Night Vision" was profound to me then (I still think about that song from time to time even now)
kittybigs@reddit
I loved this album so much. There is a live recording of her from 1985/6 on the Aadam Jacobs collection on archive.org. I haven’t listened to it yet, just found it yesterday from a r/genX Reddit post, there are so many shows in this archive I don’t know where to start.
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
The Suzanne Vega song "Left of Center" was playing in the tattoo parlour when I got my first tattoo. The guy kept me waiting 3 hours until the place closed then did my tattoo with just me and him in the store. I was only 18 so I guess he wanted to make sure I really wanted the tattoo but the experience (and that song) stuck with me. I became a casual fan of hers later. This album has some good songs on it!
RockabillyHog@reddit
Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun (1984)
I can still listen to this song, barely.
LadyNorbert@reddit
Yeah, it used to be hilarious. Not since Columbine.
JoeyDawsonJenPacey@reddit
My cousin committed suicide with her mother Janie’s gun. I can’t listen to Janie’s Got a Gun anymore.
LadyNorbert@reddit
Oh no, I am so sorry 😞
DrHarryWolper@reddit
Wasted On the Way by Crosby, Stills & Nash. I was 13 when it came out and I didn't get it at all; now I weep every time I hear it.
"So much time to make up everywhere we turn; Time we have wasted on the way. So much water moving underneath the bridge... Let the water come and carry us away."
They change "time" to "love" in the last chorus, and I'm a sniveling wreck at that point.
KrofftSurvivor@reddit
I definitely understood that song when I first heard it... But I think anyone who did not understand it when they first heard it probably had a better childhood.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
At that point in addition to doors I was walking in machetes, rakes, shovels, weightlifting belts, electrical cords…
LVMom@reddit
I first heard Luca when I was about 10 years old and yes, it resonated with me as well. Actually, it hit me like a ton of bricks because I realized that I wasn’t alone in my experience.
vinegar@reddit
The Eagles: You know we always had each other baybeee, I guess that wasn’t enough”
Me, an innocent: Aww they gave it their best shot
Me, having been cheated on: Oh fuck
Ophukk@reddit
I hear you, brother.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Which song was that? I know it isn't Lying Eyes.
NCST8WlfPck@reddit
The Best of My Love.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
And we both named cheating songs.
RemotePossibility399@reddit
"Time Stand Still" by Rush. I didn't realize Neil was asking time to stop because things went by so quickly. Gives me all the feels at my current age.
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
Losing It also hits harder with age.
LadyNorbert@reddit
It's especially painful considering what Neil went through when his daughter died.
RemotePossibility399@reddit
And a year later his first wife.
duseless@reddit
There was a similar post earlier, and I neglected to mention a song sitting heavily: Valerie https://share.google/3e9X1aPxEdD6k42vO
Admirable-Koala-1715@reddit
She’s a Lady - Tom Jones .
HilariousBosch@reddit
"Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime". The original by the Korgis was a bit of a sappy song that had some meaning to me. But Beck's cover, which was used in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", is a gut punch whenever I hear it.
drjoe2003@reddit
Agreed, Beck’s cover is the definitive version.
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
74, 75 by The Connells, when I was a teen it was just a sort of mellow hippy mid 90's song. Today its a nuclear gut punch about the passage of time. There's loads of songs from that period in my youth and earlier that I still listen to that don't make me mourn the passage of time but this song...
https://i.redd.it/rv0a6ziw49vg1.gif
GreyGhost878@reddit
Whoa. I used to love this song and hadn't thought about it in years. Thank God for YouTube. Thank you!
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
YouTube really is great for rediscovering old/obscure songs.
VintageFashion4Ever@reddit
I just listened to that the other day. I hadn't heard it in easily twenty years, and damn, it was so good.
Key-Cattle-2866@reddit
The Connells are really good. I saw them open for Drivin ‘n Cryin at The University of Alabama in 1989. “Stone Cold Yesterday” is another great Connells song.
youve_got_moxie@reddit
Top tier gif.
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
Top tier movie!
TankApprehensive3053@reddit
There was (is?) a gen x youtuber that would sometimes play '80s songs and listen to them. She would react to what they actually meant vs what she heard back then. I was like yeah of that's what it meant how did you not get that back then? I was pretty aware of what most songs were about when I was a teen.
KLLR_ROBOT@reddit
I think it’s more than knowing what the lyrics literally mean as a kid interpreting what an adult wrote, versus what they mean to you as an adult. Our age and experience have given us a deeper understanding that we couldn’t have had as kids.
Diela1968@reddit
Not really from when I was younger, but it took me a long time to look past the music video and think about the lyrics for Halestorm’s “Familiar Taste of Poison”.
At first you think she’s talking about being addicted to a toxic man, and trying to quit the relationship. Then you realize it’s about actual drugs and actual addiction. Really sad to think about. And damn Lzzy has a set of pipes. Hope she turns it around.
BravestBlossom@reddit
Hate Me, by Blue October.
EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit
American Pie was a fun storytelling song. Until I understood the lyrics.
Key-Cattle-2866@reddit
I took an American Studies class in college and we went over all the imagery and meaning in that song.
KrofftSurvivor@reddit
My dad was a HUGE Buddy Holly fan... no wayWe were escaping the facts of that song
Dimension__X__@reddit
Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now"
ALSISREALAWFUL@reddit
This right here ☝️
UneducatedDonkey@reddit
Well, I hope Jim Rome is proud of himself. And to add the John Cougar Mellencamp lyrics, for a third of a century "we are the ancient dreaming dust of God" went from cool lyric to profound thought.
gatorgopher@reddit
I heard most of our songs lyrics at the time. I was always amazed how popular these songs about death, abuse, poverty, and revenge were. Sunny Came Home. Are you kidding me?! I always wanted to know who she was planning to kill, and specifically, why. It was the obvious sexual ones that skated past me: Pearl Necklace.
Wacko_Banana_Pants@reddit
I'm more surprised by how many lyrics I just plain heard incorrectly.
ClavdiaCh@reddit
I used to mope out to “King of Pain” in middle school now when I hear it’s just like some fake emo moody teen posing from a rich guy.
saposguy@reddit
Back in the day any song that referenced a teenager I fealt seen, like it was written for us. Now days I get the icks.
CynfullyDelicious@reddit
Both Breathe and Time by Pink Floyd. High Hopes, as well.
Dependent_Try_53@reddit
The night my mother died i had 4 songs on repeat sorrow, high hopes wish your were here and time. All very retrospective.
Ttthhasdf@reddit
sex type thing by stone temple pilots, I liked the music back then but the lyrics are rapey as hell
Scooter_McGavin_9@reddit
A Pirate Looks at 40 sure hit different now from when I bought Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit(s) for Margaritaville back when I was a teenager.
Odd_Consequence_6044@reddit
Amen to that
“My occupational hazard being my occupation's just not around . . . “
Real-Emu507@reddit
I can't think of any I was a pretty weird kid and my parents were very blunt with me.
Adventurous-Fee-8158@reddit
Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin.
Luka was a good song, I remember the lyrics…”walked into a door again”
ForswornForSwearing@reddit
You didn't listen to the lyrics, of *that* song?
Kind_Worry_9836@reddit (OP)
My cousins had MTV so I remember the video. It's been a very long time since I've heard that song.
nonotburton@reddit
I've always been a lyrics person, but my appreciation if them has changed. Sometimes it's because I'm an adult who has "made the sex", and I didn't really understand the song as a child. Most of the time it's cultural references I didn't get as a kid.
But yeah, Luka was heavy for a radio/Mtv song.
Cold-Body-2867@reddit
She's Crafty - Beastie Boys. Seemed irreverent and fun back in the day.
Acrobatic_Ocelot_461@reddit
"Time Stand Still" Rush. As you start growing older, it hits different. 😢
New_Mall_8017@reddit
On the morning school bus ride, we would sing, "My name is Pucka, I puked upstairs " .
basahahn1@reddit
My name is Luca