Meanings behind songs that people don't seem to know...

The wiki page says this
While the lyrics describe a girl "riding out of the life of the narrator",[22] the inspiration of the title phrase is unclear,[6] as is the meaning of the song.[23][24] McCartney said the title referred to "a British Railways ticket to the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight",[13] and Lennon said it described cards indicating a clean bill of health carried by Hamburg prostitutes in the 1960s.

So the inspiration for the song title might (or might not) have come from prostitutes being clear of STDs, but the whole song isn't about that.

Yes, the plane was called the Enola Gay

Martha reeve and the Vandellas.. Jimmy Mack .. about him being in Vietnam.
Jimmy mack ..My world's on fire .. about being in Vietnam.
Both Northern soul biggies.
Lee bates..why don't you write.
Another Vietnam one.
All of the above maybe a bit niche within Northern soul genre.

I omitted the Nun's other 'rule, once you were married sex was allowed, as long as you don't enjoy it!

This is really harsh and unnecessary. Loads of us will have heard many of these songs as children and it wouldn't occur to a lot of people to interrogate the lyrics. It's no more holier than thou than not realising what The Outhere Brothers were singing about at the smash hits poll winners party.

But why does that necessarily refer to a prostitute? Surely it works just as well - and makes a lot more sense in the context of the rest of the lyrics - if it's a couple breaking up, where she's left him and she now has her freedom from exclusivity with him, so she can go and date other men?!

...In fact, maybe he was the one whom she suspected might have cheated and given her something. Even if the Ticket to Ride is referring to a clean bill of health from the GUM clinic, it might just mean that she's celebrating being free from him and hasn't got any nasties from him.

John Lennon wasn't particularly known for respecting women, so I could well see how he could blame her for him having an affair (maybe the 'Jealous Guy' was constantly accusing her of imaginary affairs on her part) and subsequently for leaving him - no doubt going off with all of her fancy men and putting it out 'like a prostitute' and (in his mind) validating all that he accused her of.

I've probably massively over-reached there in my assumptions; but just postulating a potential explanation.

I am absolutely howling at this 😂

Apparently John Lennon said it described cards indicating a clean bill of health carried by Hamburg prostitutes in the 1960s - so a Card to Shag rather than a Ticket to Ride 😉

She’s got a ticket - ie a free pass - to “ride…”

I read that initially as a big Sister, ie a senior nun. Then I realised......

Ticket to ride by the Beatles? I've just read the lyrics 3 times and can't see anything in them to suggest it means that? Surely it's just about the singer's wife/girlfriend leaving him?

Yeah it was written as Bruce was coming out of a period of depression and a mini breakdown.

Do people really think Springsteen's songs are about glorifying the USA? You'd have to be pretty ignorant about the man or his music to think that. Most of them are the exact opposite, in fact, though some are more hopeful than others.

I've learnt from this thread that the line is Cake by the Ocean. I always thought it was Camped by the Ocean, so a song about a nice holiday. Although I guess sex could happen in the tent as well as on the beach.

I also originally thought that Golden Brown was about autumn leaves, although was corrected in my late teens about that one.

I read. Not about drugs though. Why? Are you implying I should?

Well that was a bit rude

I obviously live under a rock then as I've no idea what drug references mean.

You can't know about something if you've never heard of it.

Yes, I wondered if it was a criticism of young (well, now middle-aged) people "thank god for mom and dad for sticking through together cos we don't know how", but I was more bothered when I heard the actual words for Let's get it started, especially as that was an insult that got thrown at some members of my family back then.
Chainsmokers Paris is the song that I didn't understand properly the first time I heard it.

Betterman by Pearl Jam is not a love song, it's about Eddie Vedder's mum being trapped in an unhappy relationship with his stepfather, but I've seen so many people misinterpret the 'can't find a betterman' line!

Yes, but you don't live under a rock. Don't you read?

We've been nowhere near drugs, ever..but I know about them and cultural references etc

Run isn't about drugs... Where did you get that idea from?

Well, I grew up in a council flat in EE, been brought up by a single mother and never been around drugs. Oh, and we didn’t have education on drugs either other than hearing about them and my mum saying ‘drugs are bad for you’. The closest I ever came was when I was 18 leaving a night club with a group of friends and someone asked if we ‘wanted stamps’ … one of the girls was completely confused as she worked for the post office and was wondering why stamps were sold on the street.
So me not knowing has f all to do with my priviliged upbringing.

what is it about? always wondered

"Rock Me Gently" by Andy Kim (not so well-known now, but a favourite of student discos in the 70s) isn't actually about dancing - it's about sex.

Another disco classic from the same era was "December '63 - Oh What a Night" by Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. It wasn't until decades later, when I saw the stage show "Jersey Boys", that I realised the whole song is about loss of virginity.

Yes sorry, that's right

‘I had a brother at Khe Sanh, fighting off the Viet Cong.
They're still there; he’s all gone’.
Most poignant of lyrics.