Songs - how did it’s meaning get so lost?

[PrincipalVernon]

Sparked from another thread that was slightly off topic but reminded me how irritated I get by it-
Anyone else feel a slow burning rage when people mistake the meaning of songs so for example I have been to a fair few weddings where the couple walk onto the dance floor and their song is ‘marry you’ or ‘every breath you take’
Now I know it’s their choice, their song so who cares but I can’t help that little build up in side that makes me what to grab the mic and shout ‘listen to the words people!!’
Just want to point out that I’ve never actually done that, I stand there and smile
Am I alone in getting irritated by something so pointless?

At my first wedding we had 'c'est la vie' I loved it!

Not sure what I will have this time round........ fat bottom girls maybe

My dad insisted on Lift up your hearts as one of the hymns when he and Mum married. Despite the second verse which contains the lyrics:

Above the level of the former years,
The mire of sin, the slough of guilty fears,
The mist of doubt, the blight of love's decay,

Mum says that raised eyebrows among her friends and relatives

@thighofrelief We has Etta James "At Last" as our first dance. It's a good one for a slow dance too. Followed it up with "You are the best thing" by Ray Lamontagne

I went to a wedding in the late 80s where they had Phil Collins - Against All Odds as the first dance. Even as a kid I could work out that it was a breakup song! I remember seeing the the bride and groom twirling around the dance floor to ‘take a look at me noooow, there’s just an empty space’.

We had Hero by Enrique Inglasias as our first dance, because we'd been singing it the night my husband decided I was the woman he wanted to marry.

I actually really don't like the song, but it was important in our relationship so went with it.

I got my way with the music we walked out to though.

Drink Up Thee Zider by the Wurzels...

I just knew this thread would be about Every Breath You Take!

dd and I heard it in the car the other day and she said - that song is really creepy, and stalkerish. I explained where it came from, and that so many people didn't listen and used it at weddings. She was

@hopefullybettersoon, I know of a couple who had that song for their wedding dance and again at their divorce party. They both dance together on each occasion...

@HairsprayBabe do you and fiancé like City and Colour? Northern wind is lovely and could definitely be a wedding first dance

I have friends who had bmth follow you, I bought them a print of the lyrics as a wedding gift as it's 'their song'

Do you remember straylight run they may have something apt

Death cab for cutie- follow you into the dark

Or mega emo something but Dashboard confessional

Agree with whoever mentioned Born in the USA. Really, really not a patriotic song.

I’ve heard God Only Knows by the Beach Boys mentioned as a “WTF” wedding song, because of the line “I may not always love you”. Shame, because it’s lovely otherwise.

Oh dear, I'm sorry but I did snigger a bit at the thought of a happy couple walking down the aisle to 'Abide With Me' whilst the confused guests looked like this - - >!

Love this. I'd really like to have Proclaimers "then I met you" as first dance - our song is Justin Trousersnake Can't stop the feeling so we'd need to be very funky indeed to make it work....

I'd actually love James Arthur- Say you won't let go as my wedding song, , it's so lovely!

But the opening line "I may not always love you...." goes on to say that as long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it! A real love song.

God Only Knows raised some eyebrows at our friends’ wedding (I may not always love you). Listen to the next line folks ! (But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about )

I have thoughts of Jai Ho with full Bollywood dancing going back down the aisle in a stuffy church.

Someone I knew was singing Bon Jovi Always at their friends wedding..not sure why

NotUmbongoUnchained

We didn’t have an a royal wedding, but when me and my husband eloped we went to a bar after and slow danced to “Fuck her gently” for our first dance. Was beautiful grin

We had an instrumental version of that song as I walked into our wedding. We knew only a very very small handful of people present would know what it was but it was great fun to watch the realisation dawn on some guest’s face’s as I went by.

My organist friend refused to play "Like a Virgin" for the bride to walk down the aisle.

This thread reminded me of one of my favourite Etiquette Hell stories. I just had to dig it out;

“The wedding/reception was a modest affair, everything taking place at a local hotel. The odd part was that she had picked a song by Depeche Mode called "I Want You Now" for her processional. I wasn't familiar with the song until that day, when I realized that the first 30 seconds or so of it consists of heavy sighs and moaning. The hotel banquet room was very short (10 rows of chairs or so), so she proceeded to the sole sounds of these moans. She got to the front just before the lyrics began, so then everyone sat there as the not-terribly deep lyrics of the first couple of versus played, culminating in the phrase "I want you now" before the tape was loudly and abruptly clicked off.”

We couldn't dance to 'our' song because the song we first slow-danced to was End of the Road by Boyz II Men - not a particularly apt song for the start of a marriage. Instead, we danced to Goodnight Sweetheart by The Spaniels - because it was the third song we ever slow-danced to! The second was I Will Always Love You - 1992 was a bad year to get together and have a slow dance - all the songs were about breaking up!!

My best friend is currently planning mine and my friends wedding (we’re not together as far as we know but our friends have decided that we are and we’re getting married even if we can’t see it yet 😂) apparently the songs that feature will be mainly Disney and musical themed with some queen and jazz and classic rock thrown in.

The ones being played for definite are queen-somebody to love and frozen-in summer and reindeers are better than people because those are the ones he sings to me most often 😂

Also the look of love by Dusty Springfield with a PowerPoint show of some pictures of the two of us when we were unaware of the camera which is mildly terrifying to think about because I’m not convinced I’ve seen all these pictures and I know exactly what stories she’s thinking of 😂 I have a sinking feeling she’s gonna make this PowerPoint anyway and show him or the rest of our friends the next time we all meet up 😂

We had 'God only knows' as our wedding song. It did cross my mind that some people would think it wasn't a good wedding song because of some of the lines in it, but if you listen carefully, the meaning of the song is perfect. Ten years later it still resonates and I'm glad we chose it.

We had "Enjoy the silence" by Depeche Mode as our first dance, because it's our favourite song by our favourite band. But the lyrics probably aren't that suitable for a wedding really: "Vows are spoken to be broken...". We've been happily married 10 years now though (and together almost 16) so I don't think we need to worry that it's prophetic in nature or anything. :)

I did hear tell of a wedding in the early 90s where the music was played by an organist. (In those days it was a church or registry office)
The organist asked them what they wanted and they said ‘Everything you do I do it for you’, which if you remember was no 1 for about 5 years.
The organist gave them a blank look so they said ‘you know, the one from Robin Hood.

So the big day came and as they walked down the aisle the organist struck up ‘Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding Through the Glen’.