Page 6 | Meanings behind songs that people don't seem to know...

Arlanymor · 2025-10-28T21:38:47+00:00

Do you remember the Real Fires advert with the dog kissing the cat and the cat kissing a mouse? My mum brought it up the other day as one of their neighbours has just got a dog that looks identical to the one in the advertisement. Awww! I couldn't quite remember the song that was the soundtrack so I looked it up later... it's Will You Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles and I brought it up on YouTube to listen to it. It's about a one night stand isn't it? I had no idea until now... there I was thinking it was a lovely warm anthem for chaste kisses between pets! By the way, not remotely making a judgement about the topic, I've a had a few 'Shirelles' nights of my own in the past... I just never knew what it was about before. Have you had any similar revelations?!

Dollymylove · 29/10/2025 07:25

SriouslyWhutNow · 29/10/2025 01:36

What it says to me is that posters like you paid zero attention at school during drug education lessons and didn’t bother educating yourself about it all either, letting yourself and your future children down by being unable to keep them safe.

So not the “I’m so amazing and well-brought-up” look that these faux naive posters were going for. I feel the same way about adult women who pretend they don’t understand contraception. Anyone of childbearing age absolutely got told all this stuff at school multiple times and none of it should be surprising to anyone who was paying attention so they only have themselves to blame.

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Bloody hell who pissed on your cornflakes?

roseclouds · 29/10/2025 07:26

Rosscameasdoody · 29/10/2025 06:15

Utter drivel. If you paid attention to drug education lessons, you wouldn’t use drugs, so you’d have no frame of reference for songs that are about drug use.

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haha this!

If you never did drugs, didnt hang out with anyone who did drugs, never bought drugs, never used slang language for drugs with your mates then how on earth are you supposed to get all these veiled references to them in songs?

RaraRachael · 29/10/2025 07:28

I didn't get drug references in songs. We had no drug education at school because there were no drugs. Yes I'm that old.

However I pay no attention to song lyrics and if asked what the majority of songs are about I wouldn't have a clue.

BalloonSlayer · 29/10/2025 07:30

I always thought the WW1 song "Goodbyeeee" was incredibly sad, it always used to make me tearful when I heard it.

But it turns out it's actually a comic song, the verses are all about trying to get away from someone/something unpleasant and the famous chorus "Goodbyee, Goodbye, wipe the tear baby dear from your eyeee" is a joke.

MyOtherProfile · 29/10/2025 07:30

AsTreesWalking · 29/10/2025 06:50

Well, this thread was an eye opener!
But then, I still want to hear 'Nights in white satin, never reaching the end' as 'Knights'. That's what I heard for years and I so much prefer the mental image.

Yes! I thought white satin was like undergarments that they wore under their armour.

I realised talking to friends that there are two types of people in this world - those that listen to the song lyrics me and those that just like the tunes and a jolly chorus most of my friends. I'm surprised at people not knowing what most of these songs are saying, and my friends would be surprised they're saying anything at all!

Shakeyourwammyfannyfunkysong · 29/10/2025 07:31

Lazygardener · 29/10/2025 07:17

Great thread. Until it turned into a silly argument. Is there nothing on MN that doesn’t do that?? Also, can someone explain the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody please😝

It explains itself in the last 2 lines of the song 😁

NamelessNancy · 29/10/2025 07:32

WinterFrogs · 29/10/2025 06:17

The Winds Of Change by Scorpions. Beautiful melodies and didn't really take notice of the lyrics, to my shame ( at the time)

Also in defence of some of us older posters, some of us spent ages trying to work out lyrics of a song, by taping it from the radio, them repeatedly pressing pause/play and writing the lyrics as we heard them. If you were lucky, the lyrics would be written on the record sleeve or you'd find them in Smash Hits. It made for a few misheard lyrics and earnest discussions at school!

I was 18 when Relax came out, and my mum kept on at me wanting to know why the song was banned. I'll never know if she genuinely didn't understand, or if she was testing me. I said I had no idea.

There's an amazing podcast exploring the myth (or is it?!) that Winds of Change was written by the CIA to target young people behind the Iron Curtain.

Wordsmithery · 29/10/2025 07:32

emilysquest · 29/10/2025 00:43

Oh come on @nomorehothols this isn't really the thread for your holier than thou attitude. You are not better than anyone else because you don't understand drug references in a song.

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Harsh, @emilysquest. They weren't being disapproving in any way. Has this turned into a thread about misinterpreting MN posts?

SparrowSally · 29/10/2025 07:32

Bryan Adams has recently confirmed that 'Summer of 69' isn't about the year...

MyOtherProfile · 29/10/2025 07:36

FlorenceAgainstTheMachine · 29/10/2025 07:20

Dancing in the Moonlight. The background to the original version is grim.

I loved the song even more when I found out what triggered it.

AllTheTreesOfTheField · 29/10/2025 07:38

So what is Dancing in the Moonlight about, please?

Dollymylove · 29/10/2025 07:41

Of course most songs are about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll. Unless you dissect the lyrics minutely you probably dont notice a lot of it 😅
I dont know if anyone remembers but back in the 80s Bruno Brookes on Radio One used to do a 'misheard lyrics" slot on his show. I can't remember any of them but I do remember howling with laughter as some of them 🤣

ThatBlackCat · 29/10/2025 07:41

emilysquest · 29/10/2025 00:43

Oh come on @nomorehothols this isn't really the thread for your holier than thou attitude. You are not better than anyone else because you don't understand drug references in a song.

Edited

Wow, what a really nasty post that is, @emilysquest . Many of us haven't touched drugs (whether by choice or by circumstance), it doesn't mean we are 'holier than thou'. You seem really personally offended that nomorehothols hasn't had drugs like an insult to you. Perhaps look at yourself as to why you think like that, instead of attacking people.

NamelessNancy · 29/10/2025 07:44

Dollymylove · 29/10/2025 07:41

Of course most songs are about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll. Unless you dissect the lyrics minutely you probably dont notice a lot of it 😅
I dont know if anyone remembers but back in the 80s Bruno Brookes on Radio One used to do a 'misheard lyrics" slot on his show. I can't remember any of them but I do remember howling with laughter as some of them 🤣

My favourite misheard lyric (not by me) is "Ireland's Industry" for "Islands in the Stream" 😂

BreatheAndFocus · 29/10/2025 07:47

Dollymylove · 29/10/2025 07:41

Of course most songs are about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll. Unless you dissect the lyrics minutely you probably dont notice a lot of it 😅
I dont know if anyone remembers but back in the 80s Bruno Brookes on Radio One used to do a 'misheard lyrics" slot on his show. I can't remember any of them but I do remember howling with laughter as some of them 🤣

It was Gary Davies - I know because he featured one of my misheard lyrics and I won the t shirt! 🤣 Perhaps Bruno did a later version?

Frynye · 29/10/2025 07:48

Teenytwo · 29/10/2025 03:44

We are young is about domestic violence.

My lover, she's waiting for me just across the bar
My seat's been taken by some sunglasses asking 'bout her scar and
I know I gave it to you months ago
I know you're trying to forget

I’m sure I read somewhere that it’s about an emotional scar from a bad relationship. Lies told and what not

AnonAnora · 29/10/2025 07:49

Addicted by Kelly Clarkson - I was sure it was about toxic love (and could relate at the time!) but then I kept coming across opinions that it was actually about heroine addiction.

Cheese55 · 29/10/2025 07:54

Shakeyourwammyfannyfunkysong · 29/10/2025 07:31

It explains itself in the last 2 lines of the song 😁

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'Nothing really matters to me' ???

AmaryllisNightAndDay · 29/10/2025 07:54

Melonmango70 · 29/10/2025 06:54

I'm 55 and I only realised/found this out a few weeks ago! 😆

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I didn't realise it was deliberate - thought it was just me with a filthy mind! (I hadn't seen the stage show though)

MyOtherProfile · 29/10/2025 07:54

AllTheTreesOfTheField · 29/10/2025 07:38

So what is Dancing in the Moonlight about, please?

The guy who wrote it got beaten up and then imagined a place where there wouldn't be any fighting and everyone would be too busy dancing and feeling relaxed to fight.

Greysowhat · 29/10/2025 07:55

Kingsleadhat · 29/10/2025 00:52

Afternoon Delight... blatantly obvious ditty about the joys of an afternoon shag but no one seemed to notice at the time

I was very small when that came out. I always thought it was about someone having a Turkish Delight after their lunch!!

ThatBlackCat · 29/10/2025 07:57

SriouslyWhutNow · 29/10/2025 01:36

What it says to me is that posters like you paid zero attention at school during drug education lessons and didn’t bother educating yourself about it all either, letting yourself and your future children down by being unable to keep them safe.

So not the “I’m so amazing and well-brought-up” look that these faux naive posters were going for. I feel the same way about adult women who pretend they don’t understand contraception. Anyone of childbearing age absolutely got told all this stuff at school multiple times and none of it should be surprising to anyone who was paying attention so they only have themselves to blame.

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Um, we all had drug education lessons. That doesn't mean we had the lived experience to understand in jokes about drugs in songs.

Didshejustsaythatoutloud · 29/10/2025 08:00

Mothership4two · 29/10/2025 00:51

Cornflake Girl is about FGM. The lyrics are chilling once you know that

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😱

BarryKentPoet · 29/10/2025 08:01

My kids told me that Cake by the Ocean was about sex on the beach but I'm not convinced!

Frynye · 29/10/2025 08:02

“There she goes”. I swear whenever that song comes on anywhere someone will say “that’s really about heroine you know”. It’s like it has to be said.