27 Real (Surprising) Stories Behind Huge Songs

It turns out that some of our favorite tunes take on a whole new meaning when we actually listen to the lyrics.
27 Real (Surprising) Stories Behind Huge Songs

One of the great things about music is that we enjoy being able to decipher our own meanings from the songs we listen to. Or maybe we do this because sometimes the actual meaning can be a real let down. Not quite sure what we mean? It turns out that some of our favorite tunes take on a whole new look when we actually listen to the lyrics.

To help illustrate this, we asked our readers to collect some songs that everyone enjoys but probably haven't really listened closely to what's being said. The winner is below, but first the runners-up ...

When Kendrick Lamar released Swimming Pools (Drank) in 2012 it instantly became a party anthem. But it's actually about how alcohol and peer pressure
Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani is actually intended as a response to Courtney Love who insulted Stefani by calling her a cheerleader.
Van Halen's iconic Jump suddenly becomes a much darker tune once you learn that Roth was inspired by a newscast featuring a man on top of a building t
With a catchy guitar riff and a mindless doo-doo chorus, it makes sense to believe Third Eye Blind's song Semi-charmed life is about bored rich ki
What has.s a TAIL as big as a kite and a VOICE as big as the seas? NUCLEAR MOISSILES The song Do You Hear Whatl Hear?' was originally a song about th
The lyrics of the enigmatic 1970 Chicago song 25 Or 6 To 4 has inspired fan theories ranging from drug culture to the supernatural. The lyrics are sim
You O0 GOttA) FFRCAT FOR OUR RTCAT CTo PARTY Is not a Party Anthem. It is a parody of Party Anthems. UCR THERE WERE TONS OF GUYS SINGING ALONG TO FI
'CAUSE OUR FRIENDS DON'TDANCE AND if THE DON'TDANCE WELL THEF'R No FRIENDS Of MINE viC SAFET DANCE, A PoPULAR 80's SON6 BS MEN W ITHOUTHATS WAS ACTUAL
Skynyrd's Gimme Back My Bullets has nothing to do with guns. In fact, it's a song about the group's record sales. The song (and of SKYNYRD album the
Though Pink Floyd's album, Wish You Were Here is known as a farewell to founder Syd Barrett, the title song isn't about Barrett at all. 20 It's to
In Mary Jane's Last Dance' by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mary Jane isn't a marijuana reference. The original title of the song was indiana Girla
Before it was showcased as the theme song to The Bee Movie, in ads for credit cards, or in the closing ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics, George
New Year's Day, from U2's 1983 War album, was written with the leader of the Polish Solidarnosc anti=communist movement, Lech Walesa, in mind. C
CRACKED.COM John Cage's composition 4'33 (for any number and type of instruments) has been called controversial and pretentious, because to perform i
ALICE IN CHAINS IT WAS WIDEL Y BELIEVED THAT THE BANDS HIT soNG DOWN IN A HOLE. WAS ABOUT LAYNE'S LONG TIME STRUGGLE WITH DRUG ADDICTION AND IT RESU
CRACKEDCON People mistake John Mellencamp's PINK HOUSES for a patriotic song about the American Dream. But it's really about POVERTY.
MnBop IS A CATCHY AND HAPPY SONG BUT WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE LYRICS, HANSON'S DRMMER ZAC SAID MMMBOPREPRESENTS A FRAME OF TIME OR THE FL
Slide the Goo Goo arrt by DOolIs sounDs like a Late 90s generic Jove song. The pop-rock sounded SO safe the song band sung it with EImo episode of o
27 Real (Surprising) Stories Behind Huge Songs
Lady Gaga's Pokerface isn't about seduction, being coy, stoic, or playing cards. It's about her hiding her homosexual desires from her heterosexual
The God That Failed is not a hackneyed metal call to Devil worship. Metallica frontman James Hetfield was raised a Christian Scientist, a faith that b
Push by Matchbox Twenty is NOT about a guy who likes to push his girlfriend around. It's about a girl who likes to push her boyfriend around. The so
What was Peter Gabriel singing about in SH0CK THE MOKE Animal rights? Social experimentation? Evolution? Jealousy. The monkey is metaphor for how thos
A MAN AND HIS MONKEY TAKE A TRIP TO LAS VEGAS ROBBIE WILLIAMS ME AND MY MONKEY This song is a fan favorite, and the general idea is that the monkey re
JACKSON BROWNE RnnNG EMPIy ROSIE The sad ballad about a sound mixer who loses his girl to the drummer is really about MASTURBATION! But Rosie tou're
(lndzpzdz3@e Martina McBride's patriotic sounding staple of small town fireworks displays everywhere... Is about an abused woman burning her alcoholic
CRACKED.COM Courtney Love claims the hauntingly surreal lyrics of Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box were about her... Vagina. Courtney Love Cobain Follow @Co

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