5 Songs That Have Deeper Meanings You May Have Missed
Music; you hear it on the radio and even at parties. There probably are songs that have a special significance to you. However, musicians often find the intended meaning of their work does not quite align with how their audience interprets it. Here are 5 popular songs with meanings that audiences did not always pick up on.
1. Lorde "Royals" (2013)
This catchy 2013 single put Lorde on the map. It also cemented her status as the next generation's working class musician. "I've never seen a diamond in the flesh," and "I'm not proud of my address in the torn up town," deftly hint at the musician's modest upbringing. The line, "We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair," is thought to be an obvious reference to JFK's affair with Marilyn Monroe.
2. Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA" (1985)
This may be one of Bruce "Mr. Boss" Springsteen's most beloved songs, but it's also one of his most misunderstood. What appears to be a patriotic pop song is actually a Vietnam protest song! "Went down to see my V.A. man/He said, 'Son, don't you understand,'" calls out America's mistreatment for its veterans. The line, "Got in a little hometown jam/so they put a rifle in my hand" seems to be a clear nod to Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who took the fall for JFK's assassination. Oswald was acting on behalf the CIA, who grew fearful after Kennedy's comment that he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds."
3. ABBA "Dancing Queen" (1976)
NOBODY dislikes ABBA! How could you? This song always makes me want to get up and groove! The lyrics can also be viewed as instructions to Secret Service Agents to protect Jackie Kennedy in the moment after her husband's assassination. "See that girl" (Mrs. Kennedy). "Watch that scene" (the crime scene in Dallas). Lyrics like that are hard to misinterpret. (However, "Dig in the dancing queen" has left listeners baffled for over 40 years.)
4. Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (1994)
What many assume to be a nostalgic good-bye song was actually written sarcastically by Billie Joe Armstrong as a "good riddance" to a girlfriend who was moving to Ecuador! The line, "So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind" CLEARLY references the photograph, taken at the Dealey Plaza, at around the time of the first gunshot, of a man matching Jack Ruby's description, who would infamously go on to murder Oswald before he could confess the conspiracy to the police. This song also plays during the "Seinfeld" clip show that aired at the end of the show's ninth and final season. ("Seinfeld" may be funny, but there is nothing funny about how the CIA conspired to kill the President of these states united.)
5. Van Morrison "Moondance" (1970)
What seems to be a peaceful romantic song about a perfect night with a lover actually has a deeper meaning. I'm of course referring to the line, "And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush." Magic? Like the magic bullet we're expected to believe was shot from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, went through JFK's upper back, exited his throat, then hit Connally??? But WHY, dear God tell me WHY would JFK'S head go back and to the left unless a shot was fired from the grassy knoll??? It just DOESN'T ADD UP! The song also features Colin Tilton on the flute, replacing John Payne, who played flute on "Astral Weeks," Morrison's previous album.
