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5 SONGS THAT ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
On the surface, there are some songs that seem pretty happy. We sing along when they come on the radio, even take them to our hearts and make them our favourites.
However there are a few that are a little more sinister than they appear on the surface. Let’s look at 5 songs that are not all that they seem. Paul Mumford has more below.
1. The Police - Every Breath You Take
You might think it’s all about love, companionship and togetherness. Some people even choose it as their wedding song. But no, it’s got a much more sinister meaning than that.
According to Sting, the song is about a possessive guy who is ‘watching’ a lost lover. It’s essentially about a stalker. A little Big Brother in fact.
Incidentally, Sting was going through his own little love triangle at the time. Having recently split from his wife, actress Frances Tomelty and hooking up with her best friend and their next door neighbour, Trudie Styler (his current wife). Sting claims the song took him only 30 minutes to write.
This is one of the biggest grossing songs of all time. In 2010 it was estimated that this song alone generates more than a quarter of Sting’s music publishing income.
2. The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
Anything but sweet, this song was written primarily by Mick Jagger and appears as the opening track on The Rolling Stones 1971 album Sticky Fingers.
A delve into the lyrics reveals some pretty taboo subjects. There are references to slavery, rape, interracial sex. Shall I go on? Perhaps not. Oh, OK one more thing. The term Brown Sugar is supposed to be a reference to brown heroin. Had enough yet?
According to Bill Wyman the lyrics were inspired by a backup singer called Claudia Lennear. She and Jagger met when The Stones were touring with Ike and Tina Turner in 1969. David Bowie also wrote a song about her on his album Aladdin Sane.
3. Nena - 99 Red Balloons
I remember seeing this one on Top of The Pops many times when it was number one and thought it was just a nice slice of happy 80’s pop sung by a lovely German girl with hairy armpits. Nope.
The true meaning of the lyrics are actually more about the paranoia of war. This was 1984 and Russia and the US were busy counting nuclear warheads and generally looking over their shoulders. In the lyrics Nena buys a bunch of balloons, lets them go and they show up on radar as unidentified objects. So a whole bunch of planes are hastily scrambled as countries go into full alert anticipating a nuclear attack.
Nena’s guitarist got the idea for the song after seeing balloons being released at a Rolling Stones concert. It was number one for three weeks in the UK in 1984 and was one of two songs about nuclear war to top the charts in that year. The second one being Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
4. Bruce Springsteen - Born In the USA
Sounds like a patriotic song all about how mighty fine it is to be an American citizen right? It’s actually quite the opposite.
The song was originally called ‘Vietnam’ which should provide a clue to it’s true meaning. Bruce Springsteen wrote the song about the problems veterans were suffering following the Vietnam war which ended in 1975.
Springsteen actually considers this as one of his best songs. It was the title track of his 1984 album which sold over 18 million copies and was the first song Bruce wrote for the album.
5. Bing Crosby - Do You Hear What I Hear?
Innocent little tune we all bleet out at Christmas right? What’s so creepy about that? Well, when you discover what was in the writer's heads at the time it's not so warm and cuddly.
Although there are Christmassy references, the song is actually more about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
It was written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker in 1962. They were invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song but came up with this instead. The lyrics are actually a plee for peace amidst the threat of nuclear war.
About Paul Mumford
Paul can be heard on Forest Radio Monday to Thursday 6-8pm and for the Saturday Social, Saturday mornings from 9.
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