Songs That Don’t Mean What You Think They Mean

1 “Every Breath You Take” – The Police
- What it sounds like: A comforting love song
- What it’s really about: An obsessive stalker
According to SongFacts, Sting wrote “Every Breath You Take” after separating from his first wife, Frances Tomelty. He explained the inspiration for the song during an interview with New Musical Express. “I think it’s a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership,” Sting said.

2 “Like A Virgin” – Madonna
- What it sounds like: A song about the power in female sexuality
- What it’s really about: Starting a new relationship
Madonna shocked the world with the song “Like A Virgin,” but the songwriter, Billy Steinburg, told SongFacts he wrote the lyrics about making it through a painful breakup. “I had been involved in a very emotionally difficult relationship that had finally ended and I had met somebody new,” he said. “I remember writing that lyric about feeling shiny and new—I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through—I made it through this very difficult time.”

3 “Born In The U.S.A.” – Bruce Springsteen
- What it sounds like: A song about being proud to be an American
- What it’s really about: A struggling Vietnam War veteran
The lyrics of the song “Born In The USA” aren’t as patriotic as they seem. “Sent me off to a foreign land/To go and kill the yellow man.” Springsteen sang later in the song, “Down in the shadow of the penitentiary/Out by the gas fires of the refinery/I’m ten years burning down the road/I’ve got nowhere to run and nowhere to go”

4 “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” – Bonnie Tyler
- What it sounds like: A love song
- What’s really about: A vampire love song
According to Country Daily, the song’s writer, Jim Steinman, wrote “Total Eclipse of the Heart” as a musical version of Nosferatu. “If anyone listens to the lyrics, they’re really like vampire lines. It’s all about the darkness, the power of darkness and love’s place in the dark,” Steinman said.

5 “Sister Christian” – Night Ranger
- What it sounds like: A song about a rebellious nun
- What it’s really about: A girl about to graduate from high school
The lead singer and bassist Jack Blades told Fox News, “Kelly’s sister’s name is Christy and so he was writing a song about his little sister growing up in a small town in Oregon and cruising up and down the street on a Friday, Saturday night, you know, motoring, everything like that, but it was sister Christy. He’s singing ‘sister Christy oh the,’ and we all thought it was Christian.”

6 “Barracuda” – Heart
- What it sounds like: A song about a bad boyfriend
- What it’s about: A creepy comment made by a journalist
Nancy Wilson told American Songwriter that a journalist asked an inappropriate question about a photo of her standing bare shoulder-to-shoulder with her sister and fellow bandmate, Ann Wilson. “So, the insinuation that we were lovers was, of course, not anywhere near true and really sleazy and inappropriate,” Wilson said. “We were just young enough, just idealistic enough to take it pretty badly and have a lot of anger around it, insult around it.”
7 “One” – U2
- What it sounds like: A romantic love song
- What it’s really about: Breaking up
Bono explained the meaning of “One” in Neil McCormick’s documentary, U2 By U2, “The song is a bit twisted, which is why I could never figure out why people want it at their weddings,” Bono said.” I have certainly met a hundred people who’ve had it at their weddings. I tell them, ‘Are you mad? It’s about splitting up!’”

8 “Take Me Home” – Phil Collins
- What it sounds like: A song about a man returning home
- What it’s really about: A patient in a mental institution
According to SongFacts, Collins said on VH1 Storytellers that the song’s lyrics refer to a patient in a mental institution and that he was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

9 “Jump” – Van Halen
- What it sounds like: A party anthem
- What it’s really about: A man threatening to jump off a bridge
According to Van Halen News Desk, David Lee Roth wrote the lyrics to “Jump” after watching the news and seeing a man on top of Arco Tower, threatening to jump. He thought that there’s always at least one person in the crowd telling the guy to “Go ahead and jump.”

10 “Pretty In Pink” – Psychedelic Furs
- What it sounds like: A song about a charming girl
- What it’s really about: Being naked
Lead singer Alex Ogg told The Quietus about “Pretty In Pink,” “The idea of the song was, ‘Pretty In Pink’ as a metaphor for being naked. The song, to me, was actually about a girl who sleeps around a lot and thinks that she’s wanted and in demand and clever and beautiful, but people are talking about her behind her back. That was the idea of the song.”

11 “Bad Reputation” – Joan Jett
- What it sounds like: A rebellious anthem
- What it’s really about: Sexism in the music industry
Kenny Laguna, co-writer of the song, told SongFacts, “Joan had this bad reputation, no label would sign her—that’s why we own the records. It was so frustrating, we thought we should write a song about it. One day Joan said something, and I said, ‘You shouldn’t do this.’ I was trying to give her the advice of an old man, but she was a teenager at the time, and she says, ‘Look, I don’t care about my bad reputation.’ I said, ‘Whoa, there’s the song.'”

12 “Walk This Way” – Aerosmith
- What it sounds like: An octane-charged song
- What it’s really about: Inspired by a line from the movie Young Frankenstein
According to the Wall Street Journal, Aerosmith took a break from recording to see the movie Young Frankenstein. When they went back to the studio, Steven Tyler had a hard time finishing the lyrics to the song. Producer Jack Douglas suggested they call it “Walk This Way” from a line said by Igor in the film.

13 “Macarena” – Los del Río
- What it sounds like: A song about a fun dance
- What it’s really about: A woman who cheats on her boyfriend when he’s drafted into the army
The folks over at the Huffington Post translated the lyrics sung by Los del Río and revealed the scandalous content. “Hey Macarena!/Macarena has a boyfriend who is named/Who is named with the last name Vitorino/And while he was being sworn in as a conscript/She’s giving it to two friends.” Yikes!

14 “Summer Of ’69” – Bryan Adams
- What it sounds like: A song about childhood innocence
- What it’s really about: Gettin’ busy
Bryan Adams told Louder Sound about the origins of “Summer of ‘69,” “The song is a bit autobiographical,” Adams explained, “but it’s really about summer love and, in my case, being a musician. I love the song Night Moves by Bob Seger, which is about getting laid in the summer, and I always wanted to write an answer to that.”
15 “Waterfalls” – TLC
- What it sounds like: A catchy song about waterfalls
- What it’s really about: AIDS awareness
TLC’s “Waterfalls” deals with a number of issues, including AIDS. The evidence is directly in the lyrics. “One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror/But he doesn’t recognize his own face/His health is fading and he doesn’t know why/Three letters took him to his final resting place/Y’all don’t hear me”

16 “London Calling” – The Clash
- What it sounds like: A punk rock anthem
- What it’s really about: The threat of London flooding
Lead singer Joe Strummer told Uncut that “London Calling” originated in a taxi ride with his fiancée, Gaby Salter. “There was a lot of Cold War nonsense going on, and we knew that London was susceptible to flooding,” Strummer said. “She told me to write something about that.” The rest is rock-and-roll history.

17 “99 Luftballoons” – NENA
- What it sounds like: An upbeat song about balloons
- What it’s really about: A UFO sighting starting a nuclear war
Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen wrote on his website that the idea for “99 Red Balloons” came to them at a Rolling Stones concert in Berlin, where balloons were released into the sky. Carlos asked, “Would Russian radar control be smart enough to spot the difference between a bunch of harmless balloons and a swarm of short-range nuclear missiles? Or would they press the red button, launch a counter-attack, and accidentally bring about worldwide nuclear annihilation?”

18 “MMMBop” – Hanson
- What it sounds like: A mindless pop song
- What it’s really about: Cherishing life’s fleeting moments
Zac Hanson revealed the meaning of the hit song “MMMBop” to E! News. “It represents the fact that time passes very quickly… And so in a story about reaching for what’s important and kind of driving towards the impossible dream, MMMBop is telling you go now, go now, go now, because in a moment, in an MMMBop, life will be over and have passed you by,” Hanson said.

19 “Losing My Religion” – R.E.M
- What it sounds like: A song about questioning faith
- What it’s really about: Unrequited love
Lead singer Micheal Stipe told Top 2000 a gogo about the inspiration behind “Losing My Religion,” “I love the idea of writing a song about unrequited love,” he said. “About holding back, reaching forward, and then pulling back again. The thing for me that is most thrilling is you don’t know if the person I’m reaching out for is aware of me. If they even know I exist. It’s this really tearful, heartfelt thing that found its way into one of the best pieces of music the band ever gave me.”

20 “In The Air Tonight” – Phil Collins
- What it sounds like: A person witnessing someone drowning
- What it’s really about: Divorce
Phil Collins opened up to Jimmy Fallon about what motivated him to write “In The Air Tonight,” “Well, you go through a divorce,” Collins said. “And sometimes it’s like, ‘I love you. Don’t hang up.’ And sometimes it’s like, ‘Well, f–k you.’ And that’s where a song like [that] comes in. There’s obviously a lot of anger in there.”

21 “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – The Beatles
- What you think it’s about: A song about a woman tripping on mind-altering substances
- What it’s actually about: A picture drawn by John Lennon’s son
According to ILoveClassicRock, Lennon said during an interview on the Dick Cavett Show, “My son came home with a drawing of a strange-looking woman flying around. He said, ‘It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.’ I thought, ‘That’s beautiful.’ I immediately wrote the song about it.”

22 “Closing Time” – Semisonic
- What it sounds like: A bar at closing time
- What it’s about: The birth of Dan Wilson’s baby girl
Semisonic’s lead singer, Dan Wilson, revealed to Billboard that “Closing Time” was inspired by the birth of his daughter. “We had spent seven years of our lives at that point, four nights a week entertaining people. That was our life.” Wilson continued. “Some bouncers yelling things, closing time coming, all that imagery, literally, that’s how the song started and then when I was halfway done, I started realizing the whole thing was a pun about being born, so I just made sure that the rest of the thing could ride with that double meaning, but nobody got the joke and I didn’t bother to explain. I thought everyone would get it.”

23 “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party)” – Beastie Boys
- What it sounds like: A party anthem
- What it’s really about: A spoof on a party anthem
Mike D revealed they wrote the song to make fun of popular party anthems like “Smoking in the Boys Room”. “The only thing that upsets me is that we might have reinforced certain values of some people in our audience when our own values were actually totally different,” Diamond said. “There were tons of guys singing along to “Fight for Your Right” who were oblivious to the fact it was a total goof on them.”

24 “You’re Beautiful” – James Blunt
- What it seems like: A romantic song
- What it’s really about: A man stalking his ex-girlfriend
James Blunt told Time that he wrote “You’re Beautiful” after seeing his ex-girlfriend with another man on the Underground in London and never saw her again. “It’s about this guy who’s high as a kite stalking someone else’s girlfriend—and should be locked up and put in prison. But people think, ‘Ah, he’s a sweet romantic.’ If you think that’s what romance is, then I think you’re pretty weird,” Blunt said.

25 “Hey Ya!” – Outkast
- What it sounds like: A catchy song you can dance to
- What it’s about: Being stuck in an unhappy relationship
Andre 3000 opened up to MTV about the meaning behind their hit song “Hey Ya”, saying, “It’s about some people who stay together in relationships because of tradition because somebody told them, ‘You guys are supposed to stay together.’ But you pretty much end up being unhappy for the rest of your life.”

26 “Pumped Up Kicks” – Foster the People
- What it sounds like: An upbeat song
- What it’s about: Gun violence
Lead singer Mark Foster explained to CNN the inspiration for the song “Pumped up Kicks”, saying, “For me, that song was really an observation about something that’s happening in the youth culture these days. I guess I wanted to reveal that internal dialogue of a kid who doesn’t have anywhere to turn, and I think the song has kind of done its job. I think people are talking about it, and it’s become a point of conversation, which I think is a really healthy thing.

27 “Semi-Charmed Life” – Third Eye Blind
- What it sounds like: A happy song with a catchy hook
- What it’s about: Addiction
According to Reddit, Stephan Jenkins, the singer and songwriter, said “Semi-charmed Life” is a dark song about certain substance abuse. “The music that I wrote for it is not intended to be bright and shiny for bright and shiny’s sake. It’s intended to be what the seductiveness of speed is like, represented in music.” He added that the title “refers to a life that’s all propped up. You know, the beautiful people who lead bright and shiny lives that on the inside are all f*cked up.”.

28 “My Sharona” – The Knack
- What it sounds like: A song about getting it on
- What it’s really about: A man lusting after a girl named Sharona
The Knack wrote the song “My Sharona” when band member Doug Fieger fell in love and dated a younger girl named Sharona. Fieger once revealed, “It was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat; I fell in love with her instantly. And when that happened, it sparked something and I started writing a lot of songs feverishly in a short amount of time.”

“Hotel California” – The Eagles
- What it sounds like: A song about a freaky hotel in California
- What it’s about: American excess
Don Henley told Rolling Stone what inspired The Eagles to write “Hotel California”. “Lyrically, the song deals with traditional or classical themes of conflict; darkness and light, good and evil, youth and age, the spiritual versus the secular. I guess you could say it’s a song about the loss of innocence,” Henley added. “It’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about.”

“The One I Love ” – R.E.M.
- What it sounds like: A love song
- What it’s really about: A song about using people over and over
Lead singer Michael Stipe spoke to Q magazine about the feeling behind “The One I Love”, saying, “It’s probably better that they think it’s a love song at this point. That song just came up from somewhere and I recognized it as being really violent and awful. But it wasn’t directed at any one person. I would never write a song like that.”
Showbiz Fun Fact
1. Robert Downey Jr.
After a meteoric start to his career, he was out of the spotlight for a while, but the actor has made a strong comeback in the world of American showbiz, so much so that in 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. From 2013 to 2015, Forbes also named him to its list of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors.
2. Johnny Depp
The actor is one of the most appreciated by the public, and for good reason. No one can deny his talent as an actor; his 10 Golden Globe Awards nominations (including one he won for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), 3 Academy Awards nominations, and 2 BAFTA Film Awards nominations prove it.
3. Chris Hemsworth
Best known for his role as Thor in 8 Marvel Cinematic Universe films, the actor began his career in an Australian television series called Home and Away. His role as a superhero allowed him to be considered as one of the leading and highest-paid actors in the world.
4. Bradley Cooper
3 times nominated for the Forbes Celebrity 100, named to Times‘ list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015, and recipient of 2 Grammy Awards and a BAFTA Award, the actor has long been a fixture in Hollywood showbiz.
5. Matt Damon
According to Forbes, the actor is one of the most bankable stars due to the fact that the films he has played in have together earned more than 3.12 billion at the North American box office. That’s what we call being profitable! His talent has also earned him 5 Academy Award nominations, 3 British Academy Film Award nominations, 8 Golden Globe Award nominations, 7 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and 6 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations!
6. Will Smith
Nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards and 2 Academy Awards, and winner of 4 Grammy Awards, the actor was named “the most powerful actor in Hollywood” in 2007 by Newsweek. We can thank The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air series for propelling him in the 90s!
7. Leonardo DiCaprio
8 times among the highest-paid actors in the world in the annual ranking, this actor is also one of the most profitable in the industry. In 2019, its films have grossed worldwide 7.2 billion. Winner of 3 Golden Globe Awards, the incredible actor won only one Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award in 2016 for his role in The Revenant, despite a total of 6 nominations during his prolific career.
8. Dwayne Johnson
It can be said that the former professional wrestler and football player has made his mark in the Hollywood world, especially in terms of profitability. Indeed, his films have grossed more than 3.5 billion in North America and 10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. In 2016, he was also named the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine.
9. Tom Hanks
Winner of 2 Academy Awards, 7 Primetime Emmy Awards, 4 Golden Globe Awards, and 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Tom Hanks is one of the world’s best known and loved actors. He is even considered an American cultural icon! His films have grossed over 4.9 billion in North America and 9.96 billion worldwide, making him the fourth-highest-grossing actor in North America.
10. Jennifer Lawrence
The only woman on this list, the 30-year-old actress was the highest-paid actress in the world in 2015 and 2016. Her films have grossed over 6 billion worldwide, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013, and she was on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2014 and 2016. Her Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook made her the 2nd youngest woman in history to win this award.