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 ...

27
Entry by Kevin King

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

26
Entry by whoiswillo

Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani is actually intended as a response to Courtney Love who insulted Stefani by calling her a cheerleader.

25

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

24
Entry by RogerRamjet

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

23
Entry by flapjacked

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

22
Entry by Scott Laffey

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

21
Entry by tusk1113

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

20
Entry by luluradebe

'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

19

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

18
Entry by tusk1113

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

17
Entry by Giovenna

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

16
Entry by Scott Laffey

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

15
Entry by gicusudoru

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

14
Entry by Kalli

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

13
Entry by Jackei Sullen

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

12
Entry by JadeCampbell

CRACKEDCON People mistake John Mellencamp's PINK HOUSES for a patriotic song about the American Dream. But it's really about POVERTY.

11
Entry by Giovenna

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

10
Entry by JPK

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

9
Entry by JPK

27 Real (Surprising) Stories Behind Huge Songs

8
Entry by mkad

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

7
Entry by Scott Laffey

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

6
Entry by Emmasi

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

5
Entry by Scott Laffey

What was Peter Gabriel singing about in SH0CK THE MOKE Animal rights? Social experimentation? Evolution? Jealousy. The monkey is metaphor for how thos

4

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

3

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

2
Entry by Scott Laffey

(lndzpzdz3@e Martina McBride's patriotic sounding staple of small town fireworks displays everywhere... Is about an abused woman burning her alcoholic

1
Entry by Scott Laffey

CRACKED.COM Courtney Love claims the hauntingly surreal lyrics of Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box were about her... Vagina. Courtney Love Cobain Follow @Co