Ever found yourself blissfully singing along to your favorite song, with no clue what your singing about. Well that there may be more than meets the eye with some hits. Actually, if you delve deeper into the lyrics, you may discover that some have hidden meanings. Other songs are so personal to the artist that even if we knew all the lyrics, we couldn’t hope to understand the real meaning. The airwaves are actually flooded with misunderstood songs that have been so misconstrued over the years, the original context has been lost completely. Whether the misleadingly sweet chords conceal sinister undertones, urban legends, or just wild guesses. But as soon as the song is released to the public, it can easily morph into something completely new. So let’s unravel the real meanings behind these commonly misunderstood songs.
‘The One I Love’ – R.E.M.
This commonly misunderstood song, might go down in history is one of the world’s greatest love songs. However, we hate to break it but this was never written to be a love song. In fact the band almost didn’t release the song because the lead singer Michael Stipe said they felt it was “too brutal, … really violent and awful.” Well come to think of it, the song love title is a little misleading. If you call your lover “a simple prop to occupy my time”, it doesn’t really sound like your trying to shower them with love and romantic overtures.
The One I Love R.E.M.
‘Alive’ – Pearl Jam
Most fans commonly misinterpreted the Pearl Jam 1991 anthem “Alive” as a hit about perseverance. When Eddie Vedder belted out lyrics like “Yeah, yeah I, oh, I’m still alive”, it’s easy to see why. However fans might be surprised to hear that the song is actually much deeper. Vedder once explained to Rolling Stone that the track is about the dealing with learning that his father was actually his stepfather, and that his actual biological father was dead. He explained, “He’s still dealing with love, he’s still dealing with the death of his father. All he knows is ‘I’m still alive’ … That’s totally out of burden,”
Alive Pearl Jam
