These are the meanings behind the song lyrics from various songs of the 70s. In particular, we're looking for songs that aren't immediately obvious.

We also have pages on this topic devoted to the 80s and 90s

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• Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon"
  This is a song anbout the Welsh witch-goddess and seducer Rhiannon
  
  
• James Taylor's "I Seen Fire And I Seen Rain"
  What i interpet the song is when he sings susanna the plans they put an end to you. Sweet dreams and flying machines in peices on the ground represent when his girlfriends plane crashed. Susanna was in sweet dreams and she was in a plane and it sadly crashed.
  
  
• Steely Dan's "Everyone' Gone to the Movies"
  A song about a guy who shows dirty movies in his den on his own old movie projector to kids. Key Lines "Soon it will be to late..bobbing for apples can wait. I know you're used to 16 or more, sorry we only have 8" That last line is a reference to the size of the film, 16mm or larger would be a pro film...8mm is amateur. The song sounds happy and upbeat, but this hides the character's seedy hobby.
  
  
• Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl"
  It is a song about his love for heroin. To prove this to you I will mention a couple of facts. The word "girl" in drug culture is used for drugs that work on the brains hypothalamus region; this is the same area one feels pleasure during sexual activity. The drugs that pleasure this area are cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy. In the song he says, "slipping and a sliding" which is a description of using a needle for injection. He uses brown because heroin is normally found as a brown powder (china brown). So, before you start to make a reference to a song please research it before you put description into an artists work. -Professor Stylee
  
  
• Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne"
  This is a tough song to decipher..as are many Steely Dan Songs. Its about Stanley Owsley III, a chemist who was well-known in the San Francisco drug culture. He made millions of tablets of strong LSD in his day, and then dissapeared. Key points: "Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the Pearl..you turned it on the world..thats when you turned the world around" And..."All your low-rent friends are dead..life can be very strange...those test-tubes and the scales, just get em all out of here.....is their gas in the car? Yes, there is gas in the car. I think the people down the hall, know who you are.." Its a great lyric, although hidden..like most-all of their lyrics.
  
  
• Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight"
  *Real Meaning*, Phil and his best friend were swimming at the beach and his mate began to drown so Phil asked a man to help and he said no "Thinking it was a joke" so phil watched his best friend as a kid drown and die. So later on Phil whilst on tour tracked this guy down and sent him front row seat tickets and first class air fair ticket to his tour and limosoine and everything, then when he started singing this song he put the spot light on the guy, and started singing, a few weeks later due to all the humiliation and publicity the guy commited suicide.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire and Rain"
  ...After a little research, I find it was suicide, not cancer that killed Susan. All the more reason not to tell someone in detox or rehab.
  
  
• America's "A Horse With No Name"
  "A Horse With No Name" was a song meant to compare the similarities and the beauty of the ocean to the desert. It gives a sense of a peaceful state of mind and was written to describe the artist's passion for xenophobic landscapes (as one of the members liked to visit the area around Vandenburg Air Force Base, California). America Sang, "The ocean is a desert with its life underground and a perfect disguise above", to explain that the ocean was much like a desert in the sense that both are barren, exposed to the sun, and uninhibited by (drinkable) water. The artist explicitly describes what he had seen on his “journey”, to convey the idea of wide open peacefulness, “A sky with no clouds.”
  
  
• the Doors's "People Are Strange"
  About a bad LSD trip. "Faces look ugly when you're alone Women seem wicked when you're unwanted Streets are uneven when you're down When you're strange Faces come out of the rain When you're strange No one remembers your name" no doubt about that
  
  
• Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Craddle"
  According to Harry himself, his wife Sandy Chapin wrote the lyrics for Cat?s In The Cradle, while she was pregnant with their first child as a warning to Harry not to miss his child growing up.
  
  
• Bad Company's "Shooting Star"
  According to the lead singer, Paul Rodgers, the song is a story, and it's almost a warning. He wrote the song about the casulaties of making it in the music business and then dying of a drug overdose. At time he wrote it, he had Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin in mind along with other "superstars" that didn't make it.
  
  
• America's "Horse With No Name"
  Actually this song is about using heroin. In the 70's this song was banned from many radio stations because "horse" is a street name for heroin. If you listen to the lyrics in the chorus they say "In the desert you can remember your name. 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain." Not only does heroin cause severe memory loss but it is also used as a pain killer. I think this is proof enough of what this song really means.
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Actually, the most accepted theory is that Hotel California talks about "high life" in So. California during the time the song was written. It talks about a being trapped in the high life, and having to deal with many obsessions - especially drugs. Many of the lines mentioned in the other review of this song present on this site are a direct reference to drugs: "We are all prisoners here of our own device" - you choose to live the high life, and then are stuck to them; "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" - as an artist, you can always step away from the spotlight, but you'll always be stuck to it somehow; "this could be heaven or this could be hell" - once more, a reference to the high life, and also to the high during a drug run, and the low afterwards; "And in the master's chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can't kill the beast" - a reference to buying drugs for someone, doing the drugs, and still wanting more."
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Actually...after talking to members of the band...the song is about a gang in california...the line "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave" symbolises the fact that once your in...your in for life.. the girl mentioned in the story is like a metaphor for the gang itself... anyway... thats all
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  After listening to the song, the first time around, I thought it was about the heavy drug use in the 70's. But after READING the lyrics myself, I gathered it was about the Satanic Church. PLEASE, correct me if I am wrong, somebody out there. Creeped me out!
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  After see faust(a theatrical play), I now believe that Bohiemian Rhapsody is about the lives of faust,the band's lead singer. The play faust is about a man who sold his soul to the devil in return for fame. after some time the devil comes to take faust's soul(which is why at the end of bohemian rhapsody you hear him saying "will you let me go". also, i've heard that the lead singer was diagnosed with HIV. This is pure speculation, but maybe he had a sexual relationship with someone and transmtited the diease.That would explain why he say's " momma I just killed a man". which doesn't imply he's a homosexual(artistic license) but who knows? maybe...
  
  
• Rush's "The Trees"
  Agree with most previous posts but being a big Rush fan in england in 1977 remember geddy lee (lead singer) getting grief off Radio Tees DJ Alistair Pirrie about it all being about British Colonialism as in oaks traditional english tree and maples guess. Geddy had clearly got a lot of grief over this from lots of other sources and said okay it was but since they were touring it wasn't a good time to get into the discussion
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  All that is said is very interesting about the satanists and drugs but, I read where the Eagle's themselves said that the song lyrics are a tribute to their good friend Jackson Browns wife Phyllis who committed suicide as they were composing the songs for the album. That lends so much to the line "you can checkout anytime you like, but you can never leave."
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  Alright..enough with about how this song is just about syd barret...only half of the song probley not even half is about syd...i believe that this song is talking about roger waters X-wife...hence the line..."were just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year..running over the same old ground, but have we found the same old fears? wish you were here!" that is talking about his X-wife and how he wisshed things would have gone better and every year thungs are the same and same..and same old fears are fears of loosing one another...this is not about syd barret...its about roger waters X-Wife...but then again..some parts do talk about syd..but not in the lyrics such as when the song starts on the am radio and some1 plays along that represents the distance he has with other ppl...such as his x-wife and syd...its all simple just think
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  Also a tribute to Syd Barrett. It was a message to their former bandmate that they wished he was still a member of the band.
  
  
• Boom Town Rats's "I Don't Like Mondays"
  Also the girl who shot the people was asked in court why she did it and she replied "I don't like Mondays" or something along that lines!!
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Althoguh many would argue that this is about the bands addictions, jail time, etc etc. i think that this song is a lot of what it means to you. In a way i like to think that Hotel California is simply a tribute to the bands love for California, all the members moved from somwhere else to go to California; so perhaps its just a song about home; the line "you can check out any time you'd like...but you can never leave" doesnt have to mean an addiction, what if its just that once the love of a place, or person is in you, you can break up, or leave the place, but it will never really leave you; interpret this as you will... songs werent meant for 1 person only
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Although I think many of you have hit upon some very interesting ideas about the lyrics here (and justifiable ones at that -- especially the "in limbo" entries, as that is my 2nd choice regarding the meaning), nobody as yet has suggested that the song is about an alien abduction (yes, I believe in UFOs). [* Note well - the aliens' UFO/planet/people have apparently recreated the look of earth and earthlings to gain confidence and complicity by the abductees.] Here are arguments regarding my theory. 1) First off, the very opening lines certainly point to an abduction -- "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair; Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering light -- My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim; I had to stop for the night." Dissecting these lines, we find the following: 2) 'On a dark desert highway' = aliens nearly always take and perform their experiments at night, and pick remote areas to do so. 3) 'UP' (ahead...) suggests he saw something 'ABOVE' another thing (his car)-- i.e., in this case, the "something" being the spacecraft. 4) smell of colitas = some abductees report a strange odor emanating from the aliens or in the craft itself (possibly a formaldehyde-like substance??). 5) 'I saw a shimmering light' = well, we all know by now that them thar extraterrestrials like to flash their lights when flying/landing. 6) '...head grew heavy...sight grew dim...' = a hypnotic trance that aliens subject humans to, so that they do not resist abduction. Now on to the rest of the song - the alien mentions are more implicit than explicit, yet there are still clues: 7) 'There she stood in the doorway...this could be Heaven or this could be Hell...And she showed me the way; There were voices down the corridor - I thought I heard them say Welcome ...such a lovely place.' = The 'she' in the lines above can be looked upon as the (remember, in human guise) leader of the abductees in their doomed exile, like the farmer leading lambs to the slaughter (illustrated in the fact that "you can never leave"). 8) The extraterrestrial's realm will soon take control now, as the humans are brainwashed, repeating, like a mantra: Such a lovely place, Such a lovely face. 9) 'And still those voices are calling from far away; Wake you up in the middle of the night' = as in a dream /abductions occur at night and many victims say they thought it was only a nightmare. 10) This next segment, '...her mind is... (through)...Some dance to forget’ = is the narrator being lead on/enticed by the woman at the doorway, to comfort him before any predictably sinister goings on befall him. 11) 'bring your alibis' = hard to come by any witnesses to abductions – since there were nine for the narrator, despair may be setting in. 12)'Welcome to the Hotel California...Were all just prisoners here' = welcome to a prison-like existence where there is no leaving. 13) 'They gathered for the feast; they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast. Last thing I remember I was running for the door' = These lines are highly indicative of alien experiments, and this newcomer (not yet brainwashed) is still desperate to survive --> the beast /and/ to leave --> running for the door. 14) 'We are programmed to receive' = 'programmed' suggests something non-human. Hence, an alien. "You can check out any time you like But you can never leave." = 'Check out' represents a mental suppression of the abduction, yet the abductee's memory will 'never leave.' ~~~ Well folks, that's my interpretation (with limbo as close runner-up.) ~~ AJH, Aug. 2006
  
  
• Rush's "The Trees"
  Although i do agree with the other posts in the means that this song deals with oppression, i disagree with the other posters implied meanings of this song. First, a reasonable conclusion can be that it is obvious this song deals with oppresion "as the maple's scream Oppresion" (regarding the oak's natural stature.) But before immediatly jumping to the idea that all oppresion is bad you need to consider the fact that the forest represents nature, therefore the "oppresion" is a natural oppresion. Listening to other rush songs one can cleary identify that Peart is heavily influenced by the transcendental romantic era of literature. One of the main belifs of this era was the sence that nature was an "all pervading goodness", and society was corrupt. therefore because this oppresion is a natural oppresion, it must be good. Enter the hatchets, axes, and saws. Givin the fact that Niel has brought the "human Society element" to the inanimate forrest suggests that the forrest has been pervaded, making this whole song a pervasion, aka sarcastic. when the Maples formed a union and enforced it's "rules" upon the oaks it does so in a harmful way, attacking the oaks Natural presence. this i belive to be an attack on the Canadian Socialist movement (symbolized be the maple tree[canadian national symbol] which although it has a noble intent=equality, the means it uses to get there are corrupt=destroying others natural rights). In the end the lyrics alone are only half the song, one must truly listen to the tone in which it is presented to pick up the intent of the song.
  
  
• Beatles's "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
  Although it is obvious that this song (along with a majority of Beatles songs)is about a hallucinagenic, it was not LSD, but rather Angel Dust. Dust being the Diamonds (as stars look scattered across the sky). In the 70's when you took this drug, you believed you could fly. Several deaths were caused by trying.
  
  
• Yes's "South Side Of The Sky"
  Although it's rather ambiguous, it appears as though this song is about the Chapter from Fellowship of the Ring called The Ring Goes South from The Lord of the Rings. The fellowship is faced with a huge storm in the mountains and proctiaclly freeze to death. "Move forward, was my friends only cry, in deeper, to somewhere we could lie..." You really have to read the chapter and listen to the song. VERY close fit.
  
  
• Elton John's "Daniel"
  Although the lyrics suggest the song is about the singer's younger brother flying off to Spain (Europe), they are actually about a real life U.S. marine called Daniel, who was injjured by a landmine in Vietnam. He was left wheelchair bound and blind. The military of the day used him for PR perposes, "A BRAVE AMERICAN, WHO GAVE FOR HIS COUNTRY", sort of thing. Television pictures showed Daniel receiving a medal in Washington, waving goodbye before boarding an aeroplane bouned for Spain (Texas). (Note: to the site creater, I was trying to find out Daniel's full name when I happened upon your web page. Should you ever find out who he is I'd appreciate if you'd let me know.)
  
  
• Don McLean's "American Pie"
  American Pie By Don McLean (BTW - the person who said t was about the JFK assassination... the ONLY part of the song that McLean will decipher is that theopening is about Buddy Holly and the plane crash.) A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while. 1 But February made me shiver With every paper I delivered, Bad news on the door step, I couldn't take one more step, 2 I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride 3 But something touched me deep inside, The day, the music, died. 4 So... Refrain: Bye, bye Miss American Pie 5 Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry 6 Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye 7 Singin this will be the day that I die. This will be the day that I die. 8 Did you write the book of love 9 And do you have faith in God above, If the bible tells you so. 10 And do you believe in rock 'n' roll? Can music save your mortal soul? 11 And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well I know that you're in love with him Cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym. 12 You both kicked off your shoes 13 And I dig those rhythm and blues. 14 I was a lonely teenage bronkin' buck With a pink carnation and a pick up truck 15 But I knew I was out of luck, The day, the music, died. I started singin... Refrain Now for ten years we've been on our own 16 And moss grows fat on a rollin stone 17 But that's not how it used to be, When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean 18 And a voice that came from you and me. 19 Oh and while the king was looking down, The jester stole his thorny crown 20 The courtroom was adjourned; No verdict was returned. 21 And while Lennon read a book on Marx, 22 The quartet practiced in the park 23 And we sang dirges in the dark, 24 The day, the music, died. We were singin'... Refrain Helter Skelter in a summer swelter 25 The birds flew off with a fallout shelter, Eight miles high and fallin' fast. 26 It landed foul on the grass. 27 The players tried for a forward pass 28 With the jester on the sidelines in a cast. 29 Now the half-time air was sweet perfume 30 While the sergeants played a marching tune. 31 We all got up to dance Oh but we never got the chance. 32 As the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield. Do you recall what was revealed, 33 the day, the music, died? We started singin'... Refrain Oh and there we were all in one place, 34 A generation lost in space With no time left to start again. 35 So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. 36 Jack Flash sat on a candle stick 37 Because fire is the devils only friend.38 Oh and as I watched him on the stage, My hands were clinched in fists of rage, No angel born in hell Could break that Satan's spell. 39 And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight,40 The day, the music, died. He was singin'... Refrain I met a girl who sang the blues 41 And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away. 42 I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn't play. 43 And in the streets the children screamed, 44 The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed. 45 But not a word was spoken, The church bells all were broken. 46 And the three men I admire most, The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, 47 They caught the last train for the coast, 48 The day, the music, died. And they were singin'... Refrain They were singin'... Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye Singin' this will be the day that I die. Go to Jerry's Jukebox ________________________________________ Possible Interpretation of Lyrics The following represents a combination of some of the more popular interpretations of the meaning of the "American Pie" lyrics. McClean has remained silent on the meaning, except to say that the song was dedicated to Buddy Holly and that his death is referenced in the first verse. He has left it up to others to figure out what he really meant. 1. The song is about the history of rock and roll music and how it changed after Buddy Holly's death. It is also, however, about McLean's growing up, and his love of the pure rock and roll of the '50s. McLean was a musician. He wanted to make people dance. Most 50's music was meant for dancing and in general upbeat and happy, in contrast to 60's music. Back to Verse 2. McLean was a paperboy on February 3, 1959 when Buddy Holly's plane crashed. He was devastated by the news, since Holly was his idol. Back to Verse 3. Holly's recent bride was pregnant when the crash took place; she had a miscarriage shortly afterward. Back to Verse 4. The same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly also took the lives of Ritchie Valens ("La Bamba") and The Big Bopper ("Chantilly Lace"). Since all three were so prominent at the time, February 3, 1959 became known as "The Day The Music Died." Back to Verse 5. Goodbye to the music of America, the Rock 'n' Roll and dance music of the '50s. It's interesting how McLean has feminized 50's rock music here, the fact that it's a virgin (Miss) form of music that's as American as apple pie. Back to Verse 6. Chevy represents America. The Levee is the bar where McLean and his friends hung out in his hometown of New Rochelle, NY. It closed down. Back to Verse 7. This line is a play on words. Rye is a city in New York near where McLean grew up. When the Levee closed, the "good ol' boys," McLean and his friends, fled to drink in Rye where together they mourned the deaths of the trio. Back to Verse 8. One of Holly's hits was "That'll be the Day"; the chorus contains the line, "That'll be the Day that I Die." Back to Verse 9. "The Book of Love" by the Monotones; hit in 1958. Back to Verse 10. In 1955, Don Cornell did a song entitled "The Bible Tells Me So." This line could also refer to the sense of disparity that maybe God let us down after the assassination of John Kennedy and the general disillusionment of the early '60s. It is also likely that these lines are meant to garnish rock 'n' roll with religious imagery, because most of the early musicians, including Holly, got their start in church choirs or by singing hymns. An old children's hymn called "Jesus Loves Me" has the line "the Bible tells me so" in the lyrics. Back to Verse 11. This is a lament of the decline of the dance music of the '50s. It might also be a reference to The Lovin' Spoonful's hit in 1965 with John Sebastian's "Do You Believe in Magic?" Or, McLean might be questioning the integrity of music and its worth after the plane crash Back to Verse 12. Dancing slow was an important part of early rock and roll dance events -- but declined in importance through the 60's as things like psychedelia and the 10-minute guitar solo gained prominence. Back then, dancing was an expression of love, and carried a connotation of commitment. Dance partners were not so readily exchanged as they would be later. Allegorically, the "him" is probably all the young, handsome teen idols that were common in the late '50s and early '60s. The "you" represents all the teenage girls who swooned over those idols. Back to Verse 13. A reference to a "sock hop," generally held in gymnasiums. Back to Verse 14. McLean is letting us know he prefers the R&B music of the '50's to the sock hop music. Back to Verse 15. "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)," was a hit for Marty Robbins in 1957. McLean was lonely because his music was out of style. Back to Verse 16. It was roughly 10 years after the death of Buddy Holly that McLean started writing "American Pie." Back to Verse 17. The "rolling stone" is a reference to Bob Dylan, since "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) was his first major hit; he was busy writing songs extolling the virtues of simple love, family and contentment while staying at home and raking in the royalties. It also is a reference to The Rolling Stones, and a symbolic reversal of the aphorism, "A rolling stone gathers no moss." To McLean, the music of the '60s was gathering moss--growing stale. "That's not how it used to be" refers to the early days of Dylan. Back to Verse 18. The jester is Bob Dylan. The king could refer to Elvis. The Queen is probably the Queen of England, whom Dylan performed for. In the movie "Rebel Without a Cause", James Dean has a red windbreaker that holds symbolic meaning throughout the film. In one particularly intense scene, Dean lends his coat to a guy who is shot and killed; Dean's father arrives, sees the coat on the dead man, thinks it's Dean, and loses it. On the cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", Dylan is wearing just such as red windbreaker, and is posed in a street scene similar to one shown in a well-known picture of James Dean. Bob Dylan played a command performance for the Queen and Prince Consort of England. He was not properly attired, so perhaps this is a reference to his apparel. Back to Verse 19. A reference to Dylan's style of music, folk music, from the people (you and me). Back to Verse 20. This could be a reference to Elvis's decline and Dylan's ascendance. (i.e. Presley is looking down from a height as Dylan takes his place.) The thorny crown might be a reference to the price of fame, or another religious metaphor. Back to Verse 21. This could be the trial of the Chicago Seven. It could also refer to the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, which really had no "verdict," and is still open to speculation. Most likely, it is a reference to the fact that there really is no true "king" of rock 'n' roll during this period. For even though Dylan has grabbed (stolen) the mantle of rock's spokesman, the verdict is still out. Back to Verse 22. This is a play on words. Literally, John Lennon reading about Karl Marx; figuratively, the introduction of radical politics into the music of the Beatles. Both Lennon and Lenin (Soviet dictator) believed in Marxist philosophy. Back to Verse 23. Allegorically, this line probably refers to the time when the Beatles were still playing in England and Europe. They were still "practicing" because they had not come to America yet. Back to Verse 24. A "dirge" is a funeral or mourning song, so perhaps this is meant literally, mourning the death of Holly or his music...or, perhaps, this is a reference to some of the new "art rock" groups which played long pieces not meant for dancing. It's likely just a reference to McLean's unhappiness with the way music was going. Back to Verse 25. "Helter Skelter" is a Beatles song which appears on the "White Album." Charles Manson, claiming to have been "inspired" by the song led his followers in the Tate-LaBianca murders. The "summer swelter" might be a reference to the "Summer of Love" or perhaps to the "long hot summer" of Watts. Back to Verse 26. The Byrd's "Eight Miles High" was on their late 1966 release "Fifth Dimension". It was one of the first records to be widely banned because of supposedly drug-oriented lyrics. Back to Verse 27. One of the Byrds was busted for possession of marijuana. Back to Verse 28. The football metaphor could be the Rolling Stones, i.e. they were waiting for an opening which really didn't happen until the Beatles broke up. Or it could refer to attempts of other musicians to come into the limelight while Dylan was laid up. Back to Verse 29. On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his Triumph 55 motorcycle while riding near his home in Woodstock, New York. He spent nine months in seclusion while recuperating from the accident. Back to Verse 30. Drugs, or the hidden messages about drugs in some of the songs of the mid-'60s (half-time in the decade). Back to Verse 31. A clear reference to Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles 1967 album that changed rock 'n' roll forever. It was the first theme album, the first to put lyrics on the cover, the first to use synthetic sounds. It had no hit singles, another new concept in album production. It had purported hidden messages, mostly drug messages, allegedly, in songs like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (LSD). McLean liked it (sweet perfume). Back to Verse 32. All the youth got into this album. They didn't get the chance to dance because the Beatles had now pushed rock music away from its dance roots. They used orchestras. They wrote long, slow songs with ponderous rhythms. Or it could also refer to the fact that the Beatles' 1966 Candlestick Park concert lasted only 35 minutes. Back to Verse 33. No one could compete against the Beatles. Some folks think this refers to either the 1968 Democratic Convention or Kent State. What was "revealed" was the dark underlying messages of rock music: the Marxism that was alluded to in the previous verse, the avocation of drug use, the overly self-obsessed quality of the lyrics. Back to Verse 34. The "place" was Woodstock. Back to Verse 35. Perhaps this is a reference to "hippies", who were sometimes known as the "lost generation", partially because of their particularly acute alienation from their parents, and partially because of their presumed preoccupation with drugs. It could also be a reference to the '60s TV show, "Lost in Space," whose title was sometimes used as a synonym for someone who was rather high. Perhaps, their preference for psychedelia had pushed rock and roll so far from Holly's music that it couldn't be retrieved. Back to Verse 36. Probably a reference to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones; "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was released in May, 1968. Back to Verse 37. The Stones' Candlestick park concert? Candlestick Park was also the venue for the Beatles' final performance--the end of the rock 'n' roll era. Back to Verse 38. It's possible that this is a reference to the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil". Back to Verse 39. While playing a concert at the Altamont Speedway in 1968, the Stones appointed members of the Hell's Angels to work security (on the advice of the Grateful Dead). In the darkness near the front of the stage, a young man named Meredith Hunter was beaten and stabbed to death -- by the Angels. Public outcry that the song "Sympathy for the Devil" had somehow incited the violence caused the Stones to drop the song from their show for the next six years. This incident is chronicled in the documentary film "Gimme Shelter". It's also possible that McLean views the Stones as being negatively inspired (remember, he had an extensive religious background) by virtue of "Sympathy for the Devil", "Their Satanic Majesties' Request" and so on. Back to Verse 40. This could be a reference to Jimi Hendrix burning his Stratocaster at the Monterey Pop Festival, or simply the bonfires that were lit at the outside concerts. It could be a reference to Jagger dancing and prancing while the murder was happening. Mick Jagger is Satan, the murder provided the sacrifice. Back to Verse 41. Janis Joplin Back to Verse 42. Janis died of an accidental heroin overdose on October 4, 1970. Back to Verse 43. The "sacred store" might be Bill Graham's Fillmore East, one of the great rock and roll venues of all time. Alternatively, this refers to record stores, and their longtime (then discontinued) practice of allowing customers to preview records in the store. It could also refer to record stores as "sacred" because this is where one goes to get "saved". (See above lyric "Can music save your mortal soul?") The music "wouldn't play" means that nobody is interested in hearing Buddy Holly et.al.'s music anymore. Or, as above, the discontinuation of the in-store listening boot
  
  
• Rolling Stones's "Angie"
  Angie was the wife of David Bowie, with whom Mick Jagger was having an affair...well, I think affairs with Bowie AND the wife.
  
  
• Cher's "Dark Lady"
  Another 'somebody done somebody wrong song' featuring a newlywed couple who goes to see a mysterious gypsy fortune teller. When the "dark lady" predicts stormy weather for their marriage, the married woman (Cher) becomes suspicious. She discovers her husband and the gypsy woman in bed together. As soon as the man dumps his wife, she buys a guns and kills both the cheating husband and the gypsy lover. At the end, the murderess carries no remorse.
  
  
• Jackson Browne's "Rosie"
  Another great song about masturbation, it describes the band's sound mixer falling in love with a girl he meets at a concert. But the girl ditches him for the drummer, and the unhappy sound mixer goes home alone. But he still has Rosie (Rosie Palm, that is.) "But Rosie, you're alright, you wear my ring. When you hold me tight, Rosie that's my thing. When you turn out the light, I got to hand it to me. Looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie."
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  Appearing simple at the first glance (a song about a boy who kills a man, the emotional pain that he endures as he faces the consequences, following the operatic section where his fate appears to be decided, and finally the rebelliousness against his fate, before resigning himself to it), Bohemian Rhapsody is a painstrucking, emotional (and very likely an autobiographical) song about searching for identity and being misunderstood as an artist or not accepted as a human being with personal, seemingly unconventional views on life - hence the title 'Bohemian' Rhapsody, as the primary meaning of 'bohemian' is 'artist' - both in literal and metaphorical sense. Bohemian Rhapsody sweeps form sweetly harmonised confusion through melodramatic upheavals as fleeing death, horror, persecution, betrayal, to a final acceptance of all doubts and fears, resigned but sorted. Mercury made the song capable of thousands of interpretations and thus universal. Daria Kokozej www.mercury-and-queen.com
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Are you guys smoking something? Hotel California was written with PARTICULAR emphasis with herion and cocaine in mind.... (silver spoon anyone). The fact that your dad thinks that Hotel California is about a love story.....dear god people
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  As Dylan says, the song meaning comes only from how the listener/reader sees it. Personally, I believe it's talking about the higher in society that a person gets, the harder they fall. Also, it's about our general human characteristic of looking down on others who we consider below us, and how quickly we can find ourselves to be just like them.
  
  
• Steely Dan's's "'Kid Charlemagne'"
  As I understand it, the "gas in the car" lyric is related to the "LA on a dare and you go it alone" lyric in the sense that they both refer to car travels outside of San Francisco to sell LSD in LA. On one such occasion, Owsley is rumored to have run out of gas while in pursuit by the law. Similarly, the "people down the hall know who you are" refers to neighbors who have figured out that their neighbor is the acid kingpin publicly known as Kid Chalemagne. I won't ruin it for you as the rest of the puzzle should fall into place nicely now.
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
  As a DEVOTED Simon and Garfunkel fan I must right your wrong and tell you what the REAL meaning behind the "silvergirl" lyric is! I've seen countless interviews w/Paul Simon and he explains it as follows: "My girlfriend at the time was particularly saddened upon finding a few grey hairs in her brush, lamenting that she was getting older. I wrote that lyric as a tribute and inside joke to her. I don't know how the heroin connection rumor got started. The song is basically about friendship." Also, Mother and Child Reunion-the title was taken from a dish Paul Simon had in chinese restaraunt of chicken and eggs (Mother and Child Reunion.) And the song of "I can't for the life of me remember a sadder day." was inspired by the death of his dog.
  
  
• Abba's "Dancing Queen"
  As a little sister of a HUGE Abba Fan & a Swede herself, I have to add that Abba's "Dancing Queen" was also performed by Abba to the King of Sweden and his new bride, Queen Sylvia. I believe it was played at their wedding reception, but I'm not 100% certain; but anyway I think the song has a double meaning - for the groovy 70s chick, and also for the royal couple.
  
  
• John Lennon's "Imagine"
  As a person with a PhD in music history I just wanted to point out that I really enjoyed the communist idea in the lyrics. If you think the song is simply approaching the idea of imagination than you are only generating obvious and simple observations but approaching through an interpretation such as communism reveals a great deal of discussion as well as in depth knowledge of the cultural and political issues arising in the time period!
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  As the title cut from the album, "Wish You Were Here" sets the tone for the entire album. As tensions were running high between members Roger Watters and David Gilmour, both members felt the entire album was missing something. This fact is illustrated by the various album covers, each which left out one the elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Because of all the in-fighting, Watters has been known to remark that the name of both the song and album could have been "Wish We Were Here". So, what is the missing element depicted in the song? Many say the missing ingredient is the actual founder of Pink Floyd Syd Barrett. The point is made even clearer on others cuts off the album such as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", parts one and two.
  
  
• Jimi Hendrix Experience's "The Wind Cries Mary"
  At the time Jimi wrote the song he had had a huge fight with his girlfriend. When it says "Somewhere a queen is weeping, somehwere a king has no wife." he means his girlfriend is crying and he is loveless. Also, he talkes about clownes and jack-in- the boxes that have gone away, which means there is no more happiness.
  
  
• The Eagles's "Doolin Dalton"
  Bill Dalton was a train robber in the 1880's Along with his gang of brothers; Bill, Bob, and Emmett. When the song quotes "Two brothers lying dead in coffeeville" its talking about the time in 1884 when the dalton gang robbed the condon bank in their hometown of coffyville and the law men were waiting for them as they walked out. Bob, and Emmit Dalton were killed, but Bill escaped to later on join the doolin gang hjints Doolin' Dalton.
  
  
• Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"
  Billie Jean is a very disputed song. The true meaning of the lyrics are best told by Jackson himself, from an interview for VH1 a while back. The question was, "Does the real Billie Jean know about the song and if she did what was her reaction?" and Jackson replied, "There is a girl named Billie Jean, but it's not about that Billie Jean. Billie Jean is kinda anonymous. It represents a lot of girls who used to - they used to call them groupies in the '60s - they would hang around backstage doors and any band that would come to town they would have a relationship with. And I think I wrote this out of experience with my brothers when I was little. There were a lot of Billie Jeans out there. Every girl claimed that their son was related to my brothers."
  
  
• Kiss's "Black Diamond"
  Black diamond was actually written by Paul Stanley,the lead singer. It was inspired by The Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar, which is a song about and african american prostitute. so Paul stanley wanted to write his own version. ps. Angus young was not a member of kiss, he is the AC/DC's lead guitarrist, "jailbreak" is also a acdc album, and a Thin Lizzy's as well.
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  Bohemian Rhapsody is about a boy (most likely a teenager) who shoots a man in the head. The boy is sentenced to death. While he's on death row, he wishes that he was never born. He begs his mother to try and get him out ("Mama mia mama mia let me go"). There's also apparently other people who want him released as well, but there are others who want him dead ("Let him go, Don't let him go, Let him go, Don't let him go"). The word "Bismillah" appears before the aforementioned lines. In fact, it appears a few more times shortly after that. Bismillah is used in Islamic prayer. Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim means "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful". Bismillah appears at the beginning of every chapter of the Holy Qur'an (excluding the ninth chapter). This would all suggest that religion has something to do with the decision to let the boy live or not. On that same subject, the boy feels that he's going to Hell when he dies ("Beezlebub has a devil put aside for me") Eventually, it appears that the boy is to be executed anyway. He feels his mother has betrayed him by not getting him out ("So you think you can love me and leave me to die?") In the end, the boy feels that it doesn't matter anymore. He has apparently excepted his coming death.
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  Bohemian Rhapsody is an extremely well written, and beautifully composed song which is NOT about AIDS for two reasons: number one- because as someone already stated BoRhap was released in '75 and AIDS didn't gain it's notorioty until '81 and number two- Freddie, if he had contracted the disease prior, or during the develpoment of this song, would most likely not have known about the disease. and the biggest point i want to make is the fact that Freddie (RIP) specifically told virtually anyone who asked that the song had no "hidden meaning" or "underlying message" or "story behind it". so honestly, anyone can say it's about whatever they want, but the real truth is that no one in this world knows or ever will know if it does in fact have a "hidden meaning". if anything, we should just simply take Freddie's word and stop trying to "interpret" it and just enjoy it. that's what it's there for, enjoyment.
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  Bohemian Rhapsody was written, recorded, and released in the mid 70s, well before AIDS spread beyond Africa so it's not about anybody infecting somebody. I've read that Freddy Mercury simply wanted to write an operatic rock song, and that a lot of the references (such as Visballah, or however it's spelled) are just allusions to literature.
  
  
• Van Morrison's "Brown-eyed Girl"
  Brown-eyed girl was orginally titled Brown-skinned Girl. V.M. had to change it due to institutional racism.
  
  
• Don McLean's "American Pie"
  Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, The Byrds, The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.... that's all you need to know. Funny that a song that celebrates the music of the 50s and pretty much disses the 60s and 70s makes so many "best of the seventies" lists.
  
  
• America's "Horse With No Name"
  C'mon guys, the song doesn't even begin to describe doing heroin. Sometimes it's just better if you take the song at face value. Listen to the music, and the lyrics and if that doesn't describe a very human reaction to austerity that both the desert and the ocean represent to the human psyche, then what is it?
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  The California Rehabilitation Colony (CRC) in Norco originally was a luxury hotel that was converted to a military base in WWII. After the war it was acquired as California's narcotics rehabilitation prison. Addicts can check in voluntarily, but discharge is determined by their progress. Blind spots are monitored by mirrors on the ceilings. The guard captain prevents prison-brewed wine 'pruno' from being used. Many, many other parallels in the lyrics.
  
  
• Billy Joel's "Captain Jack"
  Captain jack was slang for heroin. "just a little PUSH and you'll be smiling" its obvious
  
  
• Carly Simon's "You're So Vain"
  Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" has been one of the most mysterious songs of the 70's. To date, Carly has never revealed the identity of the vainee. The names that have been tossed around are, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, Kris Kristofferson and of coarse former husband James Taylor. In a 1973 interview with "Rolling Stone", Simon said the song was definitely not about James Taylor. Carly has always voided the idea that "You're So Vain" was written about a specific person. Carly said that she had about three or four people in mind, and specifically thought about a couple of people when she wrote it, but the examples of what they did was a fantasy trip. Will we ever know who "You're So Vain" was writtn about?
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  Claim: The lyrics of "Fire and Rain" chronicle James Taylor's reaction to the death of his girlfriend in a plane crash. Status: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000] The real story behind 'Fire and Rain,' as I understand it, is that some friends of James were going to surprise James by bringing his girlfriend, Suzanne, to one of his concerts -- unbeknownst to James. According to the story, Suzanne's plane crashed ('sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground') on her way to see the concert and Suzanne dies ('Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you'). Origins: Gentle, plaintive, and compelling, "Fire and Rain" was the hit that launched the career of James Taylor, one of the 1970's premier singer-songwriters. The song's mournful lyrics of loss and redemption were enigmatic, and many listeners tried to make sense of the words by reading literal meaning into them. Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you. I walked out this mornin', and I wrote down this song; I just can't remember who to send it to. I've seen fire, and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, But I always thought that I'd see you again. Won't you look down upon me Jesus? You gotta help me make a stand. You just got to see me through another day. My body's achin', and my time is at hand. I won't make it any other way. [repeat chorus] Been walkin' my mind to an easy time, My back turned towards the sun. Lord knows when the cold wind blows, it'll turn your head around. Well there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things to come: Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground. [repeat chorus] Taylor's audience collectively developed an autobiographical story line for his "Fire and Rain" lyrics: Suzanne, the girl who was now "gone," had been Taylor's girlfriend. They were frequently separated as he travelled on tour, but they kept in close touch, spending "hours of time on the telephone line" and talking about the good "things to come" when Taylor finally established himself as a musician. Seeing how disconsolate Taylor was at being away from his love, his friends arranged for Suzanne to fly out to meet him at his next tour stop. Suzanne joyfully accepted, but the flight carrying her to a reunion with her beloved crashed, and she was killed. Both the "flying machine" and Taylor's "sweet dreams" were now "in pieces on the ground," and he had lost the woman he "always thought" he'd "see again." Although James Taylor's song is indeed autobiographical, it doesn't match the heart-wrenching story line of popular legend. By the time "Fire and Rain" established Taylor as an international pop star at the tender age of twenty-two, he'd experienced plenty of psychological and physical pain upon which he could draw in crafting his lyrics. He already had a long history of depression and substance abuse for which he'd been hospitalized twice (his first hospital experience was the basis of the song 'Knockin' Around the Zoo' on his Apple debut album), and he'd also spent several months recuperating from a near-fatal motorcycle accident. All of this was fodder for his songwriting, as he explained in a 1972 interview with Rolling Stone: "Fire and Rain" has three verses. The first verse is about my reactions to the death of a friend. The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back, and there Jesus is an expression of my desperation in trying to get through the time when my body was aching and the time was at hand when I had to do it . . . And the third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austin Riggs which lasted about five months. Taylor hasn't spoken publicly about the identity of or the nature of his relationship with the 'Suzanne' referred to in the first verse of the song. In his recent James Taylor biography, Ian Halperin writes: Privately, however, Taylor has admitted to friends that Suzanne was a girl he met when he was in the Austin Riggs mental hospital. They became close friends because they shared many interests and goals . . . He was deeply saddened when he found out Suzanne committed suicide several months after he left the hospital. At first, Taylor didn't find out about Suzanne's death for several weeks, because his friends were afraid that that if they told him he might do a lot of drugs or something drastic to escape the reality of his friend's death. So they waited until he was finished recording before to break the news to him. Even if Taylor's friends are right about how Taylor met 'Suzanne,' they're still wrong about when he met her. Taylor entered Austin Riggs psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a few months after his October 1968 return to the United States from England, where he had recorded his debut album for the Beatles' Apple lable. Yet the liner notes from the CD re-issue of that album indicate that among the unreleased tracks recorded by Taylor was an early version of "Fire and Rain," which means the song clearly antedates his stay at Austin Riggs. If 'Suzanne' was an acquaintance from one of Taylor's hospital stays, it had to have been from his 1965 stay at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, when he was seventeen. The mention of the "flying machines in pieces on the ground" is not about an airplane crash; it's an allusion to a group called The Flying Machine that Taylor had formed with his friend Danny Kortchmar. The group disbanded in 1967 when Taylor's drug problems led him to leave New York and return to his parents' home in North Carolina. Last updated: 17 December 2000 The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/firerain.htm Please use this URL in all links or references to this page Click here to e-mail this page to a friend Urban Legends Reference Pages ? 1995-2000 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sources: Halperin, Ian. Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Story. New York: Citadel Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55972-533-8 (pp. 93-97). Werbin, Stuart. "The Rolling Stone Interview: James Taylor and Carly Simon." Rolling Stone. 4 January 1973. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  
• Phil Collins 's "In the Air Tonight"
  Collins saw a man drowning yet was too far away to do anything, but the man closest, could have saved but didn't do anything. Phil was outraged at the fact the man was not even making an attemp to help his friend who was struggling. "I was there and I saw what you did saw it with my own two eyes"
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb"
  "Comfortably Numb" tells a part of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. Pink, feeling completely isolated from society, cannot stand the pressures of life as a rock star and collapses in his hotel room before leaving for his concert. A doctor is sent into the room and gives Pink an injection that gives him the energy he needs to perform. The lyrics are written as a conversation, with Waters voicing the doctor and Gilmour voicing Pink.
  
  
• The Undertones's "Teenage Kicks"
  Correction to the previous post. The lyric is actually "I wanna hold HER, wanna hold HER tight..". It's not about masturbation, but simply about being a teen and not having the guts to ask a girl out you really wanna be with.
  
  
• ABBA's "Dancing Queen"
  Dancing Queen is about a girl in the disco scene who loves sex and is seeking out men. "You come in to look for a King/Anybody could be that guy." She's out everynight looking for a different man. She's also spreading something to the men she sleeps with, "You're a teaser, you turn 'em on/Leave them burning and then your gone." The Dancing Queen sleeps with the man, passes on an STD and then leaves. While it sounds like a pleasant song, and it has an awesome beat...its really about being a slut in the Disco Clubs.
  
  
• ABBA's "Dancing Queen"
  The Dancing Queen is about a girl who absolutely loves disco. When she goes to a disco club, the music fills her, and she becomes the dancing queen. Anyone can be her guy, the night is young and the music is high, she's getting in the groove, she's in the mood for dance. And when she gets the chance, she is the dancing queen, young and sweet only seventeen. And Stephanie is also seventeen. Therefore, Stephanie is the Dancing Queen.
  
  
• Deep Purple's "Child In Time"
  Dear People, I am so surprised to see one of the most obvious songs not on this page. In 1972, Deep Purple came up with the beautiful psychedelic ballad named "Child in Time". It refers to a horrific moment, when the singers daughter was shot by some blind lunatic in the street ("See the blind man shooting at the world, bullets flying taking toll.") During this song, his voice covers almost every frequency, and - to be honest - I tried imitating him, and my throat hurt real bad! I think this song was his way to deal with the situation.
  
  
• Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit"
  Definitely about hallucinogenic drugs. The lyrics--go ask Alice, when she's 10 feet tall. They even mention one pill making you larger and one pill making you small. Classic!
  
  
• Fleetwood Mac's "Sara"
  Don Henley has said that he believes this is about an abortion of Stevie Nick's child, whom she named Sara, after he got her pregnant. They dated for about 2 years, and Henley thinks it is a tribute to the unborn child. He claims he was building a house at the time, and the line, "When you build your house, call me home" is a message to him.
  
  
• Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls"
  Fat Bottomed Girls, written by Brian May, was, as the author himself put it, a way to have fun with writing, and pull away from his serious side. It was just meant to be a silly song.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  Fire and Rain has nothing to do with someone dieing in a plane crash. It's about herion and depression.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  Fire and Rain was accually not about a plane crash in which his girlfriend died in, its not even about a plane crash. When he was in the mental hospital he met a girl named Susan and they began dating. He was later released from the hospital suddenly and did not get a chance to say goodbye to her and she assumed that he had deserted her and killed herself. Thats what the line "Susan the plans they made put an end to you"means, the plans of letting him out but not letting her know where he was. His friends did not want to upset him while on tour so they opted not to tell him until he was done touring for the year, thus "Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone" The part of the the song about the "plane crash" is accually about his former band that failed. It was called FLying machine
  
  
• Coven's "One Tin Soldier"
  First I would like to describe the only irony I see in this song. Coven since the 1600's (look up coven on wikipedia)has described a sect of witches that meet (usually 13 witches). The word eventualy gave rise to the english word "convene" which means to gather. However since this song was written in the 70's, the modern translation of the word "coven" is directly related to witch craft and wicca. When I read the lyrics to this song I see a battle between good and evil. Let me begin: "The Mountain" - The last line of this song states the phrase "peace on earth", which is most well known as the song the angels sung to herald Christ's birth. I believe the mountain could most likely represent heaven, or more likely, Christians, (of the true kind) since the song also spoke about the "people of the mountain". (people is the active word) "The Valley Folk" - I believe the valley folk could be the general population of the world, enticed by thoughts and rumors of treasure, mankind would do anything to have this useless yet primarilly rich element. The valley people represents mankind and the demons that surround them. "The Treasure" - "Peace on earth" was the treasure in this song, and peace can only be accomplised by loving one another. Only when you care for eachother as if you cared for yourself would this world be a peaceful place, which is why I say if anyone alive is waiting to see a peaceful earth, you may as well kill yourself, or realize the truth about life. Now I will narrate the song in a scence. The valley people heard a rumor about tons of treasure that the mountain people were "hoarding" for themselves, and because of their jealousy they decided to ask for the treasure to be given to them under penalty of death. The mountain people replied to them, "With our brothers we will share all the secrets of our mountain and all the riches buried there." But the valley people were stupid (like God said the men of the earth would be) and did not understand the meaning of the letter. (The valley folk were their brothers, if they chose to be) The valley people armed themselves and whent up the mountain to slay the people living there (those who live in God's glory are the mountain dwellers) when they found the rock that rumored to house the tons of gold that would make them rich, they found nothing, except a small inscription that read "peace on earth" The greedy valley people had destroyed the treasure before they even got to see it. The treasure was the peace that the valley people enjoyed with the mountain people and the mountain peoples brothers were indeed the valley people. The chorus of the song seems to explain the mentality of the valley people which directly reflects on the greater majority of man. hate your neighbor, cheat a friend, that you can justify all these thigs in the end. It seems that the valley people, like most of mankind, just doesnt beleive a judgment day will ever come, and that their actions will hold for them no consequence at all. Judgement day will be a terrifying day indeed for most men, as the bible says, "there will be much *gnashing of teeth*" For those still wondering, the truth about life is that we arent flukes of science, and that we were most definitly created to operate the way we do (if you cant understand that, we have a problem email me at batousai1787@hotmail.com)the purpose, and meaning of life is to endure the stupor of the world while seeking the glory of God. its not hard to understand, but it is very hard to successfully do. people are lazy, and that is why we do not have peace on earth today, because very few people are willing to put the effort into love, forgiveness and Christ. If you read all of this, you have too much time on your hands for one, and two, go buy yourself a Bible, and start reading.
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  Freddie Mercury wrote this song just to make an operatic song. He simply plucked out some notes on the piano, wrote them down, wrote some words to it, and added the operas. In truth, it was expected to be a great failure.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  From http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/firerain.htm: [James Taylor] explained in a 1972 interview with Rolling Stone: "Fire and Rain" has three verses. The first verse is about my reactions to the death of a friend. The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back, and there Jesus is an expression of my desperation in trying to get through the time when my body was aching and the time was at hand when I had to do it . . . And the third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austin Riggs which lasted about five months. Taylor hasn't spoken publicly about the identity of or the nature of his relationship with the 'Suzanne' referred to in the first verse of the song. In his recent James Taylor biography, Ian Halperin writes: Privately, however, Taylor has admitted to friends that Suzanne was a girl he met when he was in the Austin Riggs mental hospital. They became close friends because they shared many interests and goals . . . He was deeply saddened when he found out Suzanne committed suicide several months after he left the hospital. At first, Taylor didn't find out about Suzanne's death for several weeks, because his friends were afraid that that if they told him he might do a lot of drugs or something drastic to escape the reality of his friend's death. So they waited until he was finished recording before to break the news to him. Even if Taylor's friends are right about how Taylor met 'Suzanne,' they're still wrong about when he met her. Taylor entered Austin Riggs psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a few months after his October 1968 return to the United States from England, where he had recorded his debut album for the Beatles' Apple label. Yet the liner notes from the CD re-issue of that album indicate that among the unreleased tracks recorded by Taylor was an early version of "Fire and Rain," which means the song clearly antedates his stay at Austin Riggs. If 'Suzanne' was an acquaintance from one of Taylor's hospital stays, it had to have been from his 1965 stay at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, when he was seventeen. The mention of the "flying machines in pieces on the ground" is not about an airplane crash; it's an allusion to a group called The Flying Machine that Taylor had formed with his friend Danny Kortchmar. The group disbanded in 1967 when Taylor's drug problems led him to leave New York and return to his parents' home in North Carolina
  
  
• Madtown Boyz's "The Gator Chomp"
  The Gator Chomp is about a young boy who can not stop this crazy girl from calling him. So he has to do drugs to ease the pain that the girl inflicts upon him!
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Guys this song is about getting high and deaqling with withdrawals...plain and simple
  
  
• Billy Joel's "Captain Jack"
  Hate to burst the drug bubbles...or at least in the context of the song. Billy grew up on Long Island (NY). There used to be a "fishing" rowboat rental place (Capt. Jacks) on the south shore and little islands to row out and party till morning...these were days.
  
  
• Queen's "'39"
  Here's one I didn't see discussed: '39 by Queen. Rich with musical complexity, it is an acoustic folk-rock song about a group of space travelers who take a voyage to explore and perhaps colonize a new world and, due to time dilation, find a more aged Earth upon their return. It was written and sung by Brian May, who received a degree in physics and was working on an advanced degree in astronomy at the time he composed the song. The volunteers leave in a starship in one year of '39 and return from the blue (sky) in another year of '39 ... the kicker being that it is a century (or more?) later! This is significant for the protagonist, who arrives home to a world which is some multiple of 100 years older, but because of the slowing of time for a traveler at near-light speeds, he has only aged one year, as though it is for him still perhaps the original year of '39 ("oh so many years have gone though I'm older but a year"). His loved ones have passed away, causing his heart and the hearts of the other volunteers to "so heavily weigh ... for the Earth is old and grey," but he can see the resemblance of a woman (surely a love from the world of so long ago - perhaps his wife) in the eyes of her younger relative. In this light, the line "your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me" is quite poignant. He comes home to find his love long dead but imagines her calling to him as he looks into the eyes of her descendant, and the love this rekindles in him can no longer be. We are asked to pity him for his life that is still ahead.
  
  
• Rolling Stones's "Paint It Black"
  His girlfriend/wife/lover dies and he is watching the funeral from afar, because in his grief, he cannot attend it. he wants to see the entire world painted black and in the end contemplates suicide. cheerful song for the masses. :-)
  
  
• Gennesis's "Home By The Sea"
  Home By The Sea is a huanting piece of music with lyrics that take on the view of someone that has died and is stuck in this house. The house seems to hold many that have passed on. They are able to move around, touch things, even pick them up, but something doesn't feel quite right. Always loved the images that come to mind when I hear these lyrics. "Help me someone, let me out of here then out of the dark we suddenly heard welcome to the Home by the Sea" "shadows with no substance, in the shape of men round and down and sideways they go"
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  The Hotel California = The Beverly Hills Hotel. Eg: John Belushi OD'd while staying at a BHH bungalo. Janis Joplin OD'd after leaving the BHH. The names of the nearly and/or dearly departed go on..ad infinitum. Check in..no check out. Alotta rockers rock-ed. On gurney wheels they roll-ed.
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  The Hotel California is a drug fee community where hopeless drug addicts would check in indefinitely. You Can check in but never leave. The beast within is the addiction. Some would dance to remember what it was like to be on the outside well other would dance to forget. We haven't had wine here since this place became a drug & alcohol free community in 1969. Would it be heaven or hell to have to live like this?
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Hotel California is about the old Camarillo State Hospital. It's where all the old time jazzers and silent screen folk would go to dry out or kick heroin. Charlie Parker also has a famous song about it. Technically, you COULD never leave, as it was a mental hospital/rehab facility.
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  Hotel California is purgatory and the song is about the goings on there. "you can check in but can never leave". The recent Soprano's episode has the song playing in the background when Tony is in a coma and stuck in purgatory.
  
  
• FLEETWOOD MAC's "Rhiannon"
  I READ A LETTER BY STEVIE NICKS, SHE SAID RHIANNON WAS A TERMINALLY ILL LITTLE GIRL WHO HAD TOUCHED HER HEART BEING SO BRAVE FACING HER DESTINY. THIS LETTER WAS POSTED AT THE N.Y.N.Y. HARD ROCK WHEN HER SIGNATURE SHIRT WAS BEING SOLD.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb"
  I always think this song is about the experiance of being sunk in the very deepest miasma of depression.Also referring to others descriptions: "Pink" is not a character, nor is it JUST the name of their band. They ferived their name frome too jazz greats, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Basically the whole song is about a man receeding further into himself as he gets more and more depressed. It is not about an illness, as it says in the chorus: There is no pain, you are receeding. The person mentioned in the song is alienated from everyone (is there anybody home, a distant ship's smoke on the horizon, only coming through in waves etc), including himself (this is not how i am, i have become comfortably numb)..... Im pretty sure what the song's about, its either about being depressed, or some depressed guy.girl has taken painkillers or sleeping pill to numb him/herself from the pain and the world outside.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  I always thought this song was about vietnam veterans and how they seemed distant and "somewhere else" when they returned from war. After witnessing a war such as vietnam, perception is changed and that's where the lyric "do you think you can tell.." and "cold comfort for change" ect comes from. Also, the "wish you were here" implied that the vetran was physically there, but not mentally or emotionally. "two lost souls" and "the same old fears" also imply the emptiness within the retired soldier ect. What do ya think?
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  I believe I've read that each stanza in "Fire and Rain" is about a different topic. The woman he sings of was indeed with him at McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Belmont, MA, and she killed herself. The reference to "flying machines in pieces on the ground" is a reference to his original band--they were known as "James Tayor and the Original Flying Machine." But the the band and the dreams of success that went with it broke apart, "in pieces on the ground."
  
  
• Bread's "Everything I Own"
  I believe many people like myself thought this song was boyfriend-girlfriend love song. It wasn't until years later that I read that David Gates wrote and recorded this song in memory of his father. Listening to the words of this song give it a whole new meaning when you put yourself in David Gate's place and think of your loved ones that have passed on.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  I believe that the song Fire and Rain is about his significant other whose name is Susanne, who died in a plane crash, and James Taylor wrote down how he is suffering from his loss and is looking for guidance. James Taylor is one of the best musicians to bless the earth.
  
  
• Don McLean's "American Pie"
  I believe this old song is describing a "Dark Age" for the United States. The day the music died means the day John F. Kennedy was shot and "I can’t remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride, But something touched me deep inside The day the music died" is Jacky Kennedy. Also the verse where he talks about the Jester and the King represents the US defeat in Vietnam and the courtroom is the United Nations. "Oh, and while the king was looking down, The jester stole his thorny crown. The courtroom was adjourned; No verdict was returned". "And while Lenin read a book of Marx (communist manifesto), The quartet practiced in the park, And we sang dirges in the dark. the day the music died." This is showing the communist influence in Vietnam and pretty much all over the world. Also one last thing when he says the good old boys are saying this is the day that I die, is representing the young GI soldiers drafted into Vietnam
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  I don't know which idiot wrote the comment about Like A Rolling Stone, but he/she should keep their comments to things they understand. The song is about the changing of America through the troubled times of the 60's and 70's. It's about the loss of innocence and the fall from grace that accompanied Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement. About BD's generation waking up and smelling the coffee..... a little to late.
  
  
• Simon And Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
  I don't know why it was so difficult to understand the song. I have no idea how the drugs got in there, but it is more of friendship. S&G are trying to say to their friend I will be your bridge over trouble water. The point is that you can't cross a very rapid water without a bridge. " When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all; I'm on your side. When times get rough And friends just can't be found, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down." He's saying I'm there for you when you need me. I'll be your bridge over trouble water.
  
  
• Warren Zevon's "Werewolves Of London"
  I dont' find much meaning in it. I just think it is a great karaoke song for howling. You could argue that it is about stylish werewolves stalking and dancing around London.
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  I doubt the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody were written with AIDS in mind. Bohemian Rhapsody was written at least 6 years before any type of AIDS related deaths occured. The Queen album "A Night at the Opera" (in which Bohemian Rhapsody appeared) was released in 1975, while AIDS was first recognized in 1981.
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkle's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
  I enjoyed the other people's interpretation of the lyrics, including Paul Simon's, but the beauty of poetry is that we can all have our personal interpretation, even if it differs from the author's. I feel that the softly sung early verses seem to be that of a father speaking to his baby / daughter, showing that no matter what trials and tribulations she will go through, he will always be there for her. Sail on Silvergirl, which seems to be sung with more vigour, gives me the impression that he is sadly, yet gladly, releasing her to the world ( college, independence, etc.) for her to achieve her independence; yet no matter what happens, he will no longer control her directtly, but always be there for her. (I will ease your mind)
  
  
• Hot Chocolate's "Everyone's A Winner"
  I feel most people think that this song is about each and every person being special and unique in their own way, particularly the way he's singing about his lover in the song. I think he's singing about every orgasm that he gets and how his lover satisfies him each time they have an intimate encounter. "Every one's a winner baby, that's the truth. (that's the truth) "Makin' love to you is such a thrill." "Every one's a winner baby, that's no lie" (that's no lie) "you Never fail to satisfy" (satisfyyyyy)
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I feel this song is about a drug overdose death. First he sees the light,"Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light" "Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way" He sees the devil. "in the master's chambers, They gathered for the feast" His life flashes before him, he ultimately winds up in Hell. 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device' "You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!'
  
  
• Don McLean's "American Pie"
  I had a professor who saw Don McLean in concert in the late 70s. According to my professor, McLean made the following comment. "A lot of people have asked me what this next song is all about, what it means. It means I don't have to work anymore." He then started singing American Pie. As DH Lawrence said, "Never trust the teller; trust the tale.”
  
  
• Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight"
  I had heard the popular explanation about the friend drowning and Phil tracking the non-helpful witness years later and seating him front and center at the concert. Later, I heard the more plausible explanation that it was Phil's bitter ode to his ex-wife.
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water"
  I hate to destroy the power of this song, but the line "Like a bridge over troubled water/ I will lay me down" and the subject matter for the first two choruses are taken from a poster that Simon saw where a black couple were standing together and the man said to the girl "like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down". He built the rest of the song on this premise. So it is not spiritual in the least and was going to be even more boring. Paul wanted just himself and a piano to perform it, but Garfunkel protested and made him throw in the extra lines and add his voice and the orchestra.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire and Rain"
  I hate to tell you this (no I don`t - if I did I wouldn`t!) but you`ve slightly missed the point: Fire and Rain was written while James Taylor was undergoing treatment for his own addiction but it`s really about how he heard that an old girlfriend of his (Suzanne) had died as a result of her addiction - hence the refrain 'I`ve seen fire and I`ve seen rain..... but I always thought I`d see you again.' ! I actually found this site `cos I`ve intended for years to find out a bit more about the 'Funky Claude' in Deep Purple`s Smoke on the Water - thanks for the extra info, I`m off to websites about the Montreaux Jazz Festival to see what else I can find.......
  
  
• Simon And Garfunkle's "Mrs. Robinson"
  I have always heard that this song is aout a teacher who has a realtionship with on e of her students, and even though she has sinned, heaven still holds a place for her.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb"
  I have heard a hundred different things that people think this song is about. It doesn't really matter who wrote it or what it was written for because niether of those effect the meaning of the song very much. The inspiration effects the meaning. And the inspiration for this song was some type of opiate. Whether it was morphine or heroin, I don't know but it was some kind of injected opiate. Try some one day and listen to this song, it will be hard to disagree. This song is entirely too "fitting" with that feeling to be about anything else. Or just look at some of the lyrics: I can ease your pain, there is no pain you are receding, ...two ballons now I've got that feeling once again (the strange bodily feeling, not a happy childhood memory), just a little pin prick, you may feel a little sick, and the major one... I have become comfortably numb. I really want to say its more about morphine than heroin because of "we need some information first, just the basic facts, can you show me where it hurts" doctors don't give out heroin. Some of the lyrics show that the writer feels confused: you are only coming through in waves, your lips move but I cant hear what youre saying, when I was a child....I cannot put my finger on it now. Morphine/Heroin will make you confused. Of course if a person hasn't experienced the feeling of this drug firsthand they might think this song is about something else and I dont recommend anyone go out and shoot up so just trust me. It's definitely not about racism.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  I have read the other entries made about this song and i understand that it is easy to percieve it as talking about war,drugs and people dying as i used to think that myself but trust me,i've read a lot of stuff by Water's on this song, and it is not. Yes, there are refrences to Syd Barrett in there and yes the whole album is about people being vague and not there mentally and phisically(mainly due to the affect that the music industry has had on them)but the main theme running through the song is a schizophrenic one written by Waters about himself. If you break the song down every sentance has a positive claim exchanged for a negative claim.I.E Heaven,blue skies,green field,smile,hero's,trees,cool breeze,change,walk on part in the war. - The negative side reads hell,pain,cold steel rail,a veil,ghosts,hot ashes,hot air,cold comfort,lead role in a cage.(This is why it is a schizophrenic song). The whole song has a metaphor meaning, it is one side of Waters character crying out to the other side. One side of his personality has a selfish,uncaring and thoughtless persona where as the other has a caring,generous and giving side (Waters explains in many books that this is how the music industry had made him feel at the time) In the line 'did THEY get you to trade', the THEY he is referring too is the music industry. The've made him trade all his good points for his bad points. As the chorus enters we see that it is his bad side singing to his good side 'how i wish ,how i wish you were here.' The lines 'we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year is both his persona swimming around in his body. Then the lines are followed by 'running over the same old ground,what have we found,the same old fears,wish you were here' This is waters stating that he wishes his good side would always prevail over his bad side but over the years this has not been the case thus finishing off the whole song 'wish you were here'. Very deep stuff I know but it's accurate. Anyone that is really intersted in the Floyd's music and lyrics should read - Which one's Pink by Phil Rose, The Pink Floyd encyclopedia by Vernon Fitch and Echoes the stories behind every Pink Floyd song by Cliff Jones. They make great reading for the Floyd fanatic. Sorry to dissapoint anyone's theory as i was pretty dissapointed myself when i first read about it, i used to think it was a cry for his father ( Eric Fletcher Waters ) who died on the beaches at Anzio in World War 2.
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkle's "Mrs. Robinson"
  I heard it was about a retired teacher who had an affair with her student. She is now being put in an institution for drug dealing, retired, mentally insane tramps. Thats what my dad said.
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I heard somewhere that this song was about a gambling addiction. But I think it's really how you percive the song and what you think you think it means. If we keep on over analising these legendary songs we really end up missing the point altogether. They are meant to be enjoyed and that's what i am going to keep on doing no matter what other people try to tell me what they think. The only people that will ever know the truth are the song writers. and sometimes they might not even be clear on it.
  
  
• Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl"
  I heard that Van Morrison titled this song about a black woman he was inspired by and the song was originally titled Brown-Skinned Girl but the radio would not play it and he was convinced to change the name. I am not sure if this is true but I have heard this from several sources. Can you add any thoughts to this?
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkel's "Blessed"
  I know that many of these songs including this one was written about the Vietnam war and all the insidents revolving around them. I believe that this one is probably about how the US was being to aggressive and will basically rot in hell because we were not meek at all....just dictatorship wise.
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I love this song! No matter what its meaning, I think you could & obviously have given it many meanings & isn't that what song writing is all about? Unless you actually wrote it - how can you guess. When I was in Puerto Vallarta, I was told Hotel California was written about the Hotel that used to be there at the time that the Eagles were staying there. (which when I was there, the said hotel was dwindling down to rubble). I was also told Tequila Sunrise was written there, too. From what the "locals" were telling all of us North Americans at the "round table", was that the meaning behind the song Hotel California was exactly what became of the hotel, each floor harbouring it's own addictions & the people who had whatever addiction of choice always seemed to be drawn to those specific floors, be it opium, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, etc & never really being able to leave, but that's pretty much the effect Mexico has on people - who wants to leave? (as it's said before...addiction never leaves) The nurse would come everyday to help those in overdoses, or whatever. Made for an entertaining story night - but hey, it was Mexico.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  I read an interview by either Waters or Gilmour that this song is actually about the writer of the song's father, who died as a bomber crewman in WW2 leaving the future Pink Floyd member to grow up fatherless in postwar England. This WW2 loss is a very personal and reocurring theme that also influenced several other songs by the same writer.
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I read some time ago in an interview with one of the Eagles that this song was written about their record label, who they felt was holding them hostage in the slavery of a terrible contract. All those lyrics about "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" and "they stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" are references to the greedy record execs and the contract they couldn't get away from. The Hotel California itself I guess was representative of the entire music industry, where artists are lured by the promise of fame and riches, but then they are snared by legal contracts, so that they can never get away. They were "all just prisoners here... of their own device" because they themselves actually DID sign the contracts after all. I don't think the song is about Satanists.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  I read two different descriptions of it. I heard somewhere it was written about Vietnam war with Fire and Rain referring to the the weather and explosives that are seen during war. It made sense to me.
  
  
• Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven"
  I really think this is just a compiliation of things that make sense, and things that dont. The things that dont probably came to them when they were completley drugged up, and as for the other things, some of the things mentioned above sound pretty accurate. Remember, some of the best songs from Rock and Roll came from drug-induced minds.
  
  
• S&G's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
  I remember hearing a paul simon interview back in the 70 when he said the line "sail on silver girl" was about an ex-girlfiend.
  
  
• America's "Horse With No Name"
  I saw an interview with one of the gys in America (I don't even know their names actually but it was a primary memeber - guitar player or lead singer) where he says that Horse With No Name is in fact not about drugs at all. He said something like: "It's really just a very simple song about the desert. All these people came up with interpretations that its about drugs and so on, but it isn't." I don't claim that's a 100% word for word accurate quote but that's roughly what he said. Hopefully that settles the debate here - sorry to all you drug interpretation proponents.
  
  
• Don McLean's "American Pie "
  I say the Jester is Buddy Holly, not Dylan. "The Coat he borrowed from James Dean" refers to Holly's rebel, rockabilly image. Doesn't work for Dylan.
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  I think It's about a young college girl who was rich but she spent all her money on drugs and cigarettes and became poor.
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I think it is about drug addiction,heroin/coke.The girl with the benz,is the attraction to the high life.As she lite up a candle and she showed me the way,meaning mealting the dope down.Preparing for the feast stealy knives (syringes) but they just cant kill the beast.(addiction)
  
  
• The Undertones's "Teenage Kicks"
  I think it's all too eays to right off this song by saying it's just about masturbation. Not only is it fantastic in that it got a chart position with a song about self-abuse, but it also addresses an issue too often skirted over in songs and popular culture - too often in reality there are people who are 'untouchable' and fantasies are the only ways we can come close to them.
  
  
• Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I think that everyone who is trying to pin down what this song really means is COMPLETELY missing the main point of this song. To understand the meaning of something, you have to first relate back to who made it (in this case, the writers). Considering the amount of metaphore that is used in this song, the writers did not ever clearly state what they were refering to (wheather it's a whore house, drug addiction, satan, death, gambling, etc...), but as confusing and puzzling as this sounds, it's what makes this song so amazing. The riddle of not knowing exactly what the song is refering to gives the listener the experience to relate this song to their own experiences. This makes the song, and experience a much better one, and gives it a lot of value
  
  
• Blue Oyster Cult's "I Love The Night"
  I think that you are missing the boat with your interpretaion of "I love the night". It's pretty much a wacky "romantic poetry" vampire song that humerously melds corny vampire stories with a quasi-subtle love song. Th elements are all there. The lady in white(pale, wrapped in a grave shroud) comes to him while he is alone and he can't look away(mesemerism). She loves the night(sun kills vampires...but the moon often stillshows when the sun is still up.) She offers to share and show something with him if he will only "welcome her."(enter freely and of your own will: Dracula to Harker.) He mentions "wonder" that "no mortal was meant to know". (the enthrallement and ecstasy associated with having vampires suck your blood ever since stories like Dracula and Camilla were written). Afterwards he learns what has become of him with "one look in the mirror". In other words he is no longer a mortal having known the previously mentioned wonder. He tells the woman that he is leaving that he is a creature of the night now and plans to go off with the vampiress who changed, possibly in a cryptic way so as to not scare her.
  
  
• Simon And Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"
  I think this song is about Mrs. Robinson being in an intervention (if you have ever seen the A & E show you know what I'm talking about). The Koo koo ca Choos being a sudden blitz of drugs into her system she can't control so she fades out from the intervention. Joe DiMaggio being a random childhood memory brought on by being around her family and wondering where he is. This person is obviously messed up in some respect.
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair"
  I think this song is about a soldier going off to war, and the one voice (Simon's)is nostalgic, and the other voice (Garfunkel's)is the chilling reality.
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  I think this song is all about love. There are so many metaphors in this song that seem to resemble it. And I was thinking to myself, 'this could be heaven or this could be hell' --> This is referring to someone that has never fallen in love before. They are in love with the idea of falling in love, but have known so many people that have been broken down by it. But then again, they have seen couples that are truely and completely in love, and if they were to discover that with someone it would be heaven. "How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget" -->Some dance to remember, some dance to forget...Some people take up hobbies, or activities to remember or forget certain things. When you were with someone and were really in love and everything was perfect, but you lost them for some reason or another, you would want to remember them. If you were someone and your relationship was not so good, and you had your heart broken, you would be trying to forget. And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say... --> This one is a little harder to explain. Unless you were in a difficult relationship, you might not be able to understand, but I will do my best to explain. Sometimes when you are in a relationship where you are being mistreated, you tend to try to justify and fix things. You replay things over and over agian in your head after it has all ended trying to figure what you did and where everything went wrong. You cant sleep, you cant eat, it just drains you. So this is where the "still those voices calling from far away" part comes into play. Its the sound of the conversations and arguments replaying over and over again in their head. "wake you up in the middle of the night, just to hear them say.." is about them not being able to sleep, they are just laying their awake liestening to the conversations in their head. And she said 'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device' --> This is referring the the fact that people make up excuses for their partners behavior. If we would stop making excuses and face reality we wouldnt be stuck in the position that we were in, we would not be prisoners in the relationship. The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can't kill the beast --> This again is trying to get rid of the love feeling, because you know you are not loved in return. You want to not feel the way you do, but you cant help it, or change it. I had to find the passage back To the place I was before --> He wants to get back to the carefree, undamaged emotional state that he was in, before he was in love. He doesnt want to be in love anymore. You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave! --> Meaning you can leave the person anytime you want, but once you truely love someone, you can not escape that feeling, you will always care about that person, even after you move on, so to say.
  
  
• Blue Oyster Cult's "I Love The Night"
  I think this song is biographical in origin, from the experience of Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser. After a traumatic breakup, he walks out at night and is enchanted by a perfect clear starry night, and then the moon rises. Enchanted by the vision and perfection of the night, he envisions the moon as a woman... and the final irony is that the perfect beauty of the night that brings him some surcease from his heartache brings it back in full force, for the final lines are "If only you had been there my dear, We could have shared this together..."
  
  
• Eagles's "The Hotel California"
  I think this song talks about a Hotel in wich orgies took place.When it says "there she stood on the doorway" it probably means some whore stood on the doorway. This Hotel involved drugs too. This is the kind of life it describes I believe, the kind of life you can never get away form "You can check out any time you like but you can never leave" and also these poor women cannot get away too as they can get away from the pimps that will haunt them and maybe kill them afterwards "they stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast"
  
  
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's "Thunder Road"
  I think this song was a song about a young couple...the boy being ready to face the world and the girl a little scared of the relashionship and where it might lead. The boy comes to the girls house and basically says we are ready for the world so climb on board. It also kind of talks about just getting out and living.
  
  
• Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"
  I thought it was about a woman going to a nursing home, my boyfriend thinks it's about the neighborhood tramp who also sold marijuana. He got that info from his dad!
  
  
• The Eagles's's "Hotel California"
  I thought that this song was talking about the 2 biggest problems of the time, Heroin and cancer. Although no one related to cancer, but i see things like you can check out any time as you can die at any time but you can never live as you can never be cured. The mirrors on the cieling is the operations room and the beast is the tumor and they try to cut it off with their knives but they can't kill the beast. The device they are all attached to is again relating to hospitals. What do you think?
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  I was told just the other day by my music appriciation teacher that James Taylor had himself commited because he had a phobia, Suzanne was a woman who had the same one, being alone with someone of the opposite sex. They met at the mental hospital and cured eachother of the phobia, fell in love and planned to marry. They would get out of the hospital on Friday morning and marry Saturday afternoon. James Taylor signed himself out and left with no problem, but Suzanne couldn't leave, they didn't have her insurance release forms, the nurse called her doctor who said, let her leave, she's finally happy, I'll take care of the paperwork Monday, but the nurse lied and said she couldn't leave till Monday. Suzanne kept trying to leave but gave up and hung herself.
  
  
• Harry Chapin's "Cats In The Cradle"
  I would like to revise the earlier description of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle." The discrepancy lies is in the last statement. Formerly written, "In the end the father realized that his son had grown up to be a work-a-holic just like his dad..." If you listen to the lyrics, you'll see that just as the father had no time for his son when he was growing up, the son had no time for his father when he grew up. "...he came from college just the other day, so much like a man I just had to say, son I'm proud of you can you sit for awhile, he shook his head and he said with a smile, what I'd really like dad is to borrow the car keys, see you later can I have them please... ...I've long since retired, my son's moved away, I called him up just the other day, I said I'd like to see you, if you don't mind, he said I'd love to dad if I could find the time, you see my new job's a hassle and the kid's with the flew, but it's sure nice talking to you dad, it's been sure nice talkin' to you.. and as I hung up the phone it occured to me, he'd grown up just like me, my boy was just like me... It's about it all coming back around, not the son becoming a workaholic...
  
  
• Simon and Garfunkle's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
  I'm aware of the drug interpretation and the author's actual interpretation but depending on when the boat people incidents in the 1970's occured, this song could be a sort of welcome song for them. The "silver girl" in the song could also be a reference to a girl who has been lying in the sea for so long her skin has become a pale grey. Now this interpretation might not be the most accurate but if you look at these lyrics and the events of the Indochinese refugees there is an ominous connecion that binds them. If this song was written before these events then in could mean that Paul Simon is psychic!
  
  
• Queen's "Killer Queen"
  I'm not exactly sure why I think this, but the lyrics of this song, in my opinion, have nothing to do with a high-class prostitute, like Wikipedia claims. I've researched various sites on the lyirics and there are a few that I just do not agree with (meaning it doesn't sound to me like that is what is being sung). Personally, from everything I've so far read, this song to ME sounds like it's about a female assassin, or a spy perhaps? "gunpowder, gelatine (one part I disagree with) dynamite with a laser beam" meaning the laser cites on hand guns, perhaps?? Doesn't keep the same address...
  
  
• Rolling Stones's "Horse With No Name"
  I'm not getting drugs in this song...I always thought it was about the a man and the effects of fame on the brain. Desert has turned to sea...life is like the ocean with its life under ground and the perfect disguise above...people fake and false...putting forward their plastic smiles when really inside its pain and ugly
  
  
• Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven"
  I'm not sure if this explanation has been posted, but after listening to the song hundreds of thousands of times, and never knowing what it meant, I finally had an idea. I then listened to the song, possibly confirming my ideas. After this, I did a reasonable amount of research on mythology, especially females in mythology. According to my analysis, Stairway is about a powerful and righteous female warrior. She is finally killed and battle, but doesn't know that she is dead. She feels, before her death, that there is good in all things. The entire world, according to myth, is in the palm of this lady's hand. Many signs point to her death, but she can understand or comprehend that she has been killed. Her spirit continues to wonder through the heavens, and she sees the other spirits going about their heavenly lives. As stated in the Bible, spirits in heaven can see those in hell and on Earth. The warrior can still see the battle raging, which leads her to believe that she is alive. She meets one of the spirits that has been in heaven for no telling how long, and he explains what is happening. She finds out that the inhabitants of heaven have been waiting on her arrival, due to her righteousness in life. Throughout the song, which is merely an interpretation of the epic poem, she realizes that she has died and gone to heaven. After this realization, she begins to be an encouragement to those with whom she can communicate on Earth. She is a guiding spirit, if you will. Her presence, and her legacy, are a model for people to follow to get into heaven. In conclusion, I state that Stairway to Heaven is a narrative. Not an abstract creation of Robert Plant, but a brilliant discovery of an epic story that he paraphrased and, with the help of the great Jimmy Page, put to music.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  I'm sorry but anyone who thinks it's about war (especially American based wars - Vietnam) is clearly missing the point. It IS about Syd Barrett, creative force of Pink Floyd until LSD screwed him up. Syd Barrett actually turned up at the studio when Pink Floyd were recording this album about him. He was a shadow of the man he used to be. I'll say it again; it is NOT about war. No. No. NOOOOO!
  
  
• The Eagles's "Hotel California"
  If anyone out there doesn't know this yet, though I think you all should, this song is about drug addiction. (especially cocaine) "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast". And of course the final line before that great dual guitar solo between Don Felder and Joe Walsh, "You can check out anytime you like , but you can never leave".
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  If this song does have a meaning it's not about AIDS, Freddy didn't know he had AIDS when he wrote it, I think the boy on death row is far more likely.
  
  
• John Lennon's "Imagine"
  Imagine is about communism, and is by no means the greatest song ever made. Infact it's a completely naive song presented into society's common left wing views by Lennon to increase his popularity and how liked he was by the people. Lennon was a fraud. His own son even says so. He didnt care about world peace and harmony, he just knew what people liked to hear about, (peace and harmony) and he fed them. Sure it's a great sounding song, but Lennon was by no means a wondrous guy . He was just an idealist, and a phony one at that (and God only knows we have enough idealist morons around these days). He was a musician with an alright voice and a knack at writing nice songs. In any case, left wing views -especially communism- are crap and always will be. Marx was an idiot and has caused millions of deaths and anyone who promotes communism in turn promotes the state in which so many third world contries are and the deaths that occur daily in the communiste and dictated (becasue really, theyre the same thing) world. To sum up Lennon was a good musician with a knack at impressing the populace with his phony ideas of world peace and love and whatnot and spreading this crap through all the millions of idiots who think that we could possibly ever achieve anything close to the world described in Imagine, and who believe that if we did we'd be better off, which we wouldn't, but that's another argument for anyother day.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"
  In Actuality this song was about Syd Barretts' rise and fall in fame
  
  
• Carly Simon's "You're So Vain"
  In January of 1973, You're So Vain was the # 1 hit song on the radio. Carly had just married fellow pop-superstar James Taylor a month before, so when You're So Vain hit the airwaves, it stirred intense curiosity about which one of her previous lovers was the subject of this wry nod to the male ego. Was it Mick Jagger? Cat Stevens? Warren Beatty? Kris Kristofferson? It was common knowledge that she had been involved with each of them in the past.Carly has never revealed who she had in mind when she wrote You're So Vain, and over 30 years later interviewers are still asking her this same question.................................... The Washington Post - 1983 WP: Who was ?You?re So Vain about? Mick Jagger? Carly: No. WP: Warren Beatty? Carly: It certainly sounds like it was about Warren Beatty. He certainly thought it was about him - he called me and said thanks for the song?. WP: You had gone with him? Carly: Hasn?t everybody? "Clouds in my coffee" are the confusing aspects of life and love. That which you can't see through, and yet seems alluring...until. Like a mirage that turns into a dry patch. Perhaps there is something in the bottom of the coffee cup that you could read if you could (like tea leaves or coffee grinds). Carly Simon 5/17/01
  
  
• Yes's "'Southside of the Sky'"
  In a recent interview, Jon Anderson mentioned that the song describes a group of climbers who were lost, and about the euphoria that comes to one as one freezes to death..'Of warmth when you die'...though I do like the comment about the scenario being specifically about the Fellowship.
  
  
• Debbie Boone's "'You Light Up My Life'"
  In a talk show interview Debbie Boone revealed that this is a "praise song." "You" refers to God. Praise songs are a devotional type of Christian Music separated from Hymns and general popular Christian music.
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire And Rain"
  In an interview with Howard Stern, James describes the meaning of the song a little differently. James' friends didn't tell him about the death of his friend from cancer because, at the time, he was still trying to overcome his addiction when it happened, and they didn't want to add any additional stress to his situation. The lyrics regarding "the plans" probably describe how he felt. That is, the cancer (or whatever illness it was) actually killed her, but in his mind she was still alive until the planned disclosure of his friends ended that.
  
  
• The Clash's "Atom Tan"
  In death people have a look which is referred to as an atom tan..by the clash. People die in various ways- described in the song, and get an even atom tan!!
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  In response to the kid who said that he did his so called "research" on this song, Wikipedia does not count as a source at all. Do some real research and then tell us about it. First Freddie was born on the island of Zanibar, second the song has absolutely nothing to do with AIDS. The song was written 11 years before he was diagnosed. No one will ever know the true meaning of the song (if there even is one). The only song that Freddie wrote which he explained the meaning to was Bicycle Race, no one knows the meaning of this one. Stop arguing about it.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  In the literal sense, the song is directed to a dead friend or family member at a funeral in a cemetery. The singer is possibly one of the pallbearers. Until recently, I had no idea where it was taking place and only a vague idea of who the intended recipient was. Only after shooting a video of a family cemetery and setting it to the music of Pink Floyd did it hit me. In the middle of a big green field is a small cemetery plot surrounded by a white, wrought-iron fence. The only trees nearby were the ones inside. It was a hot summer day and a cool breeze was blowing. Inside the fence were several markers. Among the lead role were the headstones of the few who had died in battle -- the heroes. The fence is a cage, our planet is a fishbowl, coffins have cold steel rails, and the veil hides the face of the widow. The clincher for me was this inscription on one of the headstones: "Stranger CAN YOU TELL is this where individuality ceases or does it exist beyond."
  
  
• Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alabama"
  In the song Mr. Vanzant not Van Dam (he's the karate guy) Sings about Neil Young because he "generalized" the South. Who needs a guy like that around starting trouble during the still very volatile time in the South! Another quote listed the lyrics wrong as well... "Watergate, it does not bother me Does your conscience bother you? Tell me true." is actually "Watergate,does not bother me! Does your conscience bother you? Tell "THE TRUTH." Also the post about Lynard Skynard's "All I Can Do Is Write About It"...quote "This song is about Mr. Van DAm growing up in the south, and the natural beauty of the country. It is so odd how he says," Lord take me and mine before the concrete creeps in." And how he dies not that much longer." Funny you get the idea but have it twisted some. He actually says "I can see the concrete a' slowly creepin' Lord take me and mine before that comes." So yankees...I'm not tryin' to put down no big cities But the things they write about us is just a bore!! How you gonna know about it unless you do it suuun! Hoooray Dixie!!!
  
  
• Coven's "One Tin Soldier"
  In the song the mountain people say "With our brothers we will share all the secrets of the mountain, all the riches buried there," but the valley people are greedy and want the entire treasure not just part of it so they then start the war to take it. Ironic, isn't it.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Welcome To The Machine"
  Interpretation of this song is varied. In one sense it appears to be a father's message to his son. This is a recurring theme in Floyd songs and is visually available in "The Wall" movie. Roger Water's father was killed during World War II. It can also be said that this song is about a young rock star living within the confines of the rock and roll world. He experiences the lesser sides of stardom and all the evils that go with it.
  
  
• Paul Mccartney And Wings's "Band On The Run"
  Interpreted to mean different things by the rock press at the time, one being that the song was possibly about outlaws (in the Eagles' "Desperadoes" vein) but more likely about flight, escape and freedom. It was postulated at the time that Paul's having written the theme song for the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die' several months earlier may have inspired him to do "Band". Paul's solo output prior to "Band" was dismissed by critics as lightweight and overstylized (ie. AM radio fluff) so the lyrics on "Band" suggested a man who had been imprisoned by the critics' (and sometimes public) criticism of his work and then suddenly breaks out of the chains and goes free from all that. The song and album of the same name actually welcomed Paul back into the good graces of the rock critics and minds of the public, who felt he put out a confident, well-constructed album after four mediocre ones.
  
  
• Raydio's "You Can't Change That"
  It is a song about a stalker... stalking his girlfriend.
  
  
• Simon And Garfunkle's "Mrs. Robinson"
  It is a song about alcohol addiction in housewives from the '60s in the USA where alcoholism was considered a mental disease and they were locked up in mental institutions instead of addiction hospitals. The sympathetic eyes are those of the hospital staff, they 'want to know a little more about you for our files' (mental health files), take a walk around the grounds until you feel at home, and the stuff that they are hiding in the pantry with the cupcakes is the bottle of booze and always keep alcoholism from the children.
  
  
• Marmalade's "Reflections"
  It is about a person who thinks the world is a bad place, a terrible place to live, and he dont want to die..it is from 1970...
  
  
• Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"
  It is about the Vietnam war, and how it wasn't the answer. It also relates to what was going on here in America at the time and how tha hippies were discriminated against because they said how they felt and expressed themselves freely.(some with long hair, which he mentions.)
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  It means nothing. according to Queens drummer it means 'Theres just a little bit of chaos in the middle' It snot abut AIDs, its not about Freddies sexuality, its just a crazy song about nothing
  
  
• Blue OyÖąster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper"
  It seems to be a common misinterpretation (due to the line "Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity") that this song is about suicide. As Albert Bouchard, one of the band members, stated on several occasions, the song writer Buck Dharma, didn't have exactly that in mind, but merely the idea of not to fear death, probably because it is inevitable and also part of our life. There are also rumors that say that Buck thought at the time he was writing the song that he was dying, but I if that is true, I can't say.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  It seems to me that all of the comments made on pink floyds song 'wish you were here' are most intriguing and certainly interesting, but unfortunately wrong,people are reading far too deep into the song,or not deep enough as i will explain - I am a huge floyd fan and have read many a book on this subject trying to extend my knowledge and appreciation for the band/song as it is a complicated tune to understand. If you listen to the song you will realise that every sentence has a good/happy lyric in exchange for a bad/sad lyric,so when broken down it reads - heaven,blue skies,green field,smile,hero's,tree's,cool breeze,change,lead role in a cage.THUS - hell,pain,cold steel rail,veil,ghosts,hot ashes,hot air,cold comfort,walk on part in the war........Deep stuff i know, I used to think it was about war myself, but trust me it's not, and i only know this because i've read so so so much about the band. It's a schizophrenic song written by waters about himself, on one side of his personality is the good,caring and giving part of his character and on the other side is the selfish, unforgiving and greedy side. It is a song about one side singing to the other.......The bad side is calling to the good side saying how i wish, how i wish you were here. This is made evident by the lyric..'We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl'........The fish bowl being his outer body exterior and the two lost souls being his inner.The inner souls are swimming around 'the fish bowl', one side is crying to the other 'i wish you were here',but unfortunately for waters the bad side previels hence the lyric 'we're just two lost souls swimming a fish bowl year after year, running over the same old ground,what have we found,the same old fears,wish you were here.'............Basically it's saying that the good side of waters character will never exceed the bad side,and unfortunately for him, he knows it. I hate to say it but i was dissapointed myself to find out that the song actually meant this, I had studied the song for a long time and come up with a very strong theory about it being a cry for his father dying in world war 2 but i was wrong. If you are really interested on extending your current appreciation for the band then i strongly suggest reading - 'which ones Pink?' AUTHOR Phill Rose. 'Echoes; the stories behind every Pink Floyd song' AUTHOR Cliff Jones. 'The Pink Floyd encyclopedia' AUTHOR Vernon Fitch.......Happy Reading.
  
  
• Spinners's "Love Don't Love Nobody"
  It takes a fool to learn that love don't love nobody
  
  
• Max Webster's "Let Go The Line"
  It's about death and the thought of doing it by way of hanging hence let go the line. It envisions a lifeless body in a casket (caskets are lined with satin)"i see you there in your satin shirt unfocused eyes on the ceiling fluorescent lips on a painted face i think i know what you're feeling. This tightrope begins to feel like home as the wind comes rising from the distant storm and all I know is that tonight I might let go the line.."
  
  
• Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"
  It's about venerial disease. "Cause any love is good love so I took what I could get" and "She took me to her doctor for a cure".
  
  
• James Taylor's "Fire and Rain"
  It's long been established and confirmed by James Taylor that the song was about his fight to free himself from heroin addiction! "sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" is the key lyric. yes, he was bi-polar and fought that, but his career was nearly destroyed by his addiction (as was his relationship with Carly Simon).
  
  
• Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  It's not about AIDS. AIDS was only in Africa until the 80s. So even if Freddie did have AIDS at the time, it couldn't have been diagnosed beacuse it had never been seen in India (where he was born) or England and the States. Roger Taylor (drummer of Queen)is the only person who knows what this song is about, as Freddie only told him.
  
  
• Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Craddle"
  It's song about a man who didn't have any time for his son and how this man had missed important events in this young man's life. In the end the father realized that his son had grown up to be a work-a-holic just like his dad.
  
  
• Queen's "Killer Queen"
  It?s a sing from their third album, released in 1974, called Sheer Heart Attack, maybe the song is about Cocaine, or about a high class prostitute, or about both things, it?s really interesting, the lyrics are great. Thank you!
  
  
• Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven"
  Its a song of salvation... many think it was a devil worshiping song... look closely at lyrics and it shows clearly that zep used abstract scenteces to bring out true meanings of christianity...
  
  
• Cat Stevens's "Cat's In The Cradle"
  Its about a man who never had time for his son and once the son grew up, he did not have time for his father.
  
  
• The Beatles's "Let It Be"
  John Lennon once said in an interview that this song was written after Paul had been listening to Paul Simon's Bridge Over Troubled Water. This was Paul's inspiration after listening to that song.
  
  
• Queen's "Bohiemian Rhapsody"
  Just to clear it up. Freddie Mercury wasn't born in India... He was born and grew up in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
  
  
• Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"
  K everyonebody listen up this is exactly what this song is about, it has nothing to do what-so-ever with any war at all, or at one guy said "a hallucinated conversation with a toilet from drugs" any true fan knows that Wish You Were Here is clearly about Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett, the founded of Pink Floyd and was with the band from 1965-68 when he became way to involved with acid (lsd) and could not perform anymore. In 1975 Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason decided that after their huge success from Dark Side of the Moon (where some of the songs are still about syd) in 1973 the band deciced to make an entire album dedicated just to the founded of the band...Syd Barrett, when they were recording this song Syd actually showed up when they were recording Shine On You Crazy Diamond, no one in the band recognized Syd at all since he was basically a new person, Syd told they band that he wishes them all failure and that was the last the saw Syd. Syd was the main inspiration of the band Pink Floyd, and even occured in The Wall in 1979. K but back to Wish You Were Here...if you guys dont beleive me then go watch some of Pink Floyd concerts live, or Roger Waters or David Gilmour live and most of the time right before they play this song they say a little something about Syd...not about no Vietnam War...enough said
  
  
• Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne"
  Ken Kesey was one of the original people to introduce acid to the california scene. He started his acid tests, which were events that consisted of people getting high at rented out music, or large halls, and they would get stoned out of their gords listening to the Grateful dead live, and with state of the art equiptment in lighting, and sound. this refers to the Part where they sing about Sanfrancisco and LA, two big test areas, that turned hundreads upon hundreads of people on to LSD. He and his Merry Pranksters drove around California in a day-glo painted bus that was called furthur, they all lived and slept on that bus, mainly getting high. in the song, Steely Dan refers to the technicolored motor home. Kesey was real big, and a lot of heads at the time really looked up to him. Kesey got in trouble with California. He had gotten charged with two possesions of Marajuana, Kesey not wanting to go to court, fled to Mexico. I believe that there is a part in the story "The Electric Kool ade acid test" (which is the true story of Kesey) When Kesey is being sneaked across the border, and before hand he askes the driver, "Is there gas in the car?" The Feds are on his tail in Mexico and California, and Kesey is a fugitive. The problem is that Kesey is also getting his friends in trouble as well, and there is a good chance that if he gets caught, he will spend a whole lotta time in jail. The feds would do anything to get him behind bars, because Kesey was the main provider of acid, other than close friend Owesly, and Leary. His Prankster friends dressed in day glo clothes, and the whole hippie day glo thing was starting to wean out, "Day glo freaks that painted the face, have joined the human race." Get along, Ken Kesey Kesey also wrote "One Flew over the Kokoos nest"
  
  
• Don McLean's "American Pie"
  The King is not Elvis, it is a reference to folk King, Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was dying from a chronic illness. Dylan would visit him in a NJ State Hospital while stealing the crown of folk hero. This was before he "went electric." Dylan clearly appropriated much of Guthrie's style in his early folk work. Some other references in the song: Eight Miles High refers to the Byrds' song of the same name. Helter Skelter in the summer swelter refers to both the Manson murders and the Beatles song, probably making the point that art and life mirror each other. The levee and the good ole boys is a reference to the murders of civil rights workers Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney in Mississippi. Their bodies were found in a levee. The sacred store is the Fillmore East. Interestingly, the official lyrics to the song included the line "Lennin read a book on Marx" which apparently intentionally combined John Lennon with Lenin, both of whom studied Marx, to some differning extents.
  
  
• Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven"
  Led Zeppelin was heavily influenced by the occult, especially Jimmy Page. Stairway was about demons (Pan in paticular). Stairway to Heaven", makes a clear reference to not only the music of Pan and his pipes, but his ability to spiritually influence and guide those who fall under his spell. Lyricist and singer, Robert Plant, begins with the thought that "The piper will lead us to reason." Pan is the Piper. The rest of the lyrics simply explore the Gods of old, or the evil side of spirituality and mythical figures. Page was a great admirer of Aleister Crowley who was indeed a devout and famous satanist. "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" was enscribed in one of Zeppelin's albums. This is a verse from the satanic bible.
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  Like a Rolling Stone is a song about New York socialite and model Edie Sedgwick, who left Andy Warhol's factory scene for the chance of a record deal with Dylan's manager. Things went sour when she discovered Dylan's marriage and she left to go into rehab. The song is about how she lived a fast-paced life, primarily on speed, and then crashed later in life. Other songs that Bob Dylan wrote, presumably, about Edie include Leopard-skin Pillbox Hat and Just Like a Woman.
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  Like a Rolling Stone is about a model named edie sedgewick. She did hang with Andy Warhol's crowd and Dylans crowd. It's a song slammer her. It's not a metaphor about a group of people it's a specific person who Dylan was disguisted with and went back and forth from dylan's people and warhol's people.
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  Like a Rolling Stone is about someone who had it all, all the while people told him that he was gonna lose it, then one day he did. now hes on his own on the streets. the song is about having it all, then losing it, just like that.
  
  
• Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"
  "Like a Rolling Stone" is one of the great lyrical ballads (and poems)of contemporary American thought.. If you have never read the lyrics side - by side - with the song, then don't judge the poetry of the work until you have done so. Before it was "cool" to be a dr