Andy
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Post by Andy on Nov 3, 2014 19:32:13 GMT -5
until you were older. What are some examples of songs (or parts of songs) that you heard as a kid (or maybe you weren't a kid), but didn't understand until later? To be clear, I don't mean lyrics you misheard (those goes here), but rather instances in which you heard the lyrics correctly, but rather it's their meaning or significance that you misunderstood. It can be a line or verse you misinterpreted, a pop culture/historical/etc. reference that you didn't get, or maybe even the entire song went over your head.
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Andy
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Post by Andy on Nov 3, 2014 19:32:26 GMT -5
-I didn't know how jukeboxes worked as a kid, so when John Anderson sung that "K19 is her favorite song" in "Straight Tequila Night," I thought "K-19" was the name of some classic rock song I was unfamiliar with. It wasn't until I heard Daryle Singletary's cover of Johhny Paycheck's "A-11" that I put two and two together.
-In the second verse of Joe Nichols' "The Impossible", when the kid is in a car accident that could leave him paralyzed, and then speaks at the graduation ceremony, I somehow completely missed the significance of the line "he stood up to say." I thought the "impossible" part of his story was the paralysis itself (i.e., no one thinks such a thing could happen to them until it does).
-Garth Brooks' "Somewhere Other Than the Night" obviously has very adult themes and went completely over my head as a kid. I just thought the chorus sounded cool.
-I completely misinterpreted Collin Raye's "I Think About You" as a standard love song, not understanding it's a father thinking of his daughter.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 20:14:20 GMT -5
Blake Shelton's "Austin" was a pretty confusing song for me and so was Brad Paisley's "Ticks"
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someguy
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Post by someguy on Nov 3, 2014 20:27:18 GMT -5
I didn't really get Reba's "She Thinks His Name Was John" the first few times I heard it (in my defense I was 10).
There were parts of Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Stones In The Road" I didn't get at first either (specifically the parts about the "widow draped in mourning" and the "buildings burning down").
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Nov 3, 2014 20:29:12 GMT -5
"Jacobs Ladder" by Mark Wills was one of the first songs I remember hearing that made me a country fan but I did not know what "Silver spoon in her mouth" meant. I think I was only 8 or so.
Also, the entire second half of "Where I Come From" by Alan Jackson confused the living heck out of me.
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matty005
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Post by matty005 on Nov 3, 2014 20:44:29 GMT -5
Oh gosh, this brings back an embarrassing/funny story. I didn't know the entire story of Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine" was about losing your virginity. I just thought it was a song about a relationship and it ending after summer. So a year after it was popular, I told my girlfriend's mom that that song was her daughter and mine's "song." Backstory was, she lived with her mom during the summer and then went to school with her dad in another state. So whenever summer was over she would leave. The mom had to explain to me that the song was about sex and I stuttered and stammered about how that was not why it was our song. One of the most embarrassing and uncomfortable moments of my life. I was 14 so I should have known. I still adore that song but I still cringe when I think about telling her mom that song was ours.
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someguy
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Post by someguy on Nov 3, 2014 20:51:57 GMT -5
Oh gosh, this brings back an embarrassing/funny story. I didn't know the entire story of Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine" was about losing your virginity. I just thought it was a song about a relationship and it ending after summer. So a year after it was popular, I told my girlfriend's mom that that song was her daughter and mine's "song." Backstory was, she lived with her mom during the summer and then went to school with her dad in another state. So whenever summer was over she would leave. The mom had to explain to me that the song was about sex and I stuttered and stammered about how that was not why it was our song. One of the most embarrassing and uncomfortable moments of my life. I was 14 so I should have known. I still adore that song but I still cringe when I think about telling her mom that song was ours. Haha that sounds like something I would do...
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Post by McCreerian (Harris 2024!) on Nov 3, 2014 20:57:08 GMT -5
I would go around singing "Fancy" when I was a kid, like 10 years old. I didn't know til I got into my teens that it was actually about a hooker. I thought it was a song about getting rich...I didn't know how she got rich!
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on Nov 3, 2014 21:03:39 GMT -5
All of them. I was Amelia Bedelia levels of literal minded, sheltered, and very Asperger's-riddled. Also, the entire second half of "Where I Come From" by Alan Jackson confused the living heck out of me. Not surprised. I'm 27 and I still have no idea what he's trying to say because some of his lines are so contrived ("had to use my finger"?!? "girls that sing soprano"?!?).
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Andy
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Post by Andy on Nov 3, 2014 21:23:19 GMT -5
zack97: I found "Austin" to be extremely confusing as well, and it took me many listens over a number of years to finally understand it. For some reason, for the longest time I thought the man was calling the woman and not the other way around (apparently, the "it was almost a year before she called him up" line was too complicated for my 11 year old self to understand). matty005: Funny story! The full meaning of the song went over my heard for a long time as well. sabre14 and Ten Pound Hammer: I don't really understand the second-half verses of "Where I Come From", either. The lyrics are totally WTF-worthy. I think that song is basically just Alan Jackson playing around. A couple others: -I wasn't really exposed to the Beatles growing up (or much non-country music in general that wasn't the '80s pop rock my parents love), so for the longest time when Martina McBride sang that " 'Hey Jude" was his favorite song" in "God's Will" or when Ty Herndon sung that "her favorite song was "In My Life'" in "What Mattered Most", I had no idea what songs they were talking about. -It took me a while to realize that Buck Owens' "Tiger by the Tail" is a metaphor for being in a whirlwind romance and is not in fact about hunting big cats.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 22:18:13 GMT -5
I'll add Alan Jackson's Gone Country to this list. I thought it was just a fun ditty for the longest time and didn't understand the true statement this song was making
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on Nov 3, 2014 22:23:31 GMT -5
^ Apparently Alan himself thinks the song is positive and not cynical. Considering it was one of the last things Bob McDill wrote before he retired, I'm going with "cynical".
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Uncle Lumpy
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on Nov 4, 2014 14:16:02 GMT -5
Lee Greenwoods "Morning Ride". I loved that song as a kid. I'm a bit embarrassed to say the lyrics really never "clicked" til a few years ago. I still love it but was mortified when I suddenly realized that song is NOT about an automobile. I realize most of y'all probably haven't heard it. So yeah.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=05msIFLOSYk
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 17:19:31 GMT -5
Yes to "Fancy". I thought it was about a girl going to a dance. Then the rest was like 'I don't know'. Boy was I surprised when I found out.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 21:01:41 GMT -5
Another one: Eric Church- Two Pink Lines
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Andy
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Post by Andy on Nov 4, 2014 22:34:49 GMT -5
Another one: Eric Church- Two Pink Lines Good one. Personally, I was old enough to understand the overall meaning of the song when it came out, but the "these days the rabbit doesn't die" lyric totally befuddled me. Later I learned that it was referencing this old urban legend.
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md1340
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Post by md1340 on Nov 5, 2014 21:41:36 GMT -5
Tammy Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" because I couldn't spell yet either.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2014 11:41:57 GMT -5
Trace Adkins- Honkytonk Badonkadonk
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vamp111
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Post by vamp111 on Nov 10, 2014 18:31:22 GMT -5
HAHA mine is probably the most far off...When I was younger I thought the line in Shania Twain's "You're Still The One" where she says "Looks like we've made it, look how far we've come my baby.....they said 'I bet they'll never make it'" was literally about a Mom traveling with her baby (as in an infant) on a road trip somewhere and they finally "made it" to their destination. LOL.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 5, 2014 14:10:59 GMT -5
To this day, I still have no clue what "Drinkin' In My Sunday Dress" by Susan Haynes is about. It reached #46 on R&R in early 2006.
I kinda have an idea what the song is talking about. She's drinking in her bedroom with cigarettes, gin and crackers; and is a total mess. But the whole song together, especially with the Reverend sucking down communion wine line just confuses the heck out of me. The song's melody is infectious and it sounds great but the lyrics have bugged me for almost 9 years.
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Uncle Lumpy
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on Dec 9, 2014 13:47:59 GMT -5
To this day, I still have no clue what "Drinkin' In My Sunday Dress" by Susan Haynes is about. It reached #46 on R&R in early 2006. I kinda have an idea what the song is talking about. She's drinking in her bedroom with cigarettes, gin and crackers; and is a total mess. But the whole song together, especially with the Reverend sucking down communion wine line just confuses the heck out of me. The song's melody is infectious and it sounds great but the lyrics have bugged me for almost 9 years. So weird! This popped up on shuffle on my ipod just yesterday afternoon. And I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it (the entire album was great). I'm not positive but I always took it as her bieng depressed and laying around in her good clothes....and just generally not giving a s**t.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 9, 2014 20:12:26 GMT -5
To this day, I still have no clue what "Drinkin' In My Sunday Dress" by Susan Haynes is about. It reached #46 on R&R in early 2006. I kinda have an idea what the song is talking about. She's drinking in her bedroom with cigarettes, gin and crackers; and is a total mess. But the whole song together, especially with the Reverend sucking down communion wine line just confuses the heck out of me. The song's melody is infectious and it sounds great but the lyrics have bugged me for almost 9 years. So weird! This popped up on shuffle on my ipod just yesterday afternoon. And I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it (the entire album was great). I'm not positive but I always took it as her bieng depressed and laying around in her good clothes....and just generally not giving a s**t. What about the Reverend uping down communion wine?
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Uncle Lumpy
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on Dec 9, 2014 22:40:19 GMT -5
So weird! This popped up on shuffle on my ipod just yesterday afternoon. And I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it (the entire album was great). I'm not positive but I always took it as her bieng depressed and laying around in her good clothes....and just generally not giving a s**t. What about the Reverend uping down communion wine? I think the reverend is saying hes seen the narrator "gulping" down the wine. And is trying to shame her a bit. "Our reverend is a kingly soul; repents 'em on a dime. His Bible is not inked in gold, he is not the cheatin' kind. One Sunday after meetin', I was in the greetin' line. He said: "I've seen you from the altar, "Gulpin' down Communion wine." "Just remember who's beside you when it's no business of mine." I said: "Just remember who's beside you when it's no business of mine."
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 9, 2014 23:10:12 GMT -5
What about the Reverend uping down communion wine? I think the reverend is saying hes seen the narrator "gulping" down the wine. And is trying to shame her a bit. "Our reverend is a kingly soul; repents 'em on a dime. His Bible is not inked in gold, he is not the cheatin' kind. One Sunday after meetin', I was in the greetin' line. He said: "I've seen you from the altar, "Gulpin' down Communion wine." "Just remember who's beside you when it's no business of mine." I said: "Just remember who's beside you when it's no business of mine." Well then my interpretation is that the narrator needs to stop sulking in bed and blaming her Reverend for her drinking problems. But it's a song that peaked at #46 nearly nine years ago so why the heck should I even care this much? Probably because I get easily aggravated by these things - see "Gentle On My Mind" as a prime example.
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matty005
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Post by matty005 on Dec 9, 2014 23:34:39 GMT -5
I think the reverend is saying hes seen the narrator "gulping" down the wine. And is trying to shame her a bit. "Our reverend is a kingly soul; repents 'em on a dime. His Bible is not inked in gold, he is not the cheatin' kind. One Sunday after meetin', I was in the greetin' line. He said: "I've seen you from the altar, "Gulpin' down Communion wine." "Just remember who's beside you when it's no business of mine." I said: "Just remember who's beside you when it's no business of mine." Well then my interpretation is that the narrator needs to stop sulking in bed and blaming her Reverend for her drinking problems. But it's a song that peaked at #46 nearly nine years ago so why the heck should I even care this much? Probably because I get easily aggravated by these things - see "Gentle On My Mind" as a prime example. I think that's the point of the song though. She's just depressed and lazy and blaming others for acting that way (what a lot of us do after a heartbreak or a tough time). And sabre14 I am the same way. I was caught up on a Jana Kramer lyric a year or so ago and to this day it still irks me.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 9, 2014 23:39:33 GMT -5
Well then my interpretation is that the narrator needs to stop sulking in bed and blaming her Reverend for her drinking problems. But it's a song that peaked at #46 nearly nine years ago so why the heck should I even care this much? Probably because I get easily aggravated by these things - see "Gentle On My Mind" as a prime example. I think that's the point of the song though. She's just depressed and lazy and blaming others for acting that way (what a lot of us do after a heartbreak or a tough time). Yeah, I was just being a smart a** to be honest. I can relate to having my heart broken (fairly recently too) but I haven't done the things in the song. Perhaps blaming the person who cold shouldered you, but not the Reverend. BTW: I love the way the song sounds. It's actually on my iPod.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on Dec 10, 2014 13:36:54 GMT -5
I still have no idea what "She's My Kind of Rain" or "When the Stars Go Blue" are about.
At least the writers of "Red Umbrella" admitted on The 9513 that they made it total gibberish on purpose...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2014 13:51:35 GMT -5
I still have no idea what "She's My Kind of Rain" or "When the Stars Go Blue" are about. At least the writers of "Red Umbrella" admitted on The 9513 that they made it total gibberish on purpose... Same here. I don't like either song, but She's My Kinda Rain has always gotten under my skin big time. It always seemed like a song that was meant to be profound (in the eyes of the songwriters, anyway), but instead listeners are just like, "huh?" I still don't understand the meaning of "Truth No. 2 by the Dixie Chicks; I guess it's fine, though, because Natalie said they didn't understand the song when they recorded it.
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Uncle Lumpy
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on Dec 10, 2014 15:19:32 GMT -5
I still have no idea what "She's My Kind of Rain" or "When the Stars Go Blue" are about. At least the writers of "Red Umbrella" admitted on The 9513 that they made it total gibberish on purpose... Agreed. I love a good bit of Tim's material but these two left me scratching my head. I give "She's My Kind of Rain" a slight pass cause I like the melody & mood. But "When the Stars Go Blue" would easily fall into one of my most hated McGraw singles along with "Last Dollar (Fly Away)" , "Lookin' for That Girl" & "Southern Girl".
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 10, 2014 15:25:41 GMT -5
I still have no idea what "She's My Kind of Rain" or "When the Stars Go Blue" are about. At least the writers of "Red Umbrella" admitted on The 9513 that they made it total gibberish on purpose... would easily fall into one of my most hated McGraw singles along with "Last Dollar (Fly Away)" , "Lookin' for That Girl" At least in "Last Dollar (Fly Away)", Tim sounds like an actual person and not some computerized robot.
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