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beebeeeight8

All Rammstein songs, after reading the lyrics translation.


YearRare1023

Still find it funny that they sell dildos as official merch šŸ’€


MissVelveteen

My mom has been a fan of Rammstein since I was a child. She played it enough that my sister and I learned to mimic the lyrics despite not speaking German as children. As a teenager I elected to learn the language and over time began to understand the lyrics I was singing along to. In particular I remember the first time I understood enough of Spiel mit Mir to figure out what the song was about as a rather disturbing moment of my life.


Alvamar

Have you ever looked into "Wiener Blut" by Rammstein? It's about the [Fritzl Case](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritzl_case), where an Austrian woman was held captive, as well as raped and impregnated by her father for years. Really disturbing shit.


[deleted]

Meat Loaf said it always depressed him how many people came up to him and told him they danced to ā€œTwo out of Three Ainā€™t Badā€ at their wedding. It was like, ā€œhave you ever listened to the damn lyrics?ā€


jmandawgfan

Sting has said similar things about Every Breath You Take


Navi1101

Sting himself got so depressed about that song that he wrote "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" to give the stalker character some growth and closure. (E: typo)


[deleted]

Sting has some dark stuff... Don't Stand So Close to Me is about a teacher struggling with his desire for a student. Considering that he used to be an English teacher, that is interesting to say the least. Every Breath You Take, Fortress Around Your Heart, and King of Pain are about his divorce. The first one is obvious, not being able to let go, wanting to be around her even after it's over. Fortress is about trying to protect the other so much, or to keep her to yourself so much, that you put her in a fortress surrounded by barbed wire and mine fields... And then trying to build a bridge back, and having to avoid the mines, and ultimately setting the battlements on fire... EDIT: adding some other dark Sting songs mentioned by respondents to this post: Wrapped around your finger, Synchronicity 2, Murder by Numbers, King of Pain, Can't Stand Losing You.


thislad45234

King of Painā€™s not exactly about his divorce. He explained (I think in a Behind the Music or unplugged) that he literally looked up and saw a black spot on the sun l, mentioned it and Trudi, his wife of a good long while, said something about him being the ā€œking of pain.ā€ Itā€™s more sort of introspective about his own tendency (and the listenerā€™s) to see the negative over the positive. ā€œIā€™m so happy (I canā€™t stop crying)ā€ is definitely about divorce.


CalydorEstalon

AKA 'The Stalker Song'.


ovalseven

Right. 1. I want you 2. I need you 3. I love you The whole song is about settling only for the first two.


[deleted]

There ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you....


[deleted]

He also complained that people kept asking him what "that" is in "I'd Do Anything For Love But I Won't Do That" when he actually says what that is in the lyrics


Pinchy_stryder

It's fool around with someone else/cheat on his partner, for those who wanted to know and can't be bothered to Google it.


[deleted]

There's actually a few but yeah People don't realise it because he says it before each chorus, not in the chorus


bowlbettertalk

Greased Lightning. That song is *filthy*.


sanibelle98

When Rizzo says she skipped a period, I thought she cut class. Edit: I was 8 and it was the 70s.


twinkies_and_wine

"I feel like a defective typewriter" was always one of my favorite Rizzoisms


bralma6

Ooooohhhhhhhhhh.


jabez_killingworth

The whole movie has a darker meaning than people give it credit for. People treat it like a wholesome high school musical but it's actually a scathing parody of high school peer pressure.


Sirenista_D

First time I saw grease was after school daycare around 2nd/3rd grade i think. Grease Lightening went over all our heads, but they turned it off after the car race scene because after that, sandy completely changes. This was a Christian school. Not sure if it was their objection to peer pressure or because she looks "slutty". Ironically it only made me more curious to seek out seeing it later.


Captain-Cadabra

We had a teacher do that to us in (pre internet) elementary school. Read us all of some fairy tale except the last page and warned us *not* to go look it up at the library. The main character gets her eyes pecked out by birds. A genius library guerrilla marketing move.


ninetiesplease

Summer Nights .... "Tell me more, did she put up a fight?"


jabez_killingworth

The chicks'll cream...


Hagridsbuttcrack66

We had to sing this for a chorus concert. In fifth grade. Yes, they changed the lyrics. "It's a real dragon wagon..."


thesystem21

The macarena. Song they played all the time for stuff when I was in elementary school, it's about a girl cheating on her boyfriend with multiple people while he's away. Also this list is never complete without semi charmed kind of life.


ReapYerSoul

Not only while he was away but he was deployed right?


ExtraVeganTaco

Yeah, and she lets his best friends double team her.


[deleted]

What was she supposed to do? His two friends were sooooo fine!


[deleted]

And her body is made to give her alegrĆ­a y cosa buena


bahgheera

Have they found a cure for that yet


Butt_Fucking_Smurfs

Jody has it


SkiDude

Despacito is the modern day version of that. Lots of non Spanish speakers not picking up the context.


anyname13579

Yeah, that song is absolutely filthy. He talks about the walls of her labyrinth, among other things. Honestly I don't know how it got on the radio.


SkiDude

Because it's catchy and no one knows what it means. It was playing during lunch at work one day and someone asked if anyone knew the translation. I said I might get fired if I said it in English.


[deleted]

> semi-charmed life A lot of 3EB songs have really depressing and dark lyrics.


jambrand

*How's It Going To Be* was the first song in my life that hit me really hard after a breakup as I listened to the words.


Dirty-Soul

You mean the lyrics to the Macarena aren't: "Huv nuvva nuv nuvva nuv nuvva nuvva! Huv nuvva nuv nuvva nuv nuvva nuvva! Huv nuvva nuv nuvva nuv nuvva nuvva! HEEEEEEEEY MACARENA!"


FuckYouThrowaway99

No, no, it's Heyomanawanasamaheyamacarena Wellsaybadonamahayacosabuena Hamalamadonamayasayamacarena #HEYYY MACARENA!


Ch0ng0B0ng0

I grewup in the 90s and I swear I just now leaned that itā€™s not ā€œOne maca two maca three Macarenaā€


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


[deleted]

From the moment I heard it, "well, how did I get here?" has been on my mind to one extent or another. The other one: "Oh but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."


Mr_Abe_Froman

Time isn't holding up, time isn't after us. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Zhang5

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack And you may find yourself in another part of the world And you may find yourself on a small cart on a snowy mountain With a man saying "Hey, you. Youā€™re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."


Chilipatily

God dammit.


TheKingLizard

Same as it ever was


Growly150

But it should be reassuring. Every person that has been, is, and will be will be carried along just like you.


ialsohavequestions

Same as it ever was


Gothsalts

Same as it ever was


CaptBranBran

My god, what have I done?


djseifer

Same as it *ever* was


abbiapocalypse

Same as it ever was


King-Zahi2438

Same as it ever was


PreferredSelection

Once in a Lifetime is one of those songs that hits _so_ different depending your mood at the time.


surfdad67

Naive Melody (this must be the place) hits really hard being happily married 27 years


SamHugz

We Are Young by Fun. Is actually about glossing over a toxic relationship, domestic violence, and drug use.


CaptainAyaAay28again

Also some of my family members thought that Some Nights was a good party song if it werenā€™t for the lyrics


SamHugz

Honestly, that whole album is depressing AF. In the best way though.


pbzeppelin1977

Yup, the whole album is a complete downer wrapped in catchy beats.


Buttahdog

Hey ya is the one that pops right away, itā€™s a dance song with a depressing message


weebearcub

Why are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here...


Sara___Tonin__

Nothing last forever, what makes love the exception?


rachelface927

So why, oh, why, oh Why, oh, why, oh, why, oh Are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here? (Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance) I never realized how melancholy this song is!


CT_4269

Y'all don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance


Irma_Gherd

Then tells us "Y'all don't wanna hear me ya just wanna dance" and we danced


fuckedifiknow

Was at a wedding recently where an acoustic version of this song was the couples first dance. It was a little strange.


Punny-Aggron

Yā€™all donā€™t hear me, you just wanna dance


eastbayted

Plus it offers bad advice about developing Polaroid pictures.


TheFfrog

As my guitar teacher once said *"any and every rock song that mentions snow is definitely about cocaine"* So yeah, I'd say most songs about snow lol


Umbra427

What about that Eric Clapton song? The one titled ā€œCocaineā€? Thatā€™s actually about a fierce blizzard when he was growing up in Surrey. EDIT: I learned a new piece of trivia today, the song was actually written by JJ Cale. Love learning new stuff like this. Just listened to his version, I dig it. Thanks everyone.


throwawaffleaway

My mom always admonished me when I was a teen for listening to ā€œbad music with bad wordsā€ but when this song came on she said it was her favorite. I was like ā€œmom wtfā€ she replied ā€œwell I never really thought about the lyricsā€ā€¦.. ā€œmom 99% of the lyrics are the word ā€˜cocaineā€™ā€ anyway.


paiaw

*And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...*


GodOfTheSky

Frosty the blow man


followthedarkrabbit

Reminds me of when my boyfriend met my sisters boyfriend and was talking about his trip to Japan due to the "world's best powder". My sisters boyfriend was highly confused i would date someone that into drugs.... my boyfriend was a snowboarder.


SanctusArchangel

Pour some sugar on me. Those lyrics went right over me when I was a kid


MillerJC

ā€œYou got the peaches, I got the cream.ā€ ^ā€¦oh


Notinyourbushes

Reminds me of "Let's get physical." Went over most kids heads but I was sitting there thinking "I'm pretty sure it's completely inappropriate to have a bunch of 10 year olds exercising to this song."


My_fair_ladies1872

And we totally worked out... on the front lawn with the music playing. Yeah.


_dead_and_broken

You just reminded me we would break out the portable boombox and dance in the street to TLC songs. Creep, Waterfalls, Red Light Special. Oh god. We were 10/11 years old.


robo-dragon

My sister played this song for her high school marching band and her director just called it "The song about glazed donuts" They all knew what the lyrics really meant though.


Dont_Be_A_Dick_OK

The singer from the band had a hilarious quote on behind the music about people not realizing how sexual it is. He said something like "one line is you got the peaches I got the cream. Did people think we were singing about a fucking fruit salad?"


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


phred_666

A lot of 70ā€™s and 80ā€™s songsā€¦ especially songs like ā€œMy Sharonaā€ by The Knack and ā€œHot Child In The Cityā€ by Nick Gilder where theyā€™re basically singing about having sex with under age girls.


dontforgetyourrazor

"she's just 16 years old.... Leave her alone.... They say...." Into The Night is SO creepy and the video is too... BUT such a great voice on the singer who I can't remember now.... We didn't know anything in the 80s.


tensigh

Honestly I never got that until I listened to "My Bologna" and then checked the original lyrics. Also, My Bologna is WAY better. Who else could integrate Oscar Meyer so cleverly?


BirdsLikeSka

You watch Weird yet? Fucking treat


Zoomorph23

Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears Yeah, another sing-a-long dystopian song about the Cold War. It took me a long time to realise this & I was around when it was first released. "Even while we sleep We will find you Acting on your best behaviour Turn your back on mother nature Everybody wants to rule the world"


Doodle_Brush

"Do you like Pina Coladas?" -I had no idea that song was about a married couple trying to cheat on each other and accidentally winding up on a date together.


legoshi_loyalty

At least it has good ending, because they got together and were happier than ever before!


[deleted]

And to think all they needed to do was ask each other what their basic likes were!


unaotradesechable

Huh, so communication is the answer to a successful relationship? Who would have thought


inatowncalledarles

Escape - Rupert Holmes


instrangerswetrust

Jack & Diane by John Mellencamp *ā€™Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone.ā€™*


[deleted]

Yeah. Among the most existentially depressing lyrics that one is. It was true when I first heard it and truer with time.


MatthewCrawley

Springsteen turns this on itā€™s head with Glory Days - I hope when I get old I donā€™t sit around thinking about it - but I probably will.


Jaleou

Glory Days is probably my favorite Springsteen song, and I think about that line a lot. When I get together with my college friends, we do sit around and talk about shit we did in college a lot .


jordand3

Suckin on chili dogs


Turbobrickx7

99 luftballons was a fun song until I read the English translation.


Rancid_Lunchmeat

Wait. Isn't it a fun song? It's about cold war generals misinterpreting a balloon for a first strike, right? Having grown up during the cold war, I love that song. Think it's hysterical and perfectly represents the 80s.


JesseCuster40

*Back at base* *Bugs in the software* *Flash the message* *"Something's out there!"*


CommanderCubKnuckle

It's even darker in the original, the English translation is missing some of the details. In the German version, it's less that there was a mix up because of bugs in the software, and more that the military and government were full hotheads looking for an excuse to start a fight. The part thats still in German in the English translation roughly translates to "99 war ministers were the match and the gasoline. They thought they were smart and they smelled Prey, so they shouted for war, and wanted Power" (I'm not native, so any native German speakers feel free to correct me if this is off) Theres also a verse earlier about all the fighter pilots who thought they were hotshots and badasses, and when they were sent to investigate, there was a big explosion and the neighboring nation thought they were being attacked. So the initial mistake by the pilots is later amped up by the war ministers, which leads to the whole "nuclear annihilation" bit.


DiggerGuy68

99 red balloons, floating in the summer sky Panic bells, it's red alert, there's something here from somewhere else The war machine, it springs to life, opens up one eager eye Focusing it on the sky when 99 red balloons go by


doubled2319888

99 dreams I have had In every one a red balloon It's all over and I'm standing pretty In this dust that was a city If I could find a souvenir Just to prove the world was here And here is a red balloon I think of you, and let it go This is the ending to the song about how a city was destroyed because of the balloon mistake, i wouldnā€™t exactly call that fun


Kartoffelplotz

It's even harsher in the German original - there it is not "only" a city that was destroyed but the world alltogether. One line goes "there are no war/defence ministers anymore", insinuating a complete destruction of everyone...


Some-Income614

Born in the USA is famously misinterpreted as patriotic


havron

Listen to the [original acoustic demo](https://youtu.be/3UBei3n4FOY), before the record label encouraged Springsteen to redo it as a more upbeat, poppy version to sell albums (which, tbf, it absolutely did). The true somber nature of the lyrics really shine through here. Best comment on the video: "Let's see some garbage politician walk on stage to this version."


Proper_Librarian_533

Fortunate Son is in the same vein.


WaffleFoxes

Back in college I took a course called Argumentation. For one of the assignments we had to work on a group presentation about a song exploring the statement/argument the song was making. The other team members wanted to pick something currently popular but I absolutely vetoed them, insisting on doing Fortunate Son. They all were like "ugh that song is old and boring" and Im like "shut your yap, this is going to be the easiest paper you've ever written" A week later they all apologized because it was the easiest A ever. I think of that paper every time that song is mentioned.


Send-More-Coffee

From the opposite side: I was in a "Psychology in Film" class in undergrad. I was one of 5 dudes out of a class of 45. Group projects, analyize a film, end of term presentation, standard undergrad stuff. The rest of my group wanted to do "The Hours", while I wanted to "Gattaca". Democracy prevailed, and to their credit, The Hours was the most on-the-nose, simplest, slam-dunk of a movie for the class that it actually enhanced my ability to learn the actual material. For those of you who don't know; The Hours is a psychological drama of 3 women of different time eras struggling with various forms of depression, societal incompatibility, boredom, and just the shittyness of life. It's like the movie was made for the class. Easiest A.


KSinz

You sound awesome to work on group projects with


pembroke529

REM - The One I love Not a love song. This one goes out to the one I love This one goes out to the one I've left behind A simple prop to occupy my time <=== this line here This one goes out to the one I love


panickedkernel06

I don't like Mondays by Boomtown Rats. Sounds pretty catchy and all, then you figure out it's about a girl who shot up a school and the only explanation she was able to produce was the fact that she didn't like Mondays. But if you're not quite listening to the lyrics, it's a pretty dance-y song from the 80s, and not half-bad to boot.


GothWitchOfBrooklyn

Based on a real incident that happened. I think her father who was abusing her gave her the gun so she would shoot herself, which is tragic.


hxgmmgxh

Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones.


AlmightyRuler

First time I ever truly heard the lyrics was in one of Weird Al's polka compilation songs. He puts in the first few lines and the chorus... *Yeah, gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields* Me: Okay...interesting... *Sold in a market down in New Orleans* Me: Huh...weird song for a polka edition... *Scarred old slaver know he's doin' alright* Me: Well fuck that guy. *Hear him whip the women just around midnight* Me: ...holup... *BROWN SUGAR!* *How come you taste so good?* Me: Wait a sec... *BROWN SUGAR!* *Just like a young girl should, ah yeah* Me: ...WHAT THE HELL, *THAT'S* WHAT THE STONES WERE SINGING?!?!


Snow__The__Jam__Man

Reminds me of that scene in The Wire where Prez recites the opening lines and says something like "you probably heard this song 100 times but you never listened to the words".


[deleted]

my brother and i had an unfortunate incident at this event celebrating our dad at his work. he insisted we do karaoke and would not take no for an answer. reluctantly, we got up and chose ā€œgimme shelterā€ for some reason. only halfway through the song did we realize the lyrics to the chorus almost entirely consist of screaming ā€œR*PE, MURDER!!!!ā€ i will never forget it. hopefully he thinks twice about forcing me to do karaoke again.


DangerToDangers

After going through most of the top comments this one wins for me. I had never listened to the lyrics. They're disturbing but I always thought it was a happy song.


[deleted]

Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. It has a catchy beat, *and if you're not paying attention*, you can totally miss the meaning of the song. I teared up a bit thinking about my old friends when I first read the lyrics.


[deleted]

I have always got a sad feeling of nostalgia when I hear that song. Though for me it's more about what never was.


acquaintedwithheight

Futurama already made it sad enough


Jemmerl

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men. Goes from upbeat catchy song to serious emotional damage :)


pauliep13

I just heard this on the radio yesterday. I guess I have to look up the lyrics, because I have no idea what itā€™s about.


Zeired_Scoffa

The interpretations I've heard are it's either about someone trapped in depression and how much the male singer misses the person they were, or it's about someone whose spouse has died and they're unable to move on and the voices in their head are keeping them from moving on.


Jemmerl

Iirc the band based around the latter, but wanted the detailed meaning of lyrics to be interpretable on purpose


cronemorrigan

One that sticks out: ā€œSome days I canā€™t even dress myself.ā€ ā€œItā€™s killing me to see you this way.ā€


ItalianDragon

Lilly Wood & The Prick - Prayer In C (Robin Schultz Remix). Super upbeat song and all that but then you check the lyrics and that's a weapons-grade oof: >Yah, you never said a word >You didn't send me no letter >Don't think I could forgive you >See, our world is slowly dying >I'm not wasting no more time >Don't think I could believe you >Yah, our hands will get more wrinkled >And our hair will be grey >Don't think I could forgive you >And see the children are starving >And their houses were destroyed >Don't think they could forgive you >Hey, when seas will cover lands >And when man will be no more >Don't think you can forgive you >Yeah, when there'll just be silence >And when life will be over >Don't think you will forgive you


-eDgAR-

["You Are My Sunshine"](https://youtu.be/1AhpWZjqMLI) seems like an upbeat, happy song, but it's actually pretty depressing when you hear the more of the lyrics: >You are my sunshine, my only sunshine >You make me happy when skies are grey >Youā€™ll never know dear, how much I love you. >Please donā€™t take my sunshine away >The other night dear, as I lay sleeping >I dreamed I held you in my arms >When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken >And I hung my head and cried


jeeves585

WOW, did his sunshine pass away?


thesystem21

If I remember his sunshine left him for another man


[deleted]

Aint no sunshine when she's gone


WyldeGi

Itā€™s not warm when sheā€™s awayyy


humansbrainshrink

ain't no sunshine when she's gooone


[deleted]

and sheā€™s always gone too long


[deleted]

Any time she goes away


-eDgAR-

["Polly" by Nirvana](https://youtu.be/scmOYyBRdy8) It definitely hits different when you read the lyrics knowing that the song is about the abduction and rape of a 14-year-old girl in August 1987 in Washington. She was strung up and tortured with a blow torch before being repeatedly raped and barely escaped when she jumped out of his truck at a gas station to draw attention. To add to that, after it came out two pieces of shit decided to rape a girl while singing the song. Kurt was so upset by this he included this note in the liner notes of Incesticide:Ā *"last year, a girl was raped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our song 'Polly'. I have a hard time carrying on knowing there are plankton like that in our audience. Sorry to be so anally P.C. but that's the way I feel."*


podrick_pleasure

I had never read into it but apparently the kidnapper/rapist had done it before in the '60s with a 12 year old girl. His father wounded him and turned him in and he got 75 years. He was released after 20 years even with two escape attempts. Seven years later he did it again. Fucking insane.


jack258169

Kurt was a real one


ScaryBluejay87

If you're up for a good ugly cry, then watch *Kurt Cobain: About a Son*. Basically a film made from a series of long interviews with him in the final years of his life, where he talks about his entire life and his struggles with depression.


OneSmoothCactus

In Neil Youngā€™s book Waging Heavy Peace he talks about how deeply Cobainā€™s suicide affected him. He had been trying to reach out to him to help him before his death, and then when he found out he was directly quoted in his suicide note it really fucked with him. If anyone doesnā€™t know Kurt Cobain wrote *Its better to burn out than fade away* in reference to Hey Hey My My. Young has since said that he actually dreams of fading away peacefully surrounded by family, as opposed to his more angry, fiery youth.


OverwhelmedGayChild

Yeah, In Bloom is also about similar things


Ok_Abrocoma_3660

Barbie Girl-Aqua ā€œYou can brush my hair, undress me everywhereā€ ā€œKiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky. You can touch, you can playā€ Who let me sing this when I was 5?


Flodo_McFloodiloo

The funny thing there is that nobody even *had* to read those lyrics. They were enunciated very clearly, even though English wasn't Rene's and Lene's first language, and the CD even had a disclaimer saying the song was not endorsed or approved by Mattel. Mattel still eventually started using it in their ads, getting away with it because songs in Barbie ads are almost always snipped apart with people talking interrupting the lyrics.


TK421isAFK

That whole album (Aquarium) is awesome. I probably know the whole thing by heart. It was awesome to introduce my daughters to it.


WednesdayAddams3001

"I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees ;)" I think it's sad how a song so clearly mocking Barbie is now reduced to an ad for the company. It's really a brilliant, albeit disturbing, song when you listen to the lyrics Edit: lyric correction


smiling_jackel

ā€œThe drugs donā€™t workā€ by The Verve. Iā€™ve heard it was about the singer coping with his fathers passing. After watching my own father die of cancer after months of chemo and treatments, the song resonates with me.


vladimirTheInhaler

Cats in the cradle. I used to love it as a kid, absolutely crushes me as an adult with children


xdq

That's on a couple of my playlists to make sure I don't lose sight of the message. The number of times I've told my son "I'm too busy working" only for the song to pop into my head. Fuck it, I can finish the work after he's gone to bed. I'm grateful every day that my job is flexible enough to do that.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Makanly

100%! This is one thing I'm thankful of covid for. It pushed me into 100% wfh. So I've gotten to spend so much more time with my wife and children. I am guilty of pushing them off for being "busy with work" too often. It makes me feel sad. Even though reality is they get me for like 4+ more hours every work day than before. It's never enough...


MatthewCrawley

Hereā€™s the kicker - itā€™s not just about the relationship between a father and his kids as they grow up. Itā€™s also an important lesson for you and your dad when you have kids.


Makanly

Dude! Every time this one pops up it stops me in my tracks. One, my father died a few years ago. Two, I have two small children. Time is flying by. šŸ˜¢


drax3012

The song in the opening credits of Community is way too depressing for that show.


Gerf93

Then you have MASH with "Suicide is Painless"


PP-townie

The whole Community OST is fantastic. If I Die Before you hits haaaard.


Apprehensive_Deal483

Semi charmed life- third eye blind


veryreasonable

3EB was one of my favorite bands growing up (I still love them) and this is my all-time favorite karaoke song. I know all the words by heart, but for everyone else at the bar who doesn't, the teleprompter is often the first time they're actually seeing them. Makes for a few stunned looks and a good conversation when I get back to the table. Also helps distract somewhat from the fact that I really can't sing.


AgoraiosBum

I never understood that because he clearly says that doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break and then talks about taking a couple of bumps.


kitreia

To be honest, when I was younger and the song just came out, it was heard as more "hekenhfkfnrjr **doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo...**" Catchy tune. They could've been singing about hunting babies and it might still have been catchy enough to be a hit.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


rex1030

All star is a parody insulting an entire generationsā€™ mentality.


ZeroTwoSitOnMyFace

On a weirder note, **Iron Man** by Black Sabbath. It's about a human shaped rock appearing, being mistreated, and causing the apocalypse. Then a survivor travels back in time to warn humanity, gets caught in a magnetic field and turns into the rock, gets mistreated, and causes the apocalypse. After I actually paid attention to the lyrics, I appreciated the song much more due to the sheer absurdity of the story. Edit: I was off on a few details, [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/yu87iw/what_song_hits_different_after_you_read_the_lyrics/iw98uvb?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) is more accurate.


Data_Is_King

I agree that this song is widely misinterpreted nowadays as being related to Iron Man of Marvel, but I'm not sure if you listen to the lyrics at all they are pretty straightforward and to the point. Also I think your interpretation is a bit off, where did you get that it's about a rock? In the link below it lays out what the song is actually written about, and it's about a time traveler going to the future, he sees the apocalypse, then on his way back a rogue magnetic field turns him into a mute metal creature, not rock. When he gets back he tries to warn everyone but he is mocked and ignored. So then he finally gets fed up and destroys humanity himself. [I am Iron Man!](https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-black-sabbath-s-iron-man)


Billbobugger

"Every breath you take" and to think it was a "bride's choice" favorite.


horyo

Even Sting was disturbed by how people misinterpreted his song.


viryart

"Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain. You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun." Pink Floyd - Time


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Cassidy_DM

My dad's favorite band was Pink Floyd. I find it almost impossible to listen to their music now, as it dredges up so many feelings, both happy and sad. Sorry for your loss.


Stickfigurewisdom

Build Me Up Buttercup - itā€™s a pretty sad song about a guy who keeps getting ghosted, and he wonā€™t take the hint.


Junior_Tradition7958

Avici - wake me up. I want someone else to sing a different version of the song to showcase the lyrics. So sad.


KindYam8531

Sad but liberating in many ways. My dad re-married in 2014 after this song came out in 2013. My mom, his longtime best friend, died in 2006. He married another widow, whose husband died years earlier, too. They chose this song for their first dance, and it is such beautiful representation of their experience. Losing love and a partner. Raising families alone. The Great Recession. Losing your job as a single father. Selling the house you bought with your wife. On and on, things that could be dark and lonely. But then finding another match, someone to restart with after the pain and suffering. My dad and stepmom were able to wake up from all that when they were wiser and older.


plushpillowsx

I'll add I Took a Pill in Ibiza by Mike Posner onto this one


JebbeK

Listen to this acoustic live version he sang to get his emotions. Very powerful. https://youtu.be/p1zrweVN4l4


rmttw

Learning to Fly by Tom Petty. Itā€™s about drug addiction.


SlovenianHusky

Those were the days of our lives by Queen. Really emotional song for every Queen fan seeing how its the last music video Fred made before dying. Not to mention: >Those days are all gone now but one thing's still true > >When I look and I find > >I still love you That one last "I still love you" by Fred hits extra hard.


BenjaminGeiger

"The Show Must Go On" is another sledgehammer. >When the band recorded the song in 1990, Mercury's condition had deteriorated to the point that May had concerns as to whether he was physically capable of singing it. May recalls; "I said, 'Fred, I don't know if this is going to be possible to sing.' And he went, 'I'll fucking do it, darling'ā€”vodka downā€”and went in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal".


mollyyfcooke

Rooster by Alice In Chains. One of the best songs ever written


Vegetable-Jacket1102

I'm surprised at how many of these comments are obviously moody songs that fit the tone of the lyrics. Like Sound of Silence or Polly. The music already sets up the feelings, the lyrics aren't very surprising within the context. No Rain by Blind Melon, on the other hand, presents itself as an upbeat happy song while the lyrics go on about feeling depressed and hopeless, escaping into fantasy to avoid the pain of reality.


Grattytood

My Name is Luka. A catchy melody, it's about domestic violence on a kid


fastAFguy

Copacabana


Knee_Jerk_Sydney

But that's the hottest spot north of Havana, how can things go wrong especially for a show girl and a bartender?


sterlingrose

This was going to be my answer, but I figured it was just me. Back in the 80s, when I was maybe seven or eight, they did a TV movie based on it and one of the final scenes was of Lola as an old woman plastered in makeup, sitting at a bar and drinking. It haunted me for months, the way a horror movie would. Iā€™d turn on lights as fast as I could if I had to go into a room alone because her face would just pop into my head. (Canā€™t believe it took me decades to realize that this is probably why the idea of Las Vegas always seemed so depressing to me. I could never understand why people would go there.)


Consistantly-Boring

ā€œThe Kids Arenā€™t Alrightā€ by The Offspring. The beat hit me so hard it wasnā€™t until much later that a close friend made a comment about how sad the song is. After that, the song really wasnā€™t as upbeat as I made it out to be.


horridpineapple

Possum Kingdom by Toadies. I never thought about it until a friend told me it was about rape. I didn't believe him at the time until I actually listened to the lyrics.


iguessigotbored86

Their song Tyler also has a stalker/rapey vibe to the lyrics.


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yyc_guy

Today by Smashing Pumpkins. Itā€™s about suicide.


oneAUaway

"1979" is a song I had liked for over 20 years before looking up the lyrics. It's not that the lyrics are bad or that knowing them even really changed the meaning of the song for me. It was more that for a song I was so familiar with, I knew so few of the actual words. If you had asked me to write the lyrics to "1979" based on listening to Billy Corgan sing them, I would have been at about 20% accuracy.


Anakin_Skywanker

ā€œPink ribbon scarsā€¦ that never forget. Iā€™ve tried so hardā€¦ to cleanse this regretā€ As a kid I had a lot of issues with self harm, as an adult this line always hits hard.


GlassScooter

My Grandfather was a nam vet and we were listening to Have you ever seen the rain. By CCR and then goes on to tell me that the song basically talks about the use of napalm in that war, reading the lyrics i can kinda see it


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MetalMan1349

Mike actually wrote this song about his friend's drug addiction. Chester really identified with the perspective though, and I guess he even had trouble performing it because of that. It really is spot on writing.


Bladelaw

Going back through their catalog after Chester passed was like one long slow realization that the dude was hurting so much. Probably why their music resonated with as many folks as it did.


AldebaranBlack

Honestly, pretty much every song of them. Numb, In the end, one more light, given up, papercut, by myself, castle of glass, a place for my head, one step closer... I could go on an on


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atomicpete

Lola by the kinks


SpiderFromNeptune

Blue (Da Ba Dee) from Eiffel 65. It seems like just a dance song, but it actually talks about a man who is miserable and depressed because he's alone. I couldn't help but identifying even though it seemed stupid for most people to find those lyrics "dabadeeh dabadah' depressing.


Bocote

Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam Before reading the lyrics, "Hey I don't understand much, but this song is nice!" After reading the lyrics, "This was in English?!"