I saw a post on the blog of Jeremy Nell, a South African cartoonist, that I found to be a bit of an eye opener.

I had heard the song Lola by The Kinks many, many times over the years, and really enjoyed that song. And not once did I ever imagine what the song was really about.

Turns out the song is about a guy who picks up a woman in a bar, and then the woman turns out to be a man. This last part escaped me until it was pointed out me, and I actually read the lyrics.

I must say, this is not the only song out there that does not always convey what it really means. The biggest one that pops in my head is Every Breath You Take by The Police. That song is about a stalker, yet at every dance I have been to, when they have a slow dance, this song gets played. People think it is a nice romantic love song, but in reality it is a rather disturbing song.

There are many songs which people have not gotten, and then had to have the real meaning pointed out – it is staggering how many songs have veiled references to drugs.

I was going to use the song, Puff the Magic Dragon, by Peter, Paul and Mary as an example of this, but digging around a little, I discovered that the song was actually intended to be an innocent song, and had nothing to do with drugs.

So, I think it pays to check before assuming too much about songs.

If you have any other cool meanings for songs, do add a comment.

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