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10/16/2008, 10:07 AM
Songs that mean things you don't expect.
I was with a friend of mine who knows music the other day and we heard the song Horse With No Name on the radio and he said it's about heroin. I will never think about that song the same way, now. Are there any other songs like that you can think of?
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10/16/2008, 10:14 PM
we all know what a "steely dan" is by now I suppose..at least if you've read naked lunch... But those Guys, Donald and Walter were the masters of this sort of thing. Kid charlemagne comes to mind there's a great little wiki piece on that one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Charlemagne Walter and Donald were the masters of the poetically obtuse and witty obscure referneces. I love that sort of thing actually. remember that tune Dr Wu? are you with me doctor wu, are you really just a shadow of a man that I once knew, are you crazy are you high or just an ordinary guy, have you done all you can do....are you with me doctor? Doctor Jing Nuan Wu (1933-2002), an acupuncturist and artist based in Washington DC. Emigrated from China to the US at a young age and graduated from Harvard to become a Wall Street venture capitalist, finally setting up a Taoist clinic in Washington in 1973. Apparently helped one of the band to overcome drug addiction in the mid-70s, hence the lyrical tribute.
10/16/2008, 7:06 PM
If you listen to Happiness is a Warm Gun on Anthology, you will be able to deduce that it's actually about heroin and is in fact the best indication that what Albert Goldman said about Lennon is true, that Yoko hooked him on heroin to control his mind.
10/16/2008, 2:19 PM
Yes great topic Janey. One of my favorite songs in the world is Billy Holiday's "Good morning heartache." I was also surprized when I discovered that it is not a love song but that she was singing about her heroin addiction. deb
10/16/2008, 11:04 AM
Cool idea for a topic Janey. I never twigged about Horse With No Name but now that I think about it, that makes purrfect sense.
10/16/2008, 10:24 AM
Here's another one. The composer of the epic ballad Abraham, Martin and John recently told some magazine that his song wasn't about Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and JFK, but actually about Abraham Lincoln, Dean Martin and John Timling, his cousin.
10/16/2008, 10:19 AM
Oh I thought that was about his incestual affair with LaToya. :~D It's a little known fact that the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is about the old I Love Lucy show. If you listen backwards, there's a segment where Ricky Ricardo is singing Babalu. Also there was an episode where Ricky forgot to buy Lucy a birthday present and ended up giving her cellophane flowers that were yellow and green.