Stories/Meanings Behind the Song

[Suet Seung]

Ever wondered what the meaning or the stories behind the popular songs? Like the ones that aren't obvious.

Take for example Michael Jackson's Billie Jean song.

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."

Source: http://www.inthe70s.com/generated/lyricsmeaning.shtml

They have a page for 80s and 90s lyric meaning too:

http://www.inthe80s.com/whatya.shtml
http://www.inthe90s.com/generated/lyricsmeaning.shtml


Other then that, anyone have any knowledge about songs and their meanings that they want to share?

It would be surprising to know what stories is behind the song and what the songs truly meant.

[john-e]

The first one that comes to mind is Iron Butterfly's In A Gadda Da Vida. The story is that the original lyrics were "In the Garden of Eden". The lead singer was drunk once while practicing and it came out as In a Gadda Da Vida. The band liked it better so the lyrics were changed.

[yearning]

Tears from Heaven was written by Eric Clapton when his boy died after falling from an apartment building.

[kidd]

'Huo Chai Tian Tang' (火柴天堂) by Panda Hsiung (熊天平) was based on the fairytale 'Little Match Girl'.

Excerpts from this article http://ent.163.com/imusic/1302/001122_40737_87893.html

其实在这之前，他的表弟一直是他忠实的听众，每天吵着要听熊天平唱歌，可是後来，熊天平的表弟发生意外，熊 天平说，火柴天堂是表弟吵着我写的，但现在写完了，但他却听不到了…………..

It says, before Panda released his first album, his cousin brother was already his loyal fan, everyday want to listen to Panda sing. But later, his cousin brother died in an accident. 'Hua Chai Tian Tang' was a song his cousin brother pestered him to write. But now that he finished writing the song, his cousin brother was unable to listen to it liao.

[ChestNut]

'Huo Chai Tian Tang' (火柴天堂) by Panda Hsiung (熊天平) was based on the fairytale 'Little Match Girl'.

Excerpts from this article http://ent.163.com/imusic/1302/001122_40737_87893.html

It says, before Panda released his first album, his cousin brother was already his loyal fan, everyday want to listen to Panda sing. But later, his cousin brother died in an accident. 'Hua Chai Tian Tang' was a song his cousin brother pestered him to write. But now that he finished writing the song, his cousin brother was unable to listen to it liao.

datz so sad....

Tears from Heaven was written by Eric Clapton when his boy died after falling from an apartment building.

it has been such a long time since that happen.. his boy would have been well into his teenage years already if that didn't happen..

[pemberly]

noel gallagher from oasis wrote their hit "wonderwall" after getting high and staring at his wall.

[kidd]

I just listen to the song 'Vincent' again recently and wondered why the song is called 'Vincent' and who is Vincent. So, I look it up and found this.

"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to Van Gogh's painting Starry Night. The song describes a different painting by Van Gogh in each of its stanzas.

Don McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of the artist. The following year, the song became the #1 hit in the UK and #12 in the USA. For several years, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam played the song daily. A copy of the sheet music is in a safe beneath the museum, along with a set of Van Gogh's paint brushes, the hat he wore while painting Starry Night, and various other items.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_(song)