For example, I remember the time when American Idiot by Green Day came out in 2004. The song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” was everywhere on the radio. The song is about the death of the vocalist’s father dying when he was age 10.
Yet, because that the song and album was released 3 years after 9/11 and 1 year since America started the War in Iraq, everyone associated that song with 9/11 more than what the song originally meant.
And everytime I have listened to it, I just continue to associate that song with it’s original meaning and not because people randomly decided to make it about 9/11.
I’m loving the responses.
There is one more song I feel I have to include that I originally was going to include but had a brainfart on it.
Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried to Live” was falsely interpreted as a suicide song. It is not. Chris Cornell himself has gone on to say that it is about ‘trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive’. Essentially, what introverts try to do with themselves to be more normalized and outgoing, but having the struggle to.
Pumped up kicks. For some reason people don’t process the line “better run, better run, faster than my bullet.” It’s about columbine the bassist had a cousin had a cousin who went to columbine when the shooting happened.
In middle school and early high school my some people I knew were always like “OmG iT’s AbOuT a ScHoOl ShOoTiNg” trying to be edgy , however to give them credit I thought was true too.
But I had no idea it was about columbine specifically
“Don’t Like Mondays” from Bob Geldof (1979) would be another example of a good song about shooting elementary school kids.
Yep, you can write a song about school shootings if you’re suburban and white but if your black and “urban” they will bleep the word “purple”.
Have you watched the music video for Wake Me Up When September Ends? That would explain a lot about why people made that conclusion.
Very related, but the song that was played over every retirement, graduation, and other big life event photo montage for about 3 years was literally called “Good Riddance” lmao
During the 90s, every artist had to have a graduation song.
Even film director Baz Lurrman of all people released one.
I am really glad the trend died.
That was my 8th grade graduation song.
“Vamos a la playa” by Righeira is about a nuclear catastrophe, but if you don’t speak spanish, you are likely to assume it’s just a good vibes summer song about going to the beach.
Alive by Pearl Jam is about a guy who’s dad ended up not being his dad because his real dad died. The guy looks a lot like his dad and his mom misses his dad so the mom tries to have sex with the guy.
Most people just hear the “I’m still alive” and think it’s a victorious song. But the I’m still alive part is meant as a sad statement.
Bon Iver’s second album is mostly inspired by Heath Ledger’s death. He was shooting a music video off in a cabin when it happened and ended up having a 3 day greaving session with the videographer, Matt Amato, who was best friends with Heath. Justin was friends as well, having hung out a few times.
The opening track Perth—where Heath was from and where Justin first met him—was just a riff at that point and ended up being about his death. It’s abstract, like the ending lines, “wire it up, you’re breaking your ground” is referencing the common practice of wiring the jaw up post-death for open coffins, then being put into the ground. And some lyrics are simply personal things Matt had said over the days. All sort of said like a mind flying around I’m grief.
It’s unusual since despite Justin explaining this in several interviews, and most recently in the I Am Heath Ledger documentary, many people don’t know. There’s also a lot of popular rumours meanings out there about the song being about war or long-distance relationships. The lyrics begin to make sense after knowing the actual basis.
Is THAT what they’re associating it with? 9/11?
I seriously thought it was a reference to the eternal september of the internet, or potentially the school year.
That makes even less sense than the stuff I thought it was about, and I was fucking REACHING.
I thought it was about the school year starting.
Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Paul and Mary is not about smoking weed. It’s about the tragedy of losing your childhood since of wonder and imagination.
Also, Mr Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan was not about a drug dealer. At the time of the writing Dylan was known as Mr tambourine man.
Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen
Yeah, it’s not a patriotic boner song…
Semi charmed life is about a meth addiction, not a summer jam
Zombie by cranberries is about the cruelty of war, not a Halloween bop
99 red balloons is about the overzealous nature of countries to go to war, not just a bouncy tune
There’s more but that’s what I have at the top of my mind
“Brown Eyed Girl” is about an inter-racial relationship, not anal sex.
People think brown eyed girl by Van Morrison is about anal sex?? People that have heard the song or read the lyrics??
Wow. That’s does not give me any hope for humanity.
Some people are just too fast for common sense to catch up with.
Its commonly assumed that Hey Man Nice Shot by Filter was written about Kurt Cobain. It was written about the public tv suicide of R Budd Dwyer.
Tearjerker is about the moment Anthony Kiedis heard that Kurt Cobain had died. That’s fairly well know by fans but less so by casual listeners. And I remember Kurt Loder / MTV News interrupting normal broadcast to report about Cobain the same way that people remember the JFK assassination or the Challenger disaster. So Tearjerker often prompts flashbacks.
I often skip that song; too sad when you know the meaning.
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