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Think you know what your favorite rock songs are really about? Think again! Join us as we count down our picks for the rock songs whose true meanings are deeper than most people realize. You might never listen to these tracks the same way again!
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00:00And it's indeed ironic, don't you think?
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the rock songs that are deeper than people realize.
00:10Oh yeah, alright, take it easy baby, make it last of us live.
00:20Number 20, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day.
00:25Summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last.
00:32One of Green Day's most vulnerable pieces of work, there's no question that this hit rocked its listeners to the
00:38core upon release.
00:39Ring out the bells again, like we did when spring began.
00:47The music video's depiction of war, along with American Idiot's central theme of George W. Bush-era American life,
00:54may lead listeners to believe that this song references the 9-11 terror attacks in New York.
00:59Wake me up, when September Ends.
01:04However, singer Billy Joe Armstrong has gone on to state that the song's intent was actually to express a much
01:10more personal loss,
01:11that of his father who died when Billy was only 10 years old.
01:15Like my father's come to pass, 20 years has gone so fast.
01:23Number 19, Slide, Goo Goo Dolls.
01:26The common interpretation of Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls is that the track is a love song.
01:31Could you whisper in my ear the things you wanna feel?
01:36And in a way it is, but not in the way most of us assume.
01:39With lines like, I wanna wake up where you are and what you are is beautiful,
01:43the couple in the song is definitely in love.
01:45However, the crux of the song, the big plotline that gets overlooked by most of us,
01:50is the fact that the girl in the song comes from a very strict religious family,
01:54and she's pregnant.
02:02When Johnny Resnick sings,
02:03Do You Wanna Get Married or Run Away?
02:15While it would make sense for a song called Alive to be a celebration of life,
02:19that isn't what Eddie Vedder had in mind when he wrote the lyrics.
02:28Rather than a celebration,
02:30Alive is a tale about a boy who finds out his dad isn't his biological father,
02:34and then it gets much, much darker from there.
02:43Vedder used to think the misperception of the song's meaning and the refrain,
02:46I'm still alive, was, in his own words, quote,
02:49quote, a curse.
02:50But he has since talked about how the audience's reaction to the song over the years,
02:54quote, lifted the curse.
02:56The audience changed the meaning for me.
03:04Number 17.
03:06Hey Man, Nice Shot, Filter.
03:08Wish I would've met you.
03:11Hey Man, Nice Shot debuted just one year after the world was shocked by the sudden death of Kurt Cobain.
03:17Hey Man, Nice Shot.
03:24Given its timing, many assumed Hey Man, Nice Shot was about this event.
03:29In reality, it was inspired by R. Bud Dwyer,
03:32a former Pennsylvania state treasurer who took his own life on the air in 1987.
03:37This was in response to an indictment on Dwyer for bribery despite his claims of being framed.
03:42Lines referencing those who were right there after the smoke has gone
03:45highlights the public nature of Dwyer's death,
03:48which differs from Cobain, who died all alone.
03:59This misinterpretation is due largely to poor timing
04:02and misdirected controversy upon its release.
04:16Hollywood Undead's track, Bullet, is a classic example of why it's always important to read a little deeper into the
04:21lyrics.
04:26To a casual listener, the song seems to be quite cheerful and upbeat, the perfect soundtrack for a summer evening.
04:32However, once you actually begin to take note of what the lyrics are referring to,
04:36it does a total U-turn.
04:38Not only does this track deal with incredibly heavy subject matter in a very honest manner,
04:43but it also intentionally throws its audience for a loop from its opening bars onwards.
04:55That said, the protagonist's struggle with depression and self-harm comes through quite vividly in the lyrics.
05:02Number 15, White Lightning, Def Leppard.
05:05Def Leppard is one of those bands that has more than a few songs about the party-heavy lifestyle of
05:09rock and roll.
05:14However, for as much as White Lightning has been misinterpreted as just another generic rock song,
05:20the track is actually dedicated to their guitarist, Steve Clark.
05:23Just one year prior to its release, Clark passed away from a lethal mix of alcohol and prescription drugs,
05:29leaving a huge void in the band.
05:39The song's title is a reference to Clark's nickname,
05:42and according to the band, is littered with a range of in-jokes at his expense,
05:46something they are certain he would have enjoyed.
05:48Number 14, Hook, Blues Traveler.
05:51There are probably many listeners who know the song Hook by Blues Traveler quite well,
05:55without actually understanding its lyrics or overall intention.
06:03The song isn't the straightforward, formulaic pop song it claims to be.
06:08Instead, it is a cutting satire of the entire idea of pop music and how shallow it can be.
06:13Even the title alludes to the fact that the track is about to dive into the idea of hooks in
06:18music.
06:19No lies, the heart brings you time.
06:26Blues Traveler succeeded in crafting a memorable pop song nonetheless,
06:29but the fact that they did it by taking aim at memorable pop song structure is pretty hilarious.
06:35Number 13, Crash Into Me, Dave Matthews Band.
06:39The song Crash Into Me by the Dave Matthews Band doesn't pull any punches when it comes to its subject
06:43matter.
06:44Sweet like undead to my soul, sweet you rockin', sweet you roll.
06:52It is openly romantic, and even a little risque from time to time, detailing some pretty intense passion and longing.
06:59On first listen, it might seem like the track is about a normal relationship,
07:03but as you continue to listen, things become a little clearer.
07:07The song actually details a stalker who is infatuated with a woman,
07:11watching her from afar without her knowledge.
07:18This knowledge recontextualizes the song pretty heavily,
07:22making it a much less charming release from Dave Matthews and company.
07:26Number 12, Hotel California, The Eagles.
07:29Don't feel too bad if you don't fully understand the true meaning of The Eagles' Hotel California,
07:33because, well, we're not sure The Eagles know it either.
07:36On the dark, there's a highway, cool wind in my head.
07:42Lead singer Don Henley has even been quoted as saying the song, quote,
07:46can have a million interpretations.
07:48What we do know is that it isn't really about a hotel.
07:51Duh.
07:52Instead, the hotel in question and the experiences therein are metaphors.
07:56Welcome to the Hotel California.
08:01But metaphors for what exactly range from, to quote Henley, quote,
08:06high life in Los Angeles, to quote,
08:08the music business, to quote,
08:10the dark underbelly of the American dream.
08:12Yeah, that's a lot of ground.
08:14You can check out any time you like,
08:16but you can never leave.
08:19Number 11, American Girl, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
08:23Well, she was an American girl.
08:27Proximity to tragedy has a strange way of skewing a song's meaning,
08:31as exemplified once again in Tom Petty's American Girl.
08:34She was an American girl.
08:38A young woman from the University of Florida took her own life shortly before the song's release,
08:43which incidentally took place close to Gainesville, where Tom Petty was born.
08:46She stood alone all about the man.
08:50The line about a girl standing alone on her balcony is merely a coincidence,
08:54with Petty's inspiration coming from the sounds of the freeway near his apartment.
08:58Unfortunately for urban legend devotees,
09:01Tom made it clear that American Girl is a love song with no intentional references to the tragic event.
09:12Number 10, Good Riddance, Time of Your Life, Green Day.
09:16Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.
09:21This song has a message that is mind-bogglingly obvious,
09:25but largely ignored nonetheless.
09:27It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
09:33I hope you had the time of your life.
09:36The expression, Good Riddance, suggests relief at being liberated from a troublesome person or event,
09:42yet the song is heavily associated with nostalgia and high regards for time past.
09:46This is perhaps due to the rich, beautiful melody which masks Billy Joe Armstrong's intended message of
09:51screw you to his then-girlfriend, who left him to travel to Ecuador.
10:01With this in mind, its continual placement in graduation slideshows, weddings, and funerals
10:07becomes a little weird, and we're sure Armstrong is perfectly fine with that.
10:11Something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
10:16I hope you had the time of your life.
10:20Number 9, Harder to Breathe, Maroon 5.
10:29Maroon 5's debut album, Songs About Jane, focused much of its efforts on expressing the inner turmoil
10:34of Adam Levine after a tough breakup with, well, Jane.
10:43It stands to reason that the album's first track would make this message crystal clear.
10:48At first glance, the lyrics appear to describe the feelings of loneliness and suffocation
10:52of a breakup.
10:57But Adam has since declared that Harder to Breathe is actually about the band's label
11:02demanding more music late into production.
11:04It may have been intended initially as a screw you to the band's label,
11:12but we can guess that the animosity faded when the royalties started to come in.
11:17Number 8, The One I Love, R.E.M.
11:20The song is called The One I Love.
11:23How can this one not be a love song, right?
11:25This one goes out to the one I love.
11:30And in 1987, Michael Stipe told Rolling Stone that, quote,
11:34It's probably better that they just think it's a love song at this point.
11:38However, while the song is relatively light on lyrics, most of them are anything but loving.
11:43This one goes out to the one I've left behind.
11:50In reference to the titular One I Love, Stipe refers to, quote,
11:53A simple prop to occupy my time.
11:56As he said in a different interview at the time, quote,
11:59It's very clear that it's about using people over and over again.
12:03So basically, you might want to think twice before you add this to your Spotify romantic playlist.
12:13Number 7, BYOB, System of a Down.
12:16People were very prepared to jump to the obvious conclusion when System of a Down put out a song
12:21called BYOB. Surely Serge Tonkian was telling people to bring your own beer, right?
12:33Well, the overtly political nature of some of the band's earlier work
12:37wasn't enough to make this one obvious enough, it seemed.
12:40The track is in fact titled Bring Your Own Bombs,
12:43and is pretty clearly a protest song directed at the US government's war with Iraq.
12:55The song went on to become a pretty big commercial success for the band,
12:58becoming their only Billboard Top 40 hit, peaking at number 27.
13:03Number 6, CLOSING TIME, SEMISONIC.
13:06Closing time, one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer.
13:14This one seems pretty straightforward, finish your whiskey or beer.
13:18Clearly, Semi-Sonic is relaying the sense of loneliness experienced
13:21when the warmth of booze and friends fades away at the end of a night out.
13:25I know who I want to take me home.
13:29However, lead singer Dan Wilson explained that the song is actually a metaphor for childbirth.
13:35So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits, I hope you have found...
13:42With his first child on the way,
13:44Wilson used the song as a way to express his emotions during a transformative time in his life.
13:49Upon learning this, the song's sad, existential message
13:52transforms into one of hope for new beginnings in a person's life
13:55after experiencing the joys and challenges of parenthood.
13:59I know who I want to take me home.
14:03Number 5, ROCK THE CASBAH, THE CLASH.
14:07By 1982, The Clash was spreading their wings a bit more with their musical output.
14:12The shank he told his Cadillac, he went a cousin down the bill.
14:19Elements of New Wave and Ska had found their way into their music,
14:22and their single ROCK THE CASBAH was one of the finest examples.
14:26Sure, it sounds like an exotic party song on its surface,
14:28but Joe Strummer's lyrics reveal quite a lot more.
14:31The track actually focuses on the banning of music by a tyrannical king or lord,
14:35and was in some ways inspired by the outlying of Western music and media in Iran,
14:40a ban that continued well into the 21st century.
14:50In the end, the king decides to order his jet pilots to bomb a group of protesters,
14:55but they reject his order and join them instead.
14:59Number 4, SUMMER OF 69, BRIAN ADAMS
15:02We all know that guy in high school who couldn't go without making a low-hanging sexual joke
15:10any time someone mentioned the number 69.
15:13It turns out that Brian Adams' nostalgic rock classic was never reminiscent of that final summer of the 60s,
15:18as Adams would have only been 10 at the time.
15:27Brian has gone on to admit that the musical experiences are merely filler,
15:31and that the intended meaning is to detail a summer full of lots and lots of sex.
15:36A lot of people think it's about a year, but actually it's more about making love in the summertime.
15:41It turns out, this time around, immature high school guy was right,
15:44and the most obvious of innuendos slipped right under our noses.
15:55Number 3, Ironic, Alanis Morissette
16:03Events and statements that are deliberately opposite of what one may expect are considered ironic.
16:09What takes place in Alanis Morissette's song can be more appropriately categorized as tragic.
16:19Winning the lottery and dying the next day,
16:21being pardoned from death row two minutes too late,
16:24and discovering your dream man is already married are all tragic events,
16:28leaving listeners confused as to why a song named Ironic contains no real irony.
16:40Stay with us here, but the lack of irony in a song named for irony is, in fact, ironic.
16:46Confused? Think it over a bit.
16:48It's actually quite clever.
16:55Number 2, Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
17:04Given the song's upbeat vibe and status, as Rolling Stone called it,
17:08quote,
17:08one of the most relentlessly sunshiny songs of the 90s,
17:11you'd be forgiven for not realizing Semi-Charmed Life is about struggles with substance use.
17:23You'd also be forgiven for missing the not-so-hidden meaning
17:27had you only heard the edited version that most radio stations pounded into our eardrums back in 1997,
17:32since a line that was very specific in its detail was cut for airplay.
17:41Number 1, Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen
17:52This essential 4th of July power ballad likely conjures up images of fireworks,
17:58American flags, and freedom.
17:59It's truly an iconic song of patriotism.
18:02Born in the USA
18:05Until you realize that Bruce Springsteen basically spends the entire song criticizing America
18:12with respect to how working-class veterans of the Vietnam War were treated.
18:23Starting out, the song recounts the story of a man born dirt poor and constantly in trouble.
18:28He then goes off to war, and things just get worse from there.
18:39All the while, the ever-popular chorus is repeated again and again.
18:44It's hard to believe that this song is played right next to the likes of God Bless the USA,
18:49when its message could not be any more different.
18:59Did you already know any of these song meanings?
19:02Let us know in the comments.
19:03Well-
19:06In the comments on the viewers
19:06Well-sk金
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