46
votes
Accepted
What does 'The Dark Side of the Moon' mean?
The moon revolves around the Earth at the exact same speed at which it rotates, due to a phenomenon having to do with the uneven weight distribution of the moon itself. Because of this, on Earth, we ...
- 7,096
37
votes
Accepted
Is the double negative in 'we don't need no education' intentional?
This is quite certainly intentional. While the double negative used as an intensified negative is considered ungrammatical in "standard" English, it is very common in many English dialects, ...
18
votes
In the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles, what are "colitas"?
The way I heard it, one of the guys on their road crew, who was Latino, told Henley and Frey that "colitas" meant "little buds" in Spanish. As in, marijuana buds. So, in that lyric they're ...
- 7,096
17
votes
Accepted
What is "25 or 6 to 4"?
"Speculation that the song's lyrics are drug related has been largely dismissed. Lamm himself says that the title is "just a reference to the time of day" and that "the song is about writing a song. ...
- 381
17
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning behind *THE NAME* of "Bohemian Rhapsody"?
"Bohemian" in the title doesn't refer to the region in the Czech Republic, but rather to what is known as the the bohemian lifestyle.
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, ...
- 6,832
16
votes
The meaning of "Uptown Funk"
This song is an example of what one might call "effectively instrumental" in that the song has no lyrics that are particularly meaningful. The vocal elements are, for the most part, just another ...
- 626
16
votes
Is the double negative in 'we don't need no education' intentional?
I've been unable to find any comments directly from Roger Waters (writer of the music and lyrics of the song) on the meaning of those lines. Looking at the lyrics on Genius.com, the annotation for the ...
- 4,403
15
votes
Accepted
Du Hast - You Have or You Hate?
It's an intentional play on words.
When we hear the opening lyrics:
Du
Du hast
Du hast mich
It's unclear if they're saying "Du hast mich" ("You have me") or "Du hasst mich" ("You hate me").
It's ...
- 2,058
13
votes
Accepted
Meaning of *Snow (Hey Oh)*
In a quote reproduced on Wikipedia, Anthony Kiedis states that the track is
"... about surviving, starting fresh. I've made a mess of everything, but I have a blank slate—a canvas of snow—and I get ...
13
votes
Blues and “big-legged women”
"Big-legged" was the original celebratory code phrase for the female backside. Obviously, if you had big legs then they must culminate in an upper thigh/backside of similar proportions. The term "...
- 7,096
12
votes
What does 'The Dark Side of the Moon' mean?
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
...
- 271
12
votes
Accepted
Do the lyrics a the beginning of Rock of Ages by Def Leppard mean anything?
Here's something from the Def Leppard FAQ:
These four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages", mean
nothing, though the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running
through the ...
- 1,570
11
votes
Accepted
What is meant by "Grandma Plays the Numbers"?
The "numbers" were indeed the lottery, but this was back before the government decided to get in on the action, so it was an illegal lottery run by gangsters.
Basically, it was a common, but ...
11
votes
Accepted
Who is Hozier's goddess?
It's to refer to his lover. The whole section is actually:
If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
It can be ...
Dom♦
- 4,276
10
votes
Accepted
What is the actual meaning of the the song Astronomy Domine by Pink Floyd?
It's about space, plain and simple. It's literally just a description of space - its colors, planets, stars, supernovas scaring Dan Dare.
It's typical Barrett - something very, very simple wrapped ...
- 852
10
votes
Accepted
In the Beatles' "I'm So Tired", why is Sir Walter Raleigh "such a stupid git"?
Sir Walter Raleigh is credited as the one who introduced tobacco to the UK from the (then) colony of Virginia. So the reference is to the cigarette in the lyrics, and the love-hate relationship with ...
- 4,930
9
votes
The meaning of "Uptown Funk"
The literal meaning of uptown is usually the more northward part of the center city, but it has connotations (via New York City) of an urban area that is more "upscale", wealthy, classy and ...
9
votes
What is "25 or 6 to 4"?
25 Or 6 To 4
should be interpreted as:
Twenty five or [twenty] six [minutes until] four [o'clock, AM]
9
votes
Accepted
What is Meaning of "Aerials" by System of a Down song and music video?
Genius has a cool feature which lets users interpret song meanings cooperatively. It also allows you annotate the meaning of smaller blocks of the lyrics.
As it happens, Aerials has been interpreted ...
- 1,183
9
votes
Accepted
NOFX's song "Linoleum" - what's the meaning of this song?
As always, genius is a good source for analyzing of song meanings. This particular song has been extensively analyzed by multiple users. Having said this, most of the time a song's meaning is subject ...
- 1,183
9
votes
Accepted
What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?
Prokofiev referred to the bird in Peter and the Wolf as simply 'the little bird'.
"Of course we shall have the flute as a little bird." [†Schlifstein, p.450.]
Although parakeets are smallish - ...
- 271
8
votes
Is the song "Paradise City" written about a specific city?
Wikipedia is rather vague:
Guns N' Roses' lead guitarist, Slash, states that the song was written
in the back of a rental van as they were on their way back from
playing a gig in San Francisco ...
- 2,825
8
votes
Accepted
Who are those famous looking people in the video of Pink Floyd's brain damage?
Below I've listed out the different people you see, with the corresponded line in the song in parenthesis. I don't know everyone, but I think this is at least a good start. Everyone who might be a ...
- 4,403
8
votes
What is meant by the chorus of "I Am the Highway" by Audioslave
This is one of my favorite songs, it means so much to me.
The meaning is this:
It has to do with being neglected, mistreated, overlooked and taken for granted by people you care about. They might ...
- 81
8
votes
Accepted
Which Taylor Swift songs are about her exes?
Billboard seems to have a summary of each of her (sometimes just rumored) relationships, and the songs that sprang from their fall-outs. I also found additional songs from a Suggest.com listicle, the ...
- 4,403
8
votes
Accepted
"Ex's and Oh's" by Elle King- What is "Oh's"?
There are multiple possible interpretations according to contributors on Genius:
The metaphorical x’s (hugs) and o’s (kisses) of the relationships
haunt her, symbolizing her running away from ...
- 2,825
8
votes
What does "I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?" mean?
It's a hard song to understand unless you remember the ironic-nihilist, slacker culture of the times. At the time, Gen-X teenagers and young adults were dismissed by their elders as aimless, apathetic,...
7
votes
Is a “brown-eyed girl” black?
The use of 'brown-eyed' as a euphemism for race is certainly older than "Brown-Eyed Girl": it was famously used in Chuck Berry's 1956 song "Brown Eyed Handsome Man". A Britannica article attributes ...
- 571
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible