Saturday, December 06, 2008

Mysterious Song Topics

Somehow the topic of the song "Whip-It" by DEVO (you know, that video where guys in black turtlenecks wearing flower pot-like hats are whipping the clothes off a woman in pioneer clothes, popular in, you guessed it, the 1980s) came up in discussion the other day.

What's it about? According to this insightful wikipedia entry, interpretations have ranged from sadomasochism to masturbation to inhaling nitrous oxide from canned, pressurized whipped cream cans. A perusal of the lyrics provides few clues.
Other mysterious songs I would like to know: What is the "pompetus of love" featured in Steve Miller Band's "The Joker"? What are the Kingsmen really saying in "Louie Louie" (which was investigated by the FBI out of concerns that the indecipherable lyrics might be obscene)? Who was Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughtta Know?" (one of the top revenge songs of all time) directed towards and how did he feel everytime he heard it on the radio? What is the meaning of the Doors' song "Five-To-One" (when asked by one of his fellow band members, Jim Morrisson allegedly replied, "That's for me to know and you to find out." There are lots of other examples of mystery songs out there I bet somebody could (or maybe already has) written a book about...

4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Dave Collier (aka uncle Joey). I'm guessing that is an urban legend, as no woman could be that angry over a guy who does goofy voices in bed.

5 people under 30 to every 1 person over 30 in 196x.

They've got the guns, but we've got the numbers...

7:48 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Burning down the house. Another good one.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/talking+heads/burning+down+the+house_20135067.html

I did this as a drunken karaoke song with my wife the first night we met. A bit uncomfortable after we both started to comprehend our own interpretations of the song.

I have to give it to the eighties bands for their subversive subtleness.

7:53 PM  
Blogger Susie Hellman said...

And what WAS Julio doing down by the schoolyard?

2:25 PM  
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11:33 PM  

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