The lyrics of these songs just might blow your mind once you bother paying attention to them.
You might have heard these songs countless times, they might have been playing on a loop through your Spotify playlist and you might have spent days humming the same tune over and over again. But have you ever paid attention to what the lyrics of these songs actually refer to? What if all your favorite songs were full of twisted innuendos? That one song that gets overplayed at funerals and weddings just might have a different meaning altogether.
There is a possibility that you might not truly know the meaning behind some of the most popular songs. Now thanks to a Reddit thread by u/Klusten titled "What song hits differently after you read the lyrics?", people are coming forward to name popular tracks that have been misinterpreted for ages.
Here are 25 songs shared by social media users that hold some sort of hidden meaning and might require a few extra brain cells to understand deeply:
"It's almost tragic how Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles was released in an apocalyptic world setting. 2020 had no right to do it so dirty!! The song would’ve been the perfect summer bop for 2017."- @coolguysndrome
"The song isn't supposed to make sense. It's teenagers dreaming about all the cool stuff they're going to do. As an ex-teenager, I can tell you that a lot of that was stupid and didn't make sense."- u/pm-me-racecars
"I think she is talking to God. She can't forgive him for the things that are happening in the world." - u/Well-whatdoIknow
"I believe that song was also inspired by the novel 1984 - so yes, very dystopian!"- u/turnybutton
"Went over most kids' heads but I was sitting there thinking 'I'm pretty sure it's completely inappropriate to have a bunch of 10-year-olds exercising to this song.'" - u/Notinyourbushes
"I am addicted to the song Mary on a cross until I saw the meaning, oh my I am very sorry to Jesus."- @xavvrzk
"I find it so funny that there are still people that are only now finding out that Pumped Up Kicks is about school shootings. Like it is literally on every single list of 'happy songs with dark meanings.' It was literally the only reason I even heard of the song."- @vNEET666
"In her song Milkshake, Kelis proclaims her ability to make blended, frozen treats better than the boys. She then repeatedly asks the boys to 'Warm it up,' meaning that her milkshake is not at optimal temperature and thus not better than milkshakes that are. In this essay, I will." - @TheLlamunist
"Sometimes I forget that Alanis Morissette did a cover of My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas as an emotional piano ballad, and life feels empty for a brief moment, but then I remember and I find life once more has meaning." - @_steclo
"When will people stop playing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at their wedding? Please look up the meaning of this song, folks." - @SophiaSalander
"The best part is, Kurt allegedly didn't know it. Another musician wrote Kurt smells like Teen Spirit on his dressing room wall/mirror talking about his girlfriend's deodorant, and he thought it had some deeper meaning and liked the phrase as something revolutionary." - @timpa
"I’ve heard over the years that this song is either about someone not saving a drowning man or Collins’ first divorce from his wife. Either way, it’s a tense song and of my faves." - @NaomiCranfield1
"How many of y'all don't know the real meaning behind Waterfalls by TLC? TO STOP CHASING H**S WITH AIDS." - @KENDRICKBSWAGG
"Ok, but have u ever listened to the words in Low by Flo Rida and shivered while imagining your 7th-grade self fist pumping to it in your plaid Bermudas and Aeropostale graphic tee completely obliviously to the meaning of the song but just hoping Joey was watching you across the gym?" - @sarahdkoenig
"This song (One More Light by Linkin Park) is what I use as my alarm every morning so that I'm reminded every day that no matter how worthless and insignificant I may be feeling, my life will always have meaning and people would care if I was to disappear." - @ArshadDahlan123
"The Macarena. The song they played all the time for stuff when I was in elementary school, it's about a girl cheating on her boyfriend with multiple people while he's away." - u/thesystem21
"It’s about an old couple who drive to a local festival but end states away and die in a crash. They shouldn’t have been driving." - u/Cornualonga
"Without the lyrics, it is a bit creepy. When you know the lyrics, is the most creepy song on earth." - u/STJ41
"Once you know the back story you can't help but laugh about it. It's not the emotional ballad you'd expect when you first hear it. It's actually about how badly European MTV sucks." - u/AiraComet
"It's about Black men being lynched and swinging from the trees." - @CdnPoster
"It’s about how Australians stole land from the indigenous aboriginals and how we should give it back. I think there might also be a climate change message in there with the line 'how can we sleep while our beds are burning?' Implying that we're ignoring the world's problems." - u/carissadraws
"Even though the lyrics are mostly audible, it's a song that rips so hard and then you realize it's about war and PTSD." - u/spicychrysalis
"It's about a real 15-year-old named Jeremy Wade Delle, who after struggling with depression decided to blow his brains out in front of his English class at Richardson High School in Texas." - u/RandomGuyJohan
"I sorta thought the whole album was a concept album about vampires, given the symbols and such." - u/DronedAgain
"That sounds sweet and upbeat until you pay attention to the lyrics and realize it's about being miserable and burned out." - u/sarcosaurus
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