Have you ever been listening to a song, tapping your toe, or even singing along, and then you look up and say, “Wait, what?” You wonder if what you heard was really what you heard. You ask yourself, “Did they say what I think they just said?” Well, we wanted to dive into three songs that make you feel that way all over again—a trio of tracks that make you go, Huh, what? Indeed, these are three classic rock songs that make you rewind to hear what they just said over again.
“Hey Joe” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from ‘Are You Experienced’ (1966)
Jimi Hendrix has several signature songs, from “Purple Haze” to “Foxy Lady”. But “Hey Joe” is on that list, too. It’s a rough and rugged blues-rock song where Hendrix can show off his roots. But when you listen closely to the track, you realize there is quite a bit of violence involved. It’s just about a cowboy-like figure walking the Wild West with his pistol. No, the singer is setting out to do some violent stuff to a loved one—to shoot his “ol’ lady”. The song is so good, but the subject is so gruesome. What a conundrum!
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“Lola” by The Kinks from ‘Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One’ (1970)
This flirtatious love song has a lot more going on below the surface than you might pick up initially. Of course, that’s the point. Life itself is more than what it seems. There is always more than meets the eye happening around us. So, while the British-born band The Kinks wrote a very specific and cheeky love track here, it’s also in its own way a metaphor for how we might better understand the world. Things aren’t binary, aren’t black and white. “Lola” knows it.
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” by The Beatles from ‘Abbey Road’ (1969)
Like the Hendrix offering above, this song is a bit more violent than it initially lets on. The goofy sounds, the silly lyrics—they all amount to more than meets the eye. And The Beatles love it every step of the way. Just what is Maxwell doing with that silver hammer? Well, he’s banging actual heads with the actual metal of it all—murdering. It’s not a cartoon, it’s death set to melody. Oh, well! It’s too good to turn away from.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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(Original Caption) A singer called Joni. Joni Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter, United Kingdom, 1968. The guitar-pickin' gal is Joni Mitchell, a long blonde haired Canadian folk singer. Pictured last night outside the Revolution club, Joni is here (until 1st October) for radio, television and concert appearances. Apart from concert appearances, 25 year old Joni will be heard on "Top Gear" on Radio One and "The Monday Show" on BBC 1. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) -
English rock band the Beatles arrive at London Airport from the USA, with their manager Brian Epstein (1934 – 1967, in coach doorway), 2nd September 1965. From left to right, John Lennon (1940 – 1980), George Harrison (1943 – 2001), Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. (Photo by George Stroud/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) -
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John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls at event, New York, 1990s. (Photo by Steve Eichner/Getty Images) -
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Pop group The Byrds (l to r): Chris Hillman; Dave Crosby; Mike Clark; Jim McGuinn; and Gene Clark. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)