3 Lyrics That Only Make Sense Once You Know the Backstory

Some songs speak for themselves. Others require a little more explaining. Here are three songs you kind of need to know the backstory to. Trust me, they’re easier to understand once you have a little more context.

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“Cornelia Street” by Taylor Swift 

“And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends / I’d never walk Cornelia Street again / That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend / I’d never walk Cornelia Street again.”

The romantic themes of “Cornelia Street” are fairly obvious. Without context, though, it’s confusing as to why Taylor Swift chose that location for the setting of her musical love affair. 

Many fans think the choice has to do with Swift’s New York City apartment, which she rented around this time, located on Cornelia Street in the West Village.

Some even think that the song is about her alleged fling with model Karlie Kloss, who was seen going in and out of that apartment from time to time. However, it also could have just as easily been written about Joe Alwyn. Neither of these rumors has been confirmed. 

“Lucky” by Britney Spears

“She’s so lucky, she’s a star / But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking / If there’s nothing missing in my life / Then why do these tears come at night?”

When Britney Spears released “Lucky” in 2000, she was getting ready to drop her second studio album, Oops!…I Did It Again. At the time, she was still milking the success that followed her debut, …Baby One More Time. The song begs the question: “Lucky” couldn’t possibly be about Britney, could it?

Spears has never explicitly stated that this song is directly about her own life. However, she alluded to the fact that she could relate to the song’s “character” in an interview in 2000. 

“I hate it when you know, celebrities quote-on, say they talk about how depressing their lives are. I wouldn’t change my life for anything, I’m so happy with what I’m doing, but I’m human,” Spears explained. “But I’m just like everybody else out there. You know, I have depressing moments. You know, I get sad just like everybody else.”

“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson

“Billie Jean is not my lover / She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one / But the kid is not my son.”

When it comes to a lot of MJ’s music, the point is to get up and dance, not necessarily to stress over what the lyrics mean. However, this line in “Billie Jean” is a bit of a head-scratcher. It gets pretty hard to ignore if you don’t actually know what the song is about.

Michael Jackson later revealed that “Billie Jean” wasn’t inspired by a specific person, but by crazy fans who were obsessed with him and his brothers when they were in the Jackson 5. However, in a biography of Jackson titled The Magic and The Madness by Randy J. Taraborelli, the author writes that “Billie Jean” was inspired by a fan who sent Jackson letters claiming he was the father of her child.

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