There are those of us who pay close attention to lyrics, and those of us who don’t. But even for people who are lyrics-oriented, the meaning behind a song’s words is not always obvious. This is certainly true for the following five songs. While analyzing the lyrics might reveal some of the meaning intended by the song’s lyricist(s), interviews conducted with the songwriters have helped to clarify their intent. It turns out that their songs have meanings many of us never got from just listening to them. (OK fine, maybe you did, for some of them…)
Videos by American Songwriter
1. The Moody Blues, “Nights in White Satin”
The lyrics to this Moody Blues classic seem straightforward on the whole, especially given that Justin Hayward sings the words “I love you” 14 times. According to an interview Hayward conducted with Louder, there is more to the song than a simple love story. Hayward composed the song, and the lyrics were his attempt to convey the combination of his sadness over a recent breakup and the elation he felt over a new romantic relationship he had just started. As for the titular line, Nights in white satin / Never reaching the end, Heyward said he thought of a set of satin sheets he had just made his bed with, which had been a gift from an ex-girlfriend (although not the one who inspired the rest of the song).
2. The Beatles, “Dear Prudence”
Who is Prudence? And why does John Lennon want her to come out to play? Lennon and George Harrison met Prudence Bruns (then Prudence Farrow) and her sister, the actress Mia Farrow, while studying Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India, in 1968. Bruns was intense about her studies, isolating herself to the degree that other attendees of the retreat were concerned about her. This was the source of Lennon’s plea for her to “come out to play.” Bruns went on to become a Transcendental Meditation teacher in Florida, and in 2012, she founded the Dear Prudence Foundation, which aims to share the yogic teachings of the ancient Rishis.
3. R.E.M., “Try Not to Breathe”
It’s not hard to figure out that this track from Automatic for the People is about someone who is near the end of a long life and ready to welcome death. On an episode of the Song Exploder podcast, Michael Stipe revealed that the subject of the song is his paternal grandmother. He also explained a central and cryptic element of the song. The lyrics include the following references to shivering: These are the eyes of the old / Shivering and fold / I will hold my breath until all these shivers subside; and Baby, don’t shiver now / Why do you shiver now? Stipe said those lines were a reference to his grandmother’s tendency to shiver frequently and without provocation—a tendency that he shared with her.
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind the Band Name: R.E.M.]
4. Peter Gabriel, “Red Rain”
Here is a case of a song in which the lyrics actually tell you what the meaning is, but the words lend themselves to being interpreted in other ways. The refrain, Red rain is pouring down / Pouring down all over me, could be construed to be a metaphor for blood, and in turn, could be interpreted as part of a statement about war or environmental degradation.
Given the political messages found in Gabriel’s earlier work, such as those articulated in “Biko” and “Games Without Frontiers,” it would be easy to assume that it was the former Genesis frontman’s intent to use these lyrics to comment on some aspect of world affairs. However, we can take the first line of the first verse literally: I am standing up at the water’s edge in my dream. Gabriel has said “Red Rain” is about a recurring nightmare he had about swimming in red water. In the dream, he did see glasses full of blood, but at least as far as anyone knows, there is no greater symbolism behind the images of red water and blood.
The lesson from “Red Rain,” then, is that sometimes it’s best not to overthink the meaning of lyrics.
5. Nazareth, “Hair of the Dog”
Nowhere in the four-plus minutes of the title track of Nazareth’s sixth album is there a reference to “hair of the dog.” It is also clearly not about drinking in the morning after a long night at the bar—a remedy for a hangover commonly known as “hair of the dog.” Aside from the refrain of Now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch, there aren’t many lyrics in the song, so the meaning appears to be crystal clear. Singer Dan McCafferty is telling a woman with a reputation for lying that he is not going to be taken advantage of (Talkin’ jivey, poison ivy / You ain’t gonna cling to me). In other words, “he’s a son of a bitch” who is too smart and too tough to be fooled.
“Son of a Bitch” would be the obvious name for the song, then, but Nazareth wanted to make the muscular tune the title track for the album. Their label wouldn’t allow them to call their album Son of a Bitch, so they came up with a play on those words: “heir of the dog.” And the new name for the song (and album), “Hair of the Dog,” was born.
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
