Sex, Drugs and Murder: The Meaning of English Songs Few Notice





Today we have light but weird stuff especially for music lovers.



Listening to foreign songs, you focus more on the melody, on the general atmosphere. Track text is a secondary matter. And this sometimes plays a cruel joke with us.



Let's talk about popular songs, in which people without good English (and sometimes with it) in most cases miss the true meaning. Brace yourself, it will be a little creepy. Go.

Russell Simmons - "Comfortable Place"



Let's start with the almost harmless one. In 2009, the Ukrainian confectionery company Roshen released a chocolate ad with Russell Simmons' song "Comfortable Place" in the background.



The melody is pleasant, but the meaning of the text is very curious.





Text and translation under the spoiler
Gotta girl so fine

Loves me all the time

Pull her hair, slap her face

But it's alright, she just wants

To be disgraced

And you say it should be better than this

And you think so

Temptation

You just can't resist, so it goes

Call it a heaven, call it a day

You think it's wrong

Oh no, it's such a comfortable place



Out all night again

Brews and pills

Cocaine

Getting off however you can

But it's alright

As long as it kills the pain

And you say it should be better than this

Oh you think so

Temptation

You just can't resist, so it goes

Call it heaven, call it a day

You think it's wrong

Oh no, it's such a comfortable place



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An excellent song about a masochistic girl and drug use, an excerpt from which was played in advertising for five years, so for sure. And even in that piece, everything is perfectly audible.



A jamb of advertisers or a strategic move? What do you think?



The Police - Every Breath You Take



This song has a lot of titles and awards. In 1984 she received two Grammy Awards - Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group or Duet. According to The Rolling Stone magazine, she is ranked 84th in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" ranking. And at # 25 on Billboard's Hot 100 Songs of All Time.



This song is loved to be played at weddings during the first dance of the bride and groom. And when listening, it can really seem like a song about love and support. But that's not the case at all.





Lyrics and translation under the spoiler
Every breath you take

Every move you make

Every bond you break

Every step you take

I'll be watching you



Every single day

Every word you say

Every game you play

Every night you stay

I'll be watching you



O can't you see

You belong to me

How my poor heart aches with every step you take



Every move you make

Every vow you break

Every smile you fake

Every claim you stake

I'll be watching you



Since you've gone I been lost without a trace

I dream at night I can only see your face

I look around but it's you I can't replace

I feel so cold and I long for your embrace

I keep crying baby, baby please



Every move you make

Every vow you break

Every smile you fake

Every claim you stake

I'll be watching you



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If the song is really about love and support, then what has it to do with broken promises and vows, fake smiles and pain in the heart?



Sting himself, the author of the song, claimed that it was about obsession, about tracking and controlling a person who is unrequitedly in love. And in this context, the words โ€œI will watch your every stepโ€ sound a little creepy.



Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow



When this track was just released, he immediately became a regular at school discos both abroad and in the post-Soviet space. The slow and flowing melody became an excellent slow-paced one that gathered all the couples around.



Indeed, it is sung about dating, kissing, first sex. But this is not the main meaning of the song.





Under the spoiler lyrics
They call me The Wild Rose

But my name was Elisa Day

Why they call me it I do not know

For my name was Elisa Day



From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one

She stared in my eyes and smiled

For her lips were the colour of the roses

That grew down the river, all bloody and wild



When he knocked on my door and entered the room

My trembling subsided in his sure embrace

He would be my first man, and with a careful hand

He wiped up the tears that ran down my face



On the second day I brought her a flower

She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen

And I said, 'Do you know where the wild roses grow

So sweet and scarlet and free?'



On the second day he came with a single red rose

Said: 'Give me your loss and your sorrow?'

I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed

If I show you the roses will you follow?'



On the third day he took me to the river

He showed me the roses and we kissed

And the last thing I heard was a muttered word

As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist



On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow

And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief

As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die'

And I lent down and planted a rose between her teeth



***





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In fact, the song is about a maniac who seduces an innocent girl and then kills her. However, this is directly sung at the very end:



And the last thing I heard was a muttered word

As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist



And I kissed her goodbye, said โ€œAll beauty must dieโ€

And I knelt down and planted a rose between her teeth



But that's not all, because the song makes it pretty clear that the girl is not the first victim of a maniac. Because her name is "Wild Rose", and the man wants to show her the place where wild roses grow - that is, he wants to take her to the place where he kills all his victims, and kill her there. A plot worthy of a movie.



Alphaville - Big In Japan



This song is a real phenomenon. Because it was from her that the phrase โ€œBig in Japanโ€ became an idiom.



Big in Japan is the name of the phenomenon when an artist or a musical group could not become popular in their native country, but at the same time became literally idols in another. Why Japan? Because the musical tastes of the Japanese are very, very flexible - they like almost everything, so this is a very rewarding market for musicians.



For example, the American metal band Manowar at the start of their career was rather poorly known in their homeland, but gained insane popularity in Germany. And the rock group Cheap Trick is generally known to few people in the USA or Europe, but in Japan it received the status of a cult - they were called "American Beatles".






Lyrics under the spoiler
Winter's cityside

Crystal bits of snowflakes

All around my head and in the wind

I had no illusions

That I'd ever find a glimpse

Of summer's heatwaves in your eyes

You did what you did to me

Now it's history I see

Here's my comeback on the road again

Things will happen while they can

I will wait here for my man tonight

It's easy when you're big in Japan



Ah when you're big in Japan tonight

Big in Japan, be tight

Big in Japan, ooh the eastern sea's so blue

Big in Japan, alright

Pay then I'll sleep by your side

Things are easy when you're big in Japan

Oh when you're big in Japan



Neon on my naked skin,

Passing silhouettes

Of strange illuminated mannequins

Shall I stay here at the zoo

Or should I go and change my point of view

For other ugly scenes

You did what you did to me

Now it's history I see

Here's my comeback on the road again

Things will happen while they can

I will wait here for my man tonight

It's easy when you're big in Japan



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Initially, the author claimed that this is a song about a man everyone considers a failure. And he says he's "cool in Japan."



But the meaning is deeper. As it turned out, this is a story about a couple of drug addicts who dream of getting rid of addiction.



Crystal bits of snowflakes. The phrase literally translates as "tiny crystal snowflakes." But what is really meant here is heroin, cocaine or mephedrone - in slang they are often called "snow" or "snowflakes".



And in the phrases โ€œI will wait here for my man tonightโ€ and โ€œpay then I'll sleep by your sideโ€ there is a very transparent hint that the girl has to prostitute herself in order to have money for a new dose.



"Shall I stay here at the zoo?" - This is a reference to a very real Berlin metro station, which at that time was considered the main meeting place for businessmen and drug addicts.



Moreover, Marian Gold, the lead singer of the Alphaville group, admitted that in fact this song is still about drug addicts and a very specific pair of the musician's acquaintances was taken as prototypes of the heroes.



Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks



A real meme song - almost everyone heard the four lines of the chorus on the Internet. Immediately after the release, she gained immense popularity, was nominated for a Grammy and took the first lines in the charts of different countries.



But what exactly is described in it, many have missed. The perky beat and the major mood contrasts strongly with the text, so even many native speakers simply did not think about the meaning, considering it something light and danceable.



Lead singer Mark Foster said that hundreds of people sing this song without thinking about the meaning, and are horrified when it comes to them.





Lyrics under the spoiler
Robert's got a quick hand

He'll look around the room

He won't tell you his plan

He's got a rolled cigarette hanging out his mouth

He's a cowboy kid

Yeah, he found a six-shooter gun

In his dad's closet hidden in a box

Of fun things

And I don't even know what

But he's coming for you, yeah, he's coming for you



All the other kids with the pumped up kicks

You'd better run, better run, outrun my gun

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks

You'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet



Daddy works a long day

He be coming home late, yeah, he's coming home late

And he's bringing me a surprise

Because dinner's in the kitchen and it's packed in ice

I've waited for a long time

Yeah, the sleight of my hand is now a quick pull trigger

I reason with my cigarette

And say your hair's on fire

You must have lost your wits, yeah



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In fact, it is about a teenager planning a massacre at school.



According to the author , the song was born for the same reasons as Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment or Capote's Cold-blooded Murder. Foster wanted to get inside the head of a withdrawn and mentally unhealthy teenager who had similar thoughts.



"Pumped up kicks" is the colloquial name for a cool brand sneaker with an air cushioned sole. And the "cowboy kid" - the "farmer's child" - wants to deal with children who can afford these sneakers. He imagines how he finds a revolver with his father and arranges a hunt for majors.



This contrast of rather eerie lyrics and incendiary melody only strengthened the popularity of the track.



By the way, an unexpectedly large amount of music is devoted to the topic of mass murder. For example, Nightwish - The Kinslayer is also about school shooting, based on Columbine school shooting.



Hozier - Take Me to Church



Let's end on a more positive note. The song Take Me to Church became a real hit in 2014. It sounded from every teapot, it was overwritten on the radio.



And you know, even many religious people think that it is about love of God. After all, if you take into account only the chorus, without the verses, you can make quite unambiguous conclusions. And he is very memorable.



The style of the track itself is similar to gospel - American Christian music, which is all written for the glory of religion and God. But the meaning is much more interesting.





Lyrics under the spoiler
My lover's got humour,

She's the giggle at a funeral,

Knows everybody's disapproval,

I should've worshipped her sooner.

If the Heavens ever did speak,

She is the last true mouthpiece.

Every Sunday's getting more bleak,

A fresh poison each week.

โ€œWe were born sickโ€, you heard them say it,

My church offers no absolution,

She tells me, โ€œWorship in the bedroomโ€.

The only heaven I'll be sent to

Is when I'm alone with you,

I was born sick, but I love it,

Command me to be well.

Amen, amen, amen!



Take me to church,

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.

I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife.

Offer me my deathless death.

Good God, let me give you my life.



If I'm a pagan of the good times

My lover's the sunlight.

To keep the Goddess on my side,

She demands a sacrifice,

To drain the whole sea,

Get something shiny,

Something meaty for the main course.

That's a fine looking high horse,

What you got in the stable?

We've a lot of starving faithful,

That looks tasty,

That looks plenty,

This is hungry work.



No masters or kings when the ritual begins,

There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin,

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene,

Only then I am human,

Only then I am clean.

Amen, amen, amen!



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In fact, the songwriter compares love to religion. Even more, the song can be called anti-religious, because the only god he recognizes is his beloved woman (or a man, if you take into account the visual series of the official video).



My church offers no absolutes My church offers no absolutes

She tells me, "Worship in the bedroom" She tells me, "Bow in the bedroom"

The only Heaven I'll be sent to The only heaven I go to,

Is when I ' m alone with you This is when I'm alone with you



An interesting metaphor for amorous pleasures, isn't it? And "bowing down" here is clearly not about prayer. And the whole song is one big metaphor for sex. One phrase "Get something meaty" - "get something meaty" - which is only worth it.



Despite the fact that the song is sung about a woman - "her", the meaning also affects same-sex relationships and their condemnation. According to the author himself , the song was strongly influenced by the situation in Russia with the ban on the promotion of homosexuality.



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Interestingly, even perfect knowledge of English does not help when listening to songs. Because, first of all, a person perceives rhythm and melody. Words are memorized mainly in the refrain - and even then, if the soloist clearly articulates the text.



Even for native speakers, the meaning of individual songs often comes as a surprise. What can we say about those who learn English as a second.



What songs do you know that are not understood the way they should? Write in the comments.



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