Ok, so this post won’t have anything to do with movies, comic books or…actually, it won’t even be that geeky. I do have other interests, y’know.
I’m 20, about to turn 21, and I’m a big lover of music. I listen to all different kinds of genres and analyze it in much the same way that I do movies and movie trends (see literally every other post on this page) and one aspect that has never escaped my attention is how dirty and straight up warped some of the songs that I listened to as a kid were. That’s not a new point, and frankly it’s become almost a cliche. But something that a lot of people give a free pass to is the music that their own children are singing or listening to. Sure, there are songs like S&M, We Can’t Stop….and practically everything Nicki Minaj and Beyonce have put out in the past year, that make their intentions very clear. By being so blatantly obvious with their luridness/sexuality they go from being controversial or raunchy to almost laughable and comical. No, the real odd balls are the ones that we let slip through the cracks, maybe with a side glance or a hefty dose of “no, that can’t be what he/she said”. Put your denial aside and let’s look at 5 songs that are much dirtier/darker than you realized, as well as 5 recent (2008+) songs that we’ve let go unnoticed. This is based on no one’s opinion but my own, and how I came to understand what these songs were actually about.
*For the record, just because these songs are naughty, it doesn’t mean that I don’t like/love/favorite them*
TOP 5 FOR THE PAST:
#5: Fancy by Reba McEntire
(Recorded 1991)
(Originally recorded by Bobbie Gentry)
Ok, so this song isn’t as well known as every other one on this list, but this song is the catalyst for the entire article. I remember hearing my grandmother playing this song at top volume in the car. Her thick, country accent chiming along with Reba’s trademark vocals. I being the young, much-less-cynical guy that I was, I was belting right along with her. But like the song’s narrator, there comes a point when you understand you have to lose your naivete. Here’s the chorus:
“Here’s your once chance, Fancy
Don’t let me down
Here’s your one chance, Fancy
Don’t let me down
Lord, forgive for what I do
But, if you want out
Then it’s up to you
Don’t let me down now,
Your mama’s going to move you uptown.”
As a kid, I thought “good for her!” She’s moving up town! No…no….no. Much like Roxanne and Lady Marmelade, the catchy beat conceals the dark prostitution overtones. This is not a “girl power” song, it’s about an impoverished and uneducated woman who is pimped out by her dying mother to insure a better life for herself. As I did some research into Reba’s catalogue, I found another gem. “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” (originally recorded by Carol Burnette’s Vicki Lawerence). “Fancy” and “Lights Went Out in Georgia” are great examples of Southern Gothic music. They incorporate more alternative/upbeat music to offset the dark lyrics. “Lights Went Out in Georgia” is not only Southern Gothic, but also a “Murder Ballad” which was popularized in Blue-Grass and Folk music, while Reba was more well-known for her modern style of Country. Murder Ballads are songs that detail the events of a murder from the perspective of the killer himself (or in this case herself) and have roots in European epics. The only reason that “Lights Went Out in Georgia” isn’t on the list, is all but for the last few lines of the final verse:
“And his cheating wife had never left town
That’s one body that’ll never be found
You see, little sister don’t miss when she aims her gun”
These lyrics, even as a child, are very clear. It doesn’t make the song any less of a joy to listen to, but it does take you behind the less-than-remorseful eyes of a jilted murderess. “Fancy” takes a less obvious route, never flat out saying “he paid me to get naughty in his 5-room hotel suite” rather, she takes the more ambiguous, tactful way of singing “one week later, I was pouring his tea in a 5-room hotel suite.” It sounds, well almost “sweet” to hear how innocently she poured her new friend a cup of tea, but of course as we, like Fancy herself, mature into adulthood, we learn that cup was almost certainly a post-coital beverage to rehydrate after his week with Fancy. Still, even though the song is propagating the idea of forced prostitution and the perks behind selling yourself, it’s still a benchmark in the career of a very gifted songstress. Check it out 🙂
#4. Jeremy by Pearl Jam
(Released 1995)
Let me start off by saying, I love this song! If I ever have children, one of them will be named Jeremy (both for this song and Jeremy Irons). That being said, my understandings of this song have changed at different stages of my life:
Colton age 10: Jeremy is a song about a weird kid that finally fights back against the bullies.
Colton age 16: Jeremy is about a kid that shoots up his school like Columbine
Colton age 20: Jeremy’s about (as per frontman, Eddie Vedder) a kid that shot himself in front of his English class.
Whatever the interpretation, this is a fantastic song from a great “grunge” band! Now for the important stuff, why this song gets past people. Like the lesser known “Excitable Boy” by Warren Zevon (which is far more on the nose than “Jeremy”), the songs discuss someone of a reasonably young age doing the unthinkable. We as a society have a hard time coming to terms with a child, in Jeremy’s case, committing public suicide (or in Zevon’s a teenager who rapes and kills his prom date) because we need to feel that our children are untouched by these very real societal issues. “Jeremy” was released in 1995, 4 years before issues regarding in-school violence would become a national concern, and thus was interpreted in many different ways. “Jeremy” is ahead of its time, and for that reason so many people allowed (even if knowing the true meaning) this song to become an international success, while turning a blind-eye to the all-too-real issues being displayed.
#3. Waterfalls by TLC
(Recorded 1995)
This song…this damn song. I heard it so much growing up and didn’t really appreciate (or even like) it. I brushed it off as just another pop group, and I was well-engrossed in white-suburban-kid pop (Britney Spears, NSYNC,Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child) by the time that I first heard TLC. I was 2 years old when this song came out, so of course I had no connection to the world that was being discussed in the song. That being said, even when I was growing interested in modern music, I wasn’t going to listen to a song about “waterfalls”, I wanted to hear about Britney’s lack of sexuality and Christina’s overwhelmingly inconsistent adolescence, the songs were musically more what I was aware of at that point, and I wasn’t all that into R&B. As I got older, I came back in contact with this song and was blown away by the depth of the lyrics. Songs about HIV/AIDS are a dime-a-dozen, but it’s rare that you hear one so commercially successful with a younger audience. Before Britney was singing about her inability to lose her virginity, and Christina was teasing hormonal teens with the flimsy qualifications on taking hers, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was touching on hard issues that weren’t universally relevant. As an older person, from the first two verses you’re floored and engrossed by/in every note of the song:
“Lonely mother gazing out of a window
Staring at a son that she just can’t touch.
If at any time he’s in a jam
She’ll be by his side
But he doesn’t realize he hurts her so much.
But all the praying
Just ain’t helping at all
Cause he can’t seem to keep his self out of trouble.
So he goes out and he makes his money the best way he knows how
Another body laying cold in the gutter.”
These aren’t easy lyrics to choke down, nor is it something that a child can comprehend. This isn’t your typical “pop” nonsense, there is real meaning behind every tear-stained lyric. I never use idiotic internet slang, but at this moment I can’t find anything but “the feels” to properly describe how I feel when I hear this song. This is one of the few songs that’s message is almost intentionally lost on the younger audience, but it plants the seed for the next generation to avoid experiencing anything in the song. There is genius behind the depressing lyrics. Waterfalls is one of the few songs that can elicit an emotional response from me, and I’ve never come in contact (thankfully) with someone afflicted by HIV or AIDS, but the way the song is written there is a universality to the message, if not the issues themselves. To spare the feelings, here’s a much lighter version of the song.
#2. Possum Kingdom by The Toadies
(1995)
This song, as well The Freshmen by the Verve Pipe, came up in conversation with my mother recently. She’s the reason that I was introduced to an eclectic variety of music as a child, and she is still directing me towards new (old) songs that I have come to love. “Possum Kingdom” sort of falls in to both categories. I remember hearing the song in the car when I was younger, but never appreciated what was really being sung about. Unlike the previous additions to this list, there isn’t much in the way of social commentary, this is a dark song, but it lacks the insight that “Jeremy” had, or the intentions of “Waterfalls.” One of the main things that “Possum Kingdom” brings to the table is the ambiguity of their lyrics (there are many theories about what this song is really about) but whatever is happening, it isn’t about love or happiness. The most readily accepted thought process is it’s a man killing a woman behind the boathouse on Possum Kingdom Lake. Some interpretations fall into the supernatural realm, some people claiming that it’s sung from the perspective of a vampire as he changes his victim and preserves her with “dark hair and soft skin” forever. This creates a sense of finality (as do the lines “Be my Angel” and “Do you Want to Die”) as well as an eternality to her beauty. You be the judge: Vampire, Killer, Virginity-taker or Straight-up Satan.
#1. Disney Film Songs
Various Release Dates
Ok, so this one is kinda up to interpretation (as all of these are), but when further analyzed some Disney songs take on new and naughtier/sinister meanings.
Let’s get the obvious ones out of the way, because I don’t know how prevalent this is with kids….
but Part 1:
Disney Villain Songs:
These were always my favorites, and I would belt out Be Prepared (The Lion King) and Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid) (who am I kidding….I still do) at the top of my lungs. As I got older, I realized what I had been singing about. Sure, I knew that Scar was evil and that Be Prepared was his signature, villainous song…but I never quite put together that I was essentially melodically plotting murder. It didn’t make me stop loving (or perfecting my Scar impression), but it did beg the question why that was never pointed out to me. Poor Unfortunate Souls is, for the most part, an anthem about the superficiality of men and the deception of double-dealings. But still, who isn’t going to join in on a chorus of:
“Come on, you Poor Unfortunate Soul
Go ahead, make your choice
I’m a very busy woman
and I haven’t got all day
it won’t cost much
just your voice!”
or celebrate the female form and forced silence
“You’ll have your looks
Your pretty face
and don’t underestimate the importance of body language! Ha!”
It’s fun and harmless, as long as we convince children that these are bad people…but what about when there’s a double meaning behind the heroic characters?
Part 2: A Whole New World
This isn’t dark or that dirty, but when you take a moment and listen to the lyrics of this song, there is a certain layer of sexuality present. Sexual awakening for the closed off princess, with her evening with the worldly ruffian. It’s told in the most beautiful way possible, but everything from the flight, the “red-letter moments” and even down to the “pillow talk” following the song, there is an understanding that Jasmine may have been riding more than a magic carpet to experience a Whole New World. Disney has been criticized for its dormant sexual themes and references, but there is a perk to seeing love and “the first time” through such a whimsical and beautiful way. Sex is not a taboo topic, it’s an extension of love, and Disney goes to great lengths to romanticize love. If sex and love are connected, then Disney needed to embrace a larger view of romance and connection. Ultimately, it helps further this idea of perfect relationships and love, while subtly removing some of the stigmas on true, loving relations. “Kiss the Girl”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” follow the same basic principles of unabashed, deep love that transcends the societal confines on what real love can be. Let’s look at some of the lyrics.
A Whole New World:
Aladdin: I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me Princess, when did you last let your heart decide. I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder. Over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride. A Whole New World, a new fantastic point of view, no one to tell us no or where to go. Or say we’re only dreaming
Jasmine: A whole new World! A dazzling place I never knew, but when I’m way up here. It’s crystal clear that now I’m in a whole new world with you. Unbelievable sights, indescribable feeling, soaring tumbling, freewheeling through an endless, diamond sky. A Whole New World.
Aladdin: Don’t you dare close your eyes. Hold your breath, it gets better.
Jasmine: I’m like a shooting star, I’ve come so far, I can’t go back to where I used to be. Every turn a surprise, every moment red-letter. Let me share this Whole New World with you.
It’s beautiful, and the visuals create a more literal understanding of the song, but ultimately this is the song of Aladdin introducing Jasmine to a life beyond the traditional values of arranged marriage and pre-marital love. Much like with the other songs mentioned, there is initial trepidation for one or both parties, but ultimately they ignore what’s right and wrong, and do what is right for them. I think that’s a far better lesson to teach children, rather than just following social norms or expectations. This song exemplifies everything right about Disney.
Part 2 coming soon 🙂
Nerditude 