Music Trivia: The Song is NOT the Same: Volume I

Some of our most beloved music is not at all what we think it's about (or thought it was about "back in the day.") Here are but a few blasts from the past to get you thinking about your favorite music:

Black Dog, Led Zeppelin: If you listen to the lyrics of Black Dog, you'll find no mention of a dog, black or otherwise. According to guitar player extraordinaire Jimmy Page, the song title came in a simple way. While the band was recording the album, a black Labrador Retriever kept hanging around the Headly Grange studios. Burned out and lacking a better idea, the band decided it fitting to pay homage to the dog that hung around during the recording.

Sunny, Bobby Hebb: Many people see this as a romantic song, but Hebb actually wrote it as a tribute to John F. Kennedy and for his own brother, who was murdered by a mugger in 1963.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), Green Day: Most people know this song because it was used in the Seinfeld send off as a sort of tribute to the characters and viewers...most likely from the line: "I hope you had the time of your life."

This wasn't written to be the sweet, nostalgic piece it came out to be to many listeners. Again, music (especially lyrics) means different things to different people. Outside of the technical aspects of lyrics (dates, facts, etc.), we often interpret lyrics based on what is going on in our own lives at the time. The song is often used for graduations, for example.

Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer for Green Day, penned Good Riddance because his girlfriend moved to Ecuador, and he wasn't happy, nostalgic or any of the things many listeners attribute to the song. He was beyond bitter when he wrote the song, but it certainly doesn't sound like it to the average listener. Armstrong added the title (Time of Your Life) to tone it down a bit.

Roll to Me, Del Amitri. If you go to the band's Myspace page, you'll get an earful, and a very different perspective on the song. That song paid for the band members' homes, and for that, they say in the Myspace rant, they are grateful. However, the many requests for the song has frustrated and flat out worn them out. Of all of their songs, according to their Myspace page, it's the one song that is least representative of their style, and they want people to know how good their music really is...and it is.

Louie, Louie, The Kingsmen: This is one of the most controversial songs of all time, even though by today's standards it's pretty tame. Written and recorded in 1956 by Richard Barry and his group the Pharaohs, Louie, Louie wasn't a hit until The Kingsmen took it to the airwaves.

This song was actually banned in many places because of its supposedly naughty lyrics. The problem was that 99.99999 percent of the people had no idea what those lyrics were. And along the way, people started making up their own versions of the lyrics. The lyrics may be obscene, but only the writer would know since the words are indecipherable. In fact, those who (thought) they knew the lyrics (real or improvised) felt a bit superior, a bit more "cool" than those who didn't.

The fact that the lyrics were rumored to be obscene, said author Dwight Rounds in his book, The Year the Music Died, was one of the most clever marketing tools in music. By the end of it all, the FBI tracked down the lyricist, The Kingsmen and record executives. To this day, it is held that the entire "obscene lyric" claim was a hoax.

Rocket Queen, Guns 'N Roses. During the days of big hair bands, Guns 'N Roses ruled. Many would argue they still do. This song is about a junkie prostitute who was in the song, the love interest of Axl Rose. When the glam bands started, they relied on the kindness of strippers who made far more money than they did. One woman, Adriana Smith, a legendary groupie, was in love with Steven Adler, drummer for Guns 'N Roses. One day Adler announced loudly that Smith was not his girlfriend. She took it rather personally, approached other rockers and with the "help" of Axl Rose, Rocket Queen was born. As they recorded the song, the lights were dimmed, and the two got busy, so to speak. The sex sounds you hear on that song are authentic.

Ride Captain Ride, Blues Image: So much speculation has been made on this song that involves a lost ship and crew. One version claims it has to do with a ship lost with Sir Francis Drake; some even say the lyrics are really cloaked Biblical references. The truth of Ride Captain Ride, according to writer Mike Pinera, is that the song was purely a product of his imagination that day. As with Louie, Louie, those rumors fueled sales, so the writers rarely confirmed or denied the theories.

And that's what makes music so interesting. The meaning of the song often just depends on the person listening to it.