Exploring the Meanings of Classic Songs
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Call Me Maybe’ is the best-known song by the Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen. This 2011 song began life as a folk song, written by Jepsen and Tavish Crowe. It’s about a girl who sees a boy she likes; she gives him her phone number and tells him to call her, if he wants to. The song leaves us wondering whether the two of them actually end up getting together. Continue reading “‘Call Me Maybe’ by Carly Rae Jepsen: Meaning and Analysis”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Can’t Get You out of My Head’ is one of Kylie Minogue’s best-known and most-played tracks. Taken from the 2001 album Fever, it’s a dancefloor classic and its release as a single, just three days before 9/11 back in September 2001, was accompanied by one of Kylie’s most popular (and raunchy) videos. Continue reading “The Real Meaning of ‘Can’t Get You out of My Head’ by Kylie Minogue”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What has a defunct British publication got to do with the genesis of one of Coldplay’s signature songs? ‘Yellow’ was very much the band’s breakthrough hit in the summer of 2000, and is perhaps the best-crafted song on their debut album, Parachutes. But why ‘Yellow’? What is the meaning of this now iconic song? Continue reading “‘Yellow’ by Coldplay: Meaning and Analysis”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Few songs of the 1960s, outside of The Beatles’ later output, has perhaps inspired more head-scratching than Procol Harum’s 1967 hit ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’. Even the band’s name is likely to invite puzzled looks from people who first encounter it. Who, or what, is a ‘procol harum’? And what does describing something as ‘a whiter shade of pale’ actually mean? Continue reading “The Curious Meaning of Procol Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Born in the USA’ is rock music’s ‘The Road Not Taken’: perhaps of all American songs, none has been more consistently misinterpreted than the title track from Bruce Springsteen’s bestselling 1984 album.
And when we say ‘misinterpreted’, we don’t just mean people have missed the point slightly: they get the message of the song completely wrong so they think it means the opposite to what it actually means. Continue reading “The Curious Meaning of ‘Born in the USA’ by Bruce Springsteen”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Not many 1980s pop songs have inspired a world-famous meme, but ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley certainly has that claim to fame. The song – one of the catchiest of tunes released through the powerhouse that was Stock Aitken and Waterman – is often derided and dismissed, but it deserves more credit than it usually gets. Continue reading “‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley: Meaning and Analysis”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘You Belong with Me’ is a Taylor Swift song, which featured on her second studio album, Fearless (2008). Swift wrote the song with Liz Rose and produced it with Nathan Chapman.
Although ‘You Belong with Me’ has a ‘story’ at its heart which is hardly new, the lyrics to the song are worthy of closer analysis because of the way Swift and Rose build a detailed picture of the love triangle at the story’s centre. Continue reading “‘You Belong with Me’ by Taylor Swift: Meaning and Analysis”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
In 1978, ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Kate Bush became the first song written and performed by a female artist to top the UK singles charts. At the time, Bush was still a teenager, aged nineteen years old. Her powerful pop song inspired by a classic Victorian novel struck a chord with listeners and launched her idiosyncratic and remarkable music career. There could only ever be one Kate Bush. Continue reading “The Curious Meaning of ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Kate Bush”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
A paean to drugs? Or alcohol? Or sex? Or the heady sensory experience of falling in love? Just what is the meaning behind ‘Diamonds’, one of Rihanna’s catchiest songs?
‘Diamonds’ is from Rihanna’s seventh studio album, Unapologetic (2012). If the song reminds you of another anthemic ballad from around the same time, namely ‘Chandelier’ by Sia, that’s because ‘Diamonds’ was written by Sia, along with the song’s producers, Benny Blanco and Stargate. Sia provided the lyrics (discussed below), reportedly writing them in just 14 minutes. Continue reading “The Curious Meaning of ‘Diamonds’ by Rihanna”
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Big Yellow Taxi’ is probably Joni Mitchell’s best-known song. In many ways a song about not taking things for granted until it’s too late and we’ve lost them, it’s also an example of an environmental protest song. Mitchell wrote the song in 1970. Continue reading “‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell: Meaning and Analysis”