“Common People” is about class tourism. Specifically: wealthy people romanticising poverty because they know they can leave whenever they want. Jarvis Cocker based the song on a real conversation with a Greek student he met…
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There wasn’t one real Eileen. At least not in the straightforward way many listeners assume. For years, Dexys frontman Kevin Rowland told people that Eileen had been his childhood girlfriend. He later admitted the character…
Mr. Jones is a real person. His name is Marty Jones. He was a friend and musical associate of Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz. The song was inspired by a night the two spent together…
“Somewhere Only We Know” is about returning to a place that feels safe because of the memories attached to it. For Keane songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley, that place was connected with the countryside around Battle in…
“The Dead Dance” is about feeling emotionally dead after a breakup, then rediscovering enough joy to dance again. Lady Gaga has explained the song unusually clearly. A relationship ends. For a while, you stop believing…
“Orbiter” is about the people who keep Noah Kahan grounded when fame makes his life feel unfamiliar. The central image is wonderfully simple. Kahan is the astronaut. Someone he loves is the Moon. He circles…
It isn’t really about religion. “Losing my religion” is an expression from the American South meaning something closer to: losing patience reaching the end of your rope or becoming so frustrated that you might lose…
Because Marvin Gaye already had “What’s Going On”. That is the simple explanation commonly given for one of pop’s most confusing titles. The famous 4 Non Blondes song repeatedly asks what is going on. It…
“Kids” is broadly about childhood, growing up and the loss of innocence. But like plenty of MGMT songs, it doesn’t provide one neat explanation. The music sounds euphoric. The lyrics are stranger. And the video…
“Smalltown Boy” is about a young gay man forced to leave home after experiencing homophobia, violence and rejection. The song was released by Bronski Beat in 1984. Forty years later, it remains one of the…
