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What if a White Orchid Turns Blue? The Meaning Behind “Blue Orchid” by The...
The purity of a white orchid is often associated with innocence and elegance. The beautiful petals evoke sophistication and dignity. In some cultures, they symbolize new beginnings and are used in...
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Behind the Violent Origins and Chart-Topping Success of “Mack the Knife” by...
The song “Mack the Knife” dates back to 1928, when it was written for a German play. It was first known as “Theme from The Threepenny Opera” or “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer,” which is German for “The...
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Nothing Promised, No Regrets: The Real Meaning of “Voulez-Vous” by ABBA
If you listen to ABBA as a guilty pleasure, you have nothing to feel guilty about. The tidiness of the group is impressive, made up of a pair of couples with a palindrome band name, itself made from...
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Finding Her Way Through The Dark: What Taylor Swift’s ‘evermore’ Really Means
While others spent the pandemic baking bread, Taylor Swift made surrealist folklore. She used cabin-in-the-woods mysticism to echo her life, resulting in a warm and cozy song collection connecting the...
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Take a Good Look at It: Breaking Down The Meaning of “Red Light Special” by TLC
TLC’s story features triumph and tragedy, but mostly tragedy. Beginning their career in Atlanta, the group signed outrageously unfair contracts with their manager, Perri “Pebbles” Reid, and their...
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The Meaning Behind “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors
When The Vapors showed up on the scene in 1980, the rumor going around was their new hit record was about masturbation. The power pop quartet was having success on the singles chart in the U.S., UK,...
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Why Beyoncé’s Liberating “Cuff It” Was The Right Song for It’s Time
In 2020, pop diva Beyoncé started on a trilogy of albums, the first of which, Renaissance, came out in July 2022. It was her first studio release in six years. In discussing the evolution of...
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The Haunting Reality Behind the Meaning of “My Tears Ricochet” by Taylor Swift
There aren’t many songwriters who can turn a story about a scorned ghost into a stadium anthem; then again, there’s only one Taylor Swift. “My Tears Ricochet” is a heartbreaking and exquisite gem of...
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Behind the Meaning of the Cautionary Nursery Rhyme “Simple Simon”
If one thing is for certain about being a human being on Earth, it’s this: we all need a little guidance. As children, that help comes from teachers. But what do those teachers employ? Often songs and...
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What Happens After All The Lights Come on?The Real Meaning of “Star 69” by...
Fatboy Slim’s “Star 69” poses a critical question: What the f–k? It’s a simple question habitually asked in distress. Though only three words, the question acquires different meanings depending on the...
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The Combustible Meaning Behind “Glycerine” by Bush
“Glycerine” is an odd title for a song. Then again, there is not much about this single from Bush’s 1994 debut album Sixteen Stone that is conventional. It’s full of strange, enigmatic lyrics. It ends...
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The Song Michael Jackson Didn’t Want to Play for Princess Di: The Real...
After the phenomenal worldwide success of his 1982 album Thriller, Michael Jackson was riding another wave of popularity with the follow-up Bad in 1987. The latter would eventually sell half the units...
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The Story Behind How Rock Critic Richard Meltzer Helped Write Blue Öyster...
When Blue Öyster Cult was working on their eighth album, Fire of Unknown Origin, rock critic Richard Meltzer ended up writing one of the band’s biggest hits. Meltzer, who had already co-written a...
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The Occult Inspiration Behind Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley”
After Ozzy Osbourne was ejected from Black Sabbath for his hard partying ways in 1979, his future seemed uncertain. But he and his manager Sharon Arden picked up the pieces and created a solo career...
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The Double Meaning of “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison
Sometimes art works on multiple levels. Consider how The Wizard of Oz can be understood as a story about Dorothy’s surreal journey to the Emerald City or as an allegory for U.S. monetary policy in the...
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Why Live’s 1994 Hit “Lightning Crashes” is the Song that Keeps on Giving
Life, death, and rebirth—the cycle of life was explored in “Lightning Crashes,” the major ‘90s hit from the band Live. The song was the third single from the band’s hit third album from 1994, Throwing...
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“We Have Assumed Control”: The Otherworldly Meaning of “2112” by Rush
Just about every musical artist we’ve heard of in recent decades has had a breakthrough recording. After all, what else would have brought them to so many people’s attention? A hit song often gets the...
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What the Introspective “Monkey Wrench” by Foo Fighters Really Means
By the time their second album The Colour and the Shape (1997) had arrived, the Foo Fighters were really finding their footing. When the band first started, frontman Dave Grohl, originally the drummer...
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The Apocalyptic Meaning Behind “I Melt with You” by Modern English
Some ’80s songs define the decade. Modern English’s “I Melt with You,” with its bouncy, effervescent music that distracts from the somewhat dark idea at the core of the song, certainly qualifies. In...
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The Meaning Behind “Oye Como Va” and Why Carlos Santana “Had to Put My Foot...
“Oye Como Va” immediately grabbed audiences and became a worldwide hit when Santana released the song in 1970. Carlos Santana & Co. introduced plenty of listeners to the song with their version....
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