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The Meaning Behind “I Should Have Known It,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’...
Sometimes an instrument can inspire a song. On Mojo, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wrote an entire album because of a single guitar. Eight years had passed between Heartbreakers albums, and it was...
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The Meaning Behind “Fame,” David Bowie’s First No. 1 Hit; It Followed John...
“I’ll never forget something John Lennon told me,” David Bowie told Aussie journalist Molly Meldrum in 1983. “All you have to do is say what you mean, make it rhyme, and put a backbeat to it.” That may...
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The Real Meaning Behind Cyndi Lauper’s Saucy Self-Love Serenade, “She Bop”...
While there have been a number of songs over the last three decades about female self-love—from Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself” to Hailee Steinfeld’s “Love Myself”—someone had to pave the way (make the...
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The Different Scenarios Behind the Meaning of Steely Dan’s 1972 Debut Single...
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker didn’t make deciphering Steely Dan‘s 1972 single “Do It Again” easy. Released on the band’s breakthrough debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill, the song opens on an aggressive...
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Behind the Meaning of the Song Pat Benatar Will No Longer Play, “Hit Me With...
Pat Benatar‘s signature song is no doubt “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” The 1980 release was written by Eddie Schwartz, but it’s Benatar that gives this song its kick. Uncover the meaning behind this...
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The Upbeat Meaning Behind Oasis’“Live Forever,” Noel Gallagher’s Direct...
Oasis is nothing if not audacious. The Manchester-based Britpop band made several bold statements on their 1994 debut album, Definitely Maybe—from the bravado of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” to the cool...
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The Meaning Behind Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” Simon Le Bon’s Grieving...
Once Duran Duran captivated MTV viewers with their video for “Hungry Like the Wolf” in 1982, the English band became an unstoppable force for the next four years. They rattled off a string of nine hits...
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The Meaning Behind Green Day’s “Holiday,”Unloading on Warmongers and American...
If you’re only familiar with the three biggest hit singles from Green Day’s 2004 album, American Idiot, they might seem completely disconnected from each other. But in the cases of “Holiday” and...
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The Whimsical Meaning Behind The Beatles’“Yellow Submarine” Differed Greatly...
“Yellow Submarine” is like a musical Rorschach test, revealing more about the listener than the artist. Some will tell you it’s The Beatles at the height of their charm. Others will complain that its...
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The Eerie, Unintentional Prophecy of Audioslave’s “Like a Stone”
Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell shocked the world when he committed suicide while on tour with his reunited band back in May 2017. The grunge group he fronted were in the midst of their first tour...
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The Meaning Behind Sleater-Kinney’s “Say It Like You Mean It”: One Bandmate...
Aside from the seven-year hiatus that followed the 2005 release The Woods, Sleater-Kinney has been consistently putting out albums since the mid-’90s. They wasted little time getting to work on their...
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Behind the Meaning of “The News” by Paramore
Paramore made their long-awaited return in 2023 with This Is Why. The album rekindled fervor for the alt-rockers, spawning tours and a slot with Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour. Among the buzzed-about...
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The Meaning Behind Jewel’s “Standing Still” and Its Ironic Ending
When Jewel first emerged in the mid-1990s, she initially had a difficult time breaking through with her folk rock sound. It was quite different than the alternative, grunge, and indie rock sounds of...
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The Meaning Behind Jimmy Buffett’s Semi-Metaphorical “Trying to Reason With...
Jimmy Buffett made a career of writing and recording songs that gave listeners a “license to chill,” to quote the title track from his 2004 album. Through his music and various business ventures, like...
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A Swing at the Bully: The Meaning Behind “Better Man” by Pearl Jam
Eddie Vedder relives his childhood trauma in two of Pearl Jam’s biggest songs, “Alive” and “Better Man.” The former was Vedder looking back on a moment of impact: the day he learned the man he thought...
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A 1980s Soap Opera, Naomi Judd’s Nursing Job, and How The Judds’ Landed Their...
As a single mother in the early 1980s, Naomi Judd was working as an ICU nurse at a hospital in Franklin, Tennessee to support her daughters Wynonna and Ashley. After treating Brent Maher’s daughter,...
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The Meaning Behind The Police’s Most Misunderstood Song, “De Do Do Do, De Da...
“This is bullshit, child’s play. No one listened to the lyrics. F–- you!” Those were the words of Sting, as said in a 1988 Rolling Stone interview. He was discussing the reactions of critics and fans...
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The Meaning Behind “Radio Nowhere” by Bruce Springsteen
Is there anybody out there? It’s a simple question searching for a connection. Bruce Springsteen asks the question in “Radio Nowhere,” the lead single from his 15th album, Magic. In a post-apocalyptic...
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The Meaning Behind Georgia Satellites’“Keep Your Hands to Yourself”
Dan Baird of the Georgia Satellites will forever be associated with “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.” In February 1987, you couldn’t turn around without hearing the searing guitar licks from those boys...
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Behind the Meaning of Ariana Grande’s Comeback Track “yes, and?”
While filming the highly anticipated Wicked film adaptation, Ariana Grande has been relatively quiet on the music front. That is until she released a comeback track “yes, and?” The house-inspired track...
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