Life Itself – Glass Animals
The title of the album this song is from is “How to Be a Human Being,” so it only makes sense that the song is about someone trying to make it in life, and live up to his parents and his own expectations of himself, but unfortunately failing.
“I can’t get a job so I live with my mom, I take her money but not quite enough. I make my own fun in grandma’s basement, said I look mad, she said I look wasted”
Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind
This is a song that nearly all of us have sang our hearts out to, without realizing that the song is about “falling apart” as said by the lead singer of the band. They’re singing about a crystal meth addiction, but in a more relatable sense, they’re also singing about how it’s never enough, and we always want something more or something else — something we may not be able to get.
“Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break. It won’t stop”
Slide – The Goo Goo Dolls
I’m not going to lie, this is one of my favorite songs and I didn’t know until very recently that this song was not a sweet song about a couple in love, but instead a song about an accidental pregnancy and about whether they should get an abortion or get married. You learn something new everyday…
“Don’t you love the life you killed? The priest is on the phone, your father hit the wall, your ma disowned you”
Paper Planes – M.I.A.
This song has actually gotten quite a bit of controversy since the time it came out. M.I.A. raps about escaping border police, having fake visas, drug deals, and bringing in lethal poison. As if that’s not enough, she sings about taking all your money and shooting you, accompanied by the sound of guns and cash registers — which after all the controversy, she said she was singing about a “character” –about illegal immigrants doing all those things. Hmm…
“If you catch me at the border, I got visas in my name. If you come around here, I make ‘em all day, I get one down in a second if you wait”
Can you name other such songs? Tell us about them below!
