Song Meanings
The stories and meanings behind well-known songs.
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac: The Meaning Behind the Song
For a song this quiet, “Landslide” carries an enormous amount of weight. Written by Stevie Nicks and first released by Fleetwood Mac in 1975, it is...
Song MeaningHotel California by the Eagles: The Meaning Behind the Song
Some songs invite interpretation. “Hotel California” practically demands it. Since the Eagles released it in 1976, listeners have spun theories that run from the thoughtful to...
Song MeaningAmerican Pie by Don McLean: The Meaning Behind the Song
Few songs are dissected as endlessly as Don McLean’s “American Pie.” For more than fifty years, listeners have traded theories about what its eight and a...
Song MeaningMr. Brightside by The Killers: The Meaning Behind the Song
It refuses to die. More than twenty years after The Killers released it, “Mr. Brightside” still detonates at every party, wedding, and stadium, sung by people...
Song MeaningEvery Breath You Take by The Police: The Meaning Behind the Song
It gets played at weddings. It gets sung to sweethearts. For more than forty years, people have treated “Every Breath You Take” as one of the...
Song MeaningImagine by John Lennon: The Meaning Behind the Song
“Imagine” is so familiar that it is easy to stop hearing it. John Lennon’s 1971 anthem gets played at New Year’s celebrations, peace vigils, and moments...
Song MeaningHallelujah by Leonard Cohen: The Meaning Behind the Song
“Hallelujah” might be the most covered song of the last forty years, sung at weddings and funerals, talent shows and memorials, often by people who have...
Song MeaningBohemian Rhapsody by Queen: The Meaning Behind the Song
For a song that everyone can sing, almost no one agrees on what “Bohemian Rhapsody” actually means. Queen released it in 1975, a six-minute epic that...
Song MeaningBorn in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen: The Meaning Behind the Song
“Born in the U.S.A.” might be the most misunderstood song in American music. With its thundering chorus and its title shouted like a battle cry, it...
Song MeaningYellow by Coldplay: The Meaning Behind the Song
“Yellow” is the song that turned Coldplay from a hopeful young band into a global one, and more than twenty years later it still stops a...
Song MeaningQue Sera, Sera: The Meaning Behind the Song
“Que Sera, Sera” is one of those songs almost everyone can sing and almost no one thinks twice about. Its bouncy melody and singsong refrain have...
Song MeaningIris by the Goo Goo Dolls: The Meaning Behind the Song
“Iris” is one of those songs that seems to play at every wedding, every prom, and every emotional moment on television, so familiar that it is...
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