American Woman – The Guess Who

To modern listeners, especially those more familiar with Lenny Kravitz’s 1999 cover, “American Woman” is a song all about sex appeal. The song’s true meaning, as explained by co-writer Randy Bachman, had less to do with sex and much more to do with the Vietnam War and U.S. politics of the time. According to Bachman, “We had been touring the States. This was the late ’60s. One time at the U.S./Canada border in North Dakota they tried to draft us and send us to Vietnam.

We were back in Canada, playing in the safety of Canada where the dance is full of draft dodgers who’ve all left the States.” Co-writer Burton Cummings added, “When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you.’ It was all a happy accident.”

‘Just Like Heaven’ – The Cure

While The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” sounds like a typical love song, the lyrics are actually a bit more complex than that according to lead singer Robert Smith. S

mith has said that, “The song is about hyperventilating—kissing and fainting to the floor,” and that some of the lyrics refer to his childhood memories of mastering magic tricks as a child, though Smith has admitted, “on another level, it’s about a seduction trick, from much later in my life.”

‘Imagine’ – John Lennon

John Lennon’s song “Imagine” is more than just a call for world peace. He and his wife Yoko Ono addressed specific issues. They wanted to go beyond religious divisions, where one religion claims superiority.

Lennon believed that if we could imagine a world without religious conflicts, it could be peaceful. He also mentioned a world without countries and politics. While his ideas sounded somewhat like communism, he clarified it was his vision of British socialism.

‘Cherry Bomb’ – The Runaways

This next song isn’t quite misunderstood lyrically, but the story of its creation is. The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” is an all-time classic rock song, and the by-far biggest hit of Hall of Famer Joan Jett, but it wasn’t written to be one and the band didn’t build their catalogue around it.

In fact, the song was actually written in “about five minutes” according to the band’s manager Kim Fowley. According to Fowley, he and Jett wrote the song for future-band member Cherie Currie’s audition because the rest of the Runaways didn’t know the song Currie wanted to sing.

‘Feel it Still’ – Portugal. The Man

While California band Portugal. The Man’S 2017 hit single may initially sound like an ode to singer John Gourley’s young daughter, the song was actually written from a less personal, much more political place. In a 2017 interview, Gourley explained, “It’s another one of those lyrics that just kind of seeps in.

With all the talk right now, of building a wall at our borders and the Berlin Wall, it was so much just like the image that you had in your head growing up that these people are separated by a wall, and why do we need that?”

‘Royals’ – Lorde

To the naked ear, Lorde’s 2013 hit “Royals” sounds like it’s referring to either real life royalty (think the British Royal family) or American “celeb-royalty” like the Kardashian family. However, the song’s name and inspiration came from a different source.

The singer based the lyrics on a 1976 photo of Kansas City Royals hall of fame baseball player George Brett signing autographs while in uniform, with the team’s name splashed across his chest. The singer explained simply, “It was just that word. It’s really cool.”