Are there any songs you once loved that you now dislike after learning the true meaning/background of the song?

Buffalo Gals.

I got cha by Joe Tex. But I still like it!

“Every Breath You Take”. I thought it was a love song, but it is actually very creepy.

It is @longgone.

“Blurred Lines” is very catchy but when I learned it was about seducing a young girl, it turned me off.

There She Goes by The La’s.
I first thought it was a sweet little song of love and adoration.
Then I found out it was about heroin.

Another is Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”.
Actually, at first I thought it was harmless pop, then I found out he wrote it about John F. Kennedy’s 11 year old daughter.

Not really because I subscribe to the idea that no work of art (music included) is complete until someone sees/hears it for themselves. In doing so, they decide what it means. The artist’s original intention becomes secondary to your experience with it.

“Young Girl” by the Lovin’ Spoonful is a little creepy.

The Beatles song “She was just 17, if you know what I mean…” creepy.

I don’t care about that; if I like the song I like the song.

@janbb This song “Young Girl” is by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. “Younger Girl” is by the Lovin’ Spoonful. I liked both of them. The Critters had a hit with “Younger Girl” too…maybe first.

@SnipSnip You’re right. Thanks for the correction.

Maybe not dislike, but You Are My Sunshine was never quite the same after I heard all of the lyrics in its entirety.

I wouldn’t say I loved it, but I thought Elusive Butterfly of Love was a pleasant song until I saw someone say it is about stalking, which I would now have to agree with.

I like the song a lot, but recently really listened to the lyrics, and they’re kinda sick if you think about them. I can just picture it happening in real life.

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/garypucketttheuniongap/younggirl.html

And yeah, I heard that Sting said the song “Every Breath You Take” is about stalking.

@filmfann I love that upbeat little song and was disappointed by what you said its meaning was, so I looked it up.

When asked about the rumour in 1995, the group’s bassist John Power replied: “I don’t know. Truth is, I don’t wanna know.” However, in the book “In Search of The La’s: A Secret Liverpool” (2003) by MW Macefield, ex-La’s guitarist Paul Hemmings denied the rumour and added: “Jeremy Fisher, you don’t know what you are talking about.” In an interview with Les Inrockuptibles, Mavers admits to trying heroin in 1990. The song therefore predated his experience as it was originally released in 1988. Mavers himself has also emphatically denied that the song is about heroin. (It was originally written by Lee Mavers)

Someone else suggested that it was about a girl that just keeps slipping out of a man’s fingers just when they are getting close. So you and I can both feel better about the song! ;o)