Pop music is meant to make us feel good, and the Top 40 industry thrives on the happy vibes that propel audiences to listen to a song over and over. The feel-good formula for radio-friendly hits definitely requires upbeat music - but lyrics are another story.
Happy-sounding songs with secret dark meanings have been tearing up the charts for years. Have you ever realized just how dark/creepy/sad/weird these dark pop songs actually are?
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When he wrote "Pumped Up Kicks," Foster The People's Mark Foster wanted to get into the mindset of "an isolated, psychotic kid" who'd been bullied to the point of eliminating people at his high school.
Foster intentionally set the dark lyrics to more upbeat music saying, "It's a 'f*ck you' song to the hipsters in a way - but it's a song the hipsters are going to want to dance to." Touché, Mark.
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Nope, The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face" isn't about being so happy and in love that his face has gone numb from smiling.
The lyrics actually reference coke, personified as a woman. Consider these lyrics:
And I know she'll be the.... of me, at least we'll both be numb. And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come.
Fun.: 'Some Nights'
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"Some Nights" by Fun. was the band's first single to reach the Top 10 thanks to the song's infectious melody and impressive vocals. Its rise to the top of the charts is a little ironic, given that the lyrics are actually about the band's struggle with selling out.
According to one music blogger, "Some Nights" is about "struggling with the idea of either continuing down the band’s previous path of relative obscurity, or taking a risk and trying something new, which will hopefully allow the band to find a new, larger audience."
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Who doesn't love singing and swaying along to Outkast's "Hey Ya!"?
The song's infectious melody just makes you want to dance! That is, until, you pay attention to the lyrics:
If what they say is, 'Nothing is forever,' then what makes love the exception?
That's actually pretty depressing stuff.
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From the first piano riff to the last belting note, Sara Bareilles's "Love Song" feels like an anthem of self-empowerment written to an overbearing boyfriend - which isn't exactly the case.
"Love Song" was actually written as a big "f*ck you" to Bareilles's record label, who had been hounding her to write more love songs for her upcoming album. Luckily, the label loved Bareilles's rebellious take on the subject and "Love Song" became a huge hit.
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PSY's viral hit "Gangnam Style" is all in Korean, so English-speaking listeners just hear a fun, upbeat song and sing along. The translation isn't quite as positive as the melody implies though.
PSY is essentially bashing the upper echelon of South Korea who live in Gangnam, saying they are rich, vain, and trying way too hard.
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Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools (Drank)" is often confused for a pro-drinking anthem, like LMFAO's "Shots" or Jamie Fox's "Blame It." You can't blame listeners for making the mistake; the chorus chants:
Pour up, drank, head shot, drank. Sit down, drank, stand up, drank. Pass out, drank, wake up, drank. Faded, drank, faded, drank.
If you dig a little deeper, though, you'll notice the song is actually about the dark side of alcohol and its consequences. Lamar has said, "What better way to make something universal than to speak about drinking? I'm coming from a household where you had to make a decision—you were either a casual drinker or you were a drunk. That’s what that record is really about, me experiencing that as a kid and making my own decisions.”
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EVERYBODY bopped along to Hanson's "MMMBop" in the '90s; the song was pretty much just an arrangement of insanely catchy noises and sounds. Bet you didn't know that it actually references the fleeting time and quality of friendships: "You have so many relationships in this life/Only one or two will last."
Deep stuff for a group of tweens.
Beck: 'Girl'
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Beck's "Girl" is one of the most mysterious pop songs of the aughts. The beat is catchy and carefree, and one couldn't be faulted for thinking Beck is singing a love song to his "Girl." A look at the lyrics, however, tells a darker tale.
Beck has never copped to what the actual lyrics to the chorus are either - fans theorize it could be "my sun-eyed girl" or "my cyanide girl."
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The Goo Goo Dolls' '90s alt-rock hit "Slide" could easily be confused for a sweet love song - which it often is. The real story behind the lyrics is much darker, unfortunately.
The song is about a woman who terminated a pregnancy and was shunned by her family and faith. See verse two for proof:
Don’t you love the life you killed?
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
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Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" has long been used by politicians as a nationalist, pro-USA anthem of sorts. Um, not exactly. Listen closely and you'll realize that this song is anything but.
"Born in the USA" tells the story of a man sent off to fight in Vietnam who comes home broken from his experiences, can't find a job, and is mistreated by the government. His life has been ruined because he was "born in the USA" and thus, eligible to be drafted into combat.
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"Hook" by Blues Traveler is 100% making fun of radio-friendly pop songs, by using a mega-radio-friendly pop song. So meta.
The band's singer claims that the audience doesn't care what a song says as long as it's got a catchy hook:
It doesn’t matter what I say
So long as I sing with inflection
That makes you feel that I’ll convey
Some inner truth of vast reflection
But I’ve said nothing so far
And I can keep it up for as long as it takes
And it don’t matter who you are
If I’m doing my job then it’s your resolve that breaks
Because the hook brings you back
I ain’t tellin’ you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely
Guess the joke's on us.
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The original version of the popular song "99 Red Balloons" was written in German and is a little more sinister than its English counterpart.
The lyrics tell an anti-war story.
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"Don't Stand So Close To Me" is a quintessential '80s hit, but do you know what it's really about? Forbidden love between a student and her teacher.
Sting drew on real-life inspiration to write the song, saying: "I'd done teaching practice at secondary schools and been through the business of having [girls] fancying me – and me really fancying them! How I kept my hands off them I don't know..."
Creepy.
Van Halen: 'Jump'
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At first listen, "Jump" carries a message of positivity, telling listeners to "roll with the punches."
David Lee Roth revealed a more sinister meaning behind the song, though, when he said it was actually about a news story he saw about someone attempting to end their life by jumping from a building.
