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Sure, you can think of "Every Breath You Take" as a romantic ditty about a devoted lover. But when you pay attention to lyrics like, "Every move you make, every vow you break, every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I'll be watching you," the song takes a dark turn. It sounds more like a guy who got dumped and is now stalking his ex.
Even Sting knows "Every Breath You Take" is creepy. He said in an interview that the song references governments spying on their citizens, and that it's meant to be "very, very sinister and ugly."
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This is one of DMB's best-known songs, thanks to its mellow hook and gentle vocals. It's swoon-worthy – until you listen to the lyrics, which include creepy lines like, "Hike up your skirt a little more and show your world to me," and, "Oh I watch you there through the window and I stare at you, you wear nothing but you wear it so well."
It just goes to show that if you have a sweet, soothing melody, even a song about a peeping Tom can be a hit.
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There are many things you can say to try to woo the person you're attracted to. You could say, "I can't imagine my life with anyone else but you," or, "You're the only person who has made me feel this way before." But, in general, a phrase to avoid is, "Let me be your father figure, put your tiny hand in mine."
Apparently no one told George Michael; that's the central motif of "Father Figure."
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- 4
Invisible By Clay Aiken
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In "Invisible," Clay Aiken laments, "If I was invisible, then I could just watch you in your room." By the end of the song, the wish gets even creepier, with a seemingly endless refrain of, "If I was invisible (I'd make you mine)."
So much for the innocent underdog image Aiken perfected on American Idol.
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- 5
You're Beautiful By James Blunt
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In the James Blunt song "You're Beautiful," the narrator spends a lot of time sweetly complimenting a woman's beauty. But you may have missed the sinister line in the first verse, when he croons, "She smiled at me on the subway, she was with another man, but I won't lose no sleep on that, 'cause I've got a plan." And then it gets weirder in the second verse, where he sings, "She could see from my face that I was f*ckin' high."
Basically, it's a song about a guy doing drugs and following a woman and her boyfriend onto a subway. Not exactly the wedding song you may have previously thought.
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This hit song about a woman named Sharona definitely sounds dirty, but you may not have been able to put your finger on why. That's likely because it's hard to understand most of the words being sung. Good thing, too – the lyrics say things like, "Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind, I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind."
Sharona was a real 17-year-old, too. Lead singer Doug Fieger met her when he was 25, and said he wrote the song "from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy."
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- 7
I Will Possess Your Heart By Death Cab For Cutie
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In general, if someone says they want to possess you (or even just a part of you), it's probably not a good sign – even if they're the floppy haired nice guys of Death Cab for Cutie. The lyrics to "I Will Possess Your Heart" contain skin crawling lines like, "There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass."
In other words, it's probably time to look into getting a restraining order.
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- 8
Girlfriend By Matthew Sweet
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In the chorus of "Girlfriend," Matthew Sweet sings, "Don't you need to be back in the arms of a good friend? Oh, 'cause, honey, believe me, I'd sure love to call you my girlfriend." That seems innocent enough on its own.
But then it all flips at the very end of the song, when he says, "And I'm never gonna set you free, No, I'm never gonna set you free." Definitely a major red flag.
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"This one goes out to the one I love" sounds like it's the beginning of a sweet dedication. But that changes when Michael Stipe refers to the one he loves as, "a simple prop to occupy my time." And then he spends the chorus shouting about a fire, which may or may not mean he's setting fire to the home of the one he loves.
But either way you look at it, the song is definitely not romantic.
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- 10
Animals By Maroon 5
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When you combine Maroon 5's catchy melodies and Adam Levine's impressive vocals, it can be easy to overlook the lyrics. For instance, the chorus of "Animals" contains the lines, "Baby, I'm preying on you tonight, Hunt you down, eat you alive."
Chances are, you don't want to date someone who is intending to eat you alive... and you also might not want to date someone who refers to animals as "animals-mals."
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- 11
Hello By Adele
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Adele's songs are always romantic in the grandest way possible. And when you give "Hello" a casual listen, it sounds like Adele merely wants to apologize to an ex because she feels she treated him wrong. But she says she "must have called a thousand times," and then winds up popping up unannounced at the guy's house saying, "Hello from the outside."
If your ex doesn't want to talk, it's usually best to just let it go.
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Early Beatles songs are all about innocent crushes, right? Wrong. The first two lines of "I Saw Her Standing There" go like this: "Well she was just 17, and you know what I mean." Yes, Paul McCartney, we think we do know what you mean. And we're kind of creeped out by it.
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"Hello," Lionel Richie croons, "Is it me you're looking for?" Probably not, considering the behavior outlined in the song. He's imagined kissing this nameless person's lips "a thousand times," but has apparently never spoken to her – the song concludes with him saying, "let me start by saying I love you." That's not exactly an ice breaker.
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- 14
Dancing On My Own By Robyn
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Swedish pop star Robyn's hit "Dancing On My Own" is about a woman who says she's partying solo because she can't be with her ex. But she goes on to say, "I'm in the corner, watching you kiss her, I'm right over here, why can't you see me?" It's time to let it go, Robyn.
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If you have a dirty mind, you might have joked that the phrase "Summer of '69" could refer to a sex position rather than a year. But, as it turns out, that joke is actually true. Bryan Adams told CBS News, "It's more about making love in the summertime. It's using '69 as a sexual reference."
It makes sense that the song is not really about the year, because in the summer of 1969, Adams would have been just nine years old.
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