The Oldies Music Board / Ambiguous Song Lyric Meanings

**Posted by GrimsbyFan** April 23, 2025 1:25 pm

Taking a cue from Aflem's message about the identity of "Mother Mary" in Let It Be, I began thinking about other songs where some (or many) of the lyrics were ambiguous as to their meaning.

Here are a few examples. Do you have others to add?

The Wonder Of You - Ray Peterson, Elvis Presley
"You give me hope and consolation
You give me strength to carry on"
Speculation has centered around who "you" is. The writer of the song (Baker Knight) confirmed that he wrote it as a gospel song, and "you" was indeed the Lord.

I Started A Joke - The Bee Gees
"Till I finally died which started the whole world living"
Speculation about whether that lyric is a reference to the religious events celebrated during Easter weekend.
The Gibb brothers never clarified - they said they would leave it to people's own interpretation.

Along Comes Mary - The Association
Was Mary a reference to marijuana? The writer, Tandyn Almer, says it was.

Louie, Louie - The Kingsmen
Did the lyrics to this song contain obscenities? The original, written in 1955 by Richard Berry, did not have any questionable words, but when the Kingsmen released their version in 1963 with garbled lyrics, speculation was rampant that there were obscenities in the the Kingsmen's version. Two FBI investigations concluded that the lyrics were unintelligible and not obscene.

**Posted by aflem** April 23, 2025 3:03 pm

The song "Heaven Knows" by the Grassroots contains the lyric, "Oh Lord, Heaven Knows, how much I love you and how much it shows. Oh Lord, Heaven, Heaven Knows."

Was he singing about a girl he loved - or God? I always wonder every time I hear it.

As for Louie Louie, the story I read is that The Kingsmen recorded it in one take at a studio with only one mic located on the ceiling. So the lead singer had to shout into the thing while the band played loudly behind him, one of the reasons you can't make out the words. True or false, it makes for a great story.

**Posted by Taz** April 24, 2025 9:25 am

What got thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge?

**Posted by GrimsbyFan** April 24, 2025 6:19 pm

Bobbie Gentry has never said what was thrown off the bridge, but she insists that it isn't important.

"Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.”

Last edited by GrimsbyFan (April 24, 2025 8:42 pm)

**Posted by Taz** April 25, 2025 10:05 am

GrimsbyFan wrote:
Bobbie Gentry has never said what was thrown off the bridge, but she insists that it isn't important.”

Over the years I’ve concluded she doesn’t know. She just put the line in to create mystery like “The Lady, or the Tiger?”

The only thing I ever came up with was an engagement ring, If there had been any relationship between her and Billie Joe, the family would have know something about it. Billie Joe who “never had a lick of sense”, proposed out of the blue. She might have answered she hadn’t thought much about such things and wasn’t ready to make those kinds of decisions. Being obsessed with her, Billie Joe was devastated and threw the ring into the river. This leaves here feeling responsible for his death.

**Posted by aflem** April 29, 2025 7:55 pm

It's explained at the end of the song, but Jim Stafford's offbeat "My Girl Bill," which was a 1974 hit, gave a very different impression of what it was about until the last verse. Never gets played anymore, but a wonderfully whimsical song.

**Posted by AzMike** April 29, 2025 10:01 pm

In “Along Comes Mary”, the other mystery is about the empty cup. First, lead singer Jim Yester, on a 1981 Mike Douglas Show, relates the story that he was injured in a motorcycle crash right before going on tour. The band realized on the plane that nobody knew the full lyrics to “Mary”. They called him at the hospital an hour before the concert to get them! Re the empty cup, almost all lyric sources has it: “Now my empty cup TASTES as sweet as the punch” But, I hear and see (lip reading): “Now my empty cup IS as sweet as the punch” Either way, I don’t feel too bad, considering the band didn’t know all the words.

Last edited by AzMike (April 29, 2025 10:02 pm)

**Posted by GrimsbyFan** April 30, 2025 3:39 pm

Of course the grandaddy of them all used to be American Pie by Don Mclean. For many years he refused to explain what the lyrics meant, but in 2015 he sold the original manuscript and included catalogue notes which explained the meaning of the song. He revealed more details when the documentary The Day The Music Died was released in 2022.

**Posted by Cary** May 1, 2025 3:13 pm

There is also Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles where he doesn't quite give us enough information to decide whether Georgia is a woman or the State,

Last edited by Cary (May 1, 2025 3:14 pm)

**Posted by Taz** May 12, 2025 1:13 pm

Some Velvet Morning - Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra
Not much about Phaedra other than it's grim.

They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! - Napoleon XIV
We don't find out until the end he's talking to a dog.

**Posted by Taz** July 9, 2025 6:07 am

Green door, what's that secret you're keeping?