Behind the catchy tunes and memorable lyrics lie some truly disturbing and heartbreaking stories. From tragic losses and armed robberies to nuclear war warnings and political protests, these beloved hits harbor dark secrets that might change how you hear them forever. Ready to uncover the truth?
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00:00Welcome back to MsMojo, and today we're looking at the sad and disturbing
00:06inspirations, meanings and backstories behind some beloved songs.
00:11Number 10. A myth about death. Love rollercoaster. At first listen, it sounds
00:21like a fun and funky love song.
00:22But a strange screeching sound heard early in this Ohio player's track
00:33inspired an urban legend that may have outlasted the song's cultural imprint.
00:37The story goes that love rollercoaster inadvertently captured a murder
00:46victim's dying moments. That bit of lore morphed over the years with the
00:50screech being attributed to the last gasp of the model who appeared on the
00:55album cover.
00:56Obviously, this didn't happen. But this tall tale went viral, or at least
01:07whatever the 1970s version of viral was, the Ohio players decided to let the
01:12myth ride for sales purposes.
01:14Number 9. It's about infidelity. Macarena. Back when a dance craze wasn't just
01:24confined to the internet, you were hard-pressed to get away from dance
01:28remixes of Los Del Rio's Spanish-language hit Macarena. The track and its
01:38accompanying dance caused an international sensation. The Bayside Boys
01:43added English lyrics to their version that spelled out what the song was
01:46really about for non-Spanish speakers. But we didn't even seem to notice.
01:50It wasn't until years later that a lot of us took a close look at those
02:02lyrics. Macarena is the story of a woman cheating on her boyfriend with
02:06two of his pals, which makes its presence at decades' worth of weddings
02:11hilarious and sickly ironic.
02:13Number 8. Inspired by tragedy. Tears in Heaven. This beautiful and moving
02:20single first appeared on the soundtrack of the 1991 crime drama Rush.
02:25Tears in Heaven topped charts and won several Grammys after its release,
02:33but it has an extra layer of pain that comes from a very real traumatic
02:37event. Eric Clapton wrote this enduring hit while he was deep in mourning.
02:46Its lyrics and overall perspective were inspired by the death of his
02:50four-year-old son, Connor, in a tragic fall. Since its initial release,
02:58the song has become one of Clapton's most successful, clearly illustrating
03:02the pain of losing a loved one.
03:04Number 7. Experiences with discrimination. Paper Planes. British rapper and
03:13songwriter M.I.A. found international success with this 2008 hit. Featuring
03:18a fusion of influences and styles, Paper Planes is a captivating piece of music.
03:23The song itself, though, is a critical look at the xenophobia and
03:32racism faced by immigrants, particularly in the United States.
03:36With lyrics satirizing the commonly held view of foreign people as
03:46criminals and scammers, M.I.A. was inspired by her own struggle to secure
03:50a work visa in the country. The insane hoops and mistreatment she faced
04:01in the entire process spurred her on to write what's become known as an
04:05anthem for outsiders and immigrants everywhere.
04:08Number 6. Inspired by a disgusting rumor. Barracuda. Sisters Anne and
04:20Nancy Wilson were accomplished musicians in their own right, and as the
04:24faces of the band Heart, they endured their fair share of misogyny.
04:31One particular event encapsulates their mistreatment by male colleagues
04:37and the record industry as a whole.
04:46When their old label Mushroom Records started a scurrilous rumor for
04:50publicity, the sisters were outraged. In response, they wrote and recorded
04:55Barracuda.
05:02Taking its name from the predatory fish, the Barracuda seems to represent
05:06every man in the industry who wielded power to minimize and dehumanize
05:10them.
05:15Number 5. The price of fame. Chandelier. Becoming famous might seem like
05:20a dream, but for this Australian singer-songwriter, it threatened to
05:24almost derail her life and career.
05:31When she came back to record her 2014 album, 1000 Forms of Fear, she
05:36donned her signature, face-obscuring wig, and made some of her most
05:40personal music yet.
05:47Chandelier feels like her quintessential party song. With its 1-2-3 drink
05:52refrain and soaring vocals, it's hard to notice how dark it actually is.
06:02Sia's inspiration for the song was her own hard partying lifestyle. After
06:09her career took off and launched her public profile, taking refuge in
06:13substances and wild nights out, the party girl at the center of the
06:17song turns out to be Sia herself.
06:21Number 4. Armed robbery. You learn. There's been a lot said about the
06:31sweat and tears that went into Alanis Morissette's breakout 1995
06:35masterpiece, Jagged Little Pill.
06:43From destructive breakups to personal demons, the album represented a
06:48new sound for the artist. But the song, You Learn, was teased out of a
06:52distinct personal trauma.
06:59Morissette was the victim of an armed robbery during the making of
07:04Jagged Little Pill. Though the robber only made off with cash, she was
07:07afraid at one point that he would steal the backpack she was carrying,
07:11which contained a lot of materials for the record.
07:18The incident gave her post-traumatic stress and panic attacks. She
07:23carried that experience into the song's overall message about even
07:27life's worst moments being valuable.
07:35Number 3. It's about nuclear annihilation. 99 Luftballons.
07:40West German singer Nina had a crossover hit with this song, which
07:50was recorded in English as 99 Red Balloons. The story often gets
07:55lost in its upbeat 80s pop stylings.
08:02In the 1980s, the Cold War was as hot as it ever got, and nuclear
08:07annihilation was the great existential fear of the age.
08:16Nina's song speaks to the paranoia of the time, narrating a fictional
08:20story about a bunch of balloons that mistakenly activate a country's
08:24air defense system. The end result is full-on nuclear war. Not exactly
08:28as upbeat as the bouncy music would suggest.
08:31Number 2. Response to a bombing. Zombie. This anti-war song's
08:41inclusion on Halloween playlists is baffling once you know what
08:44it's about.
08:49In the early 1990s, Cranberry's lead singer Dolores O'Riordan wrote
08:54this perennially misunderstood classic that, despite its name, is
08:58not about the living dead.
09:01During a tour of England, the band drove near the location of a
09:091993 London bombing by the IRA, which claimed the lives of two
09:13children. Zombie was inspired by O'Riordan's anger over the event,
09:17which was emblematic of the violence that occurred during the
09:20Troubles.
09:26Island Records actually tried to pay the band not to release such
09:30a politically charged track. O'Riordan refused a $1,000,000 check
09:34and released it anyway.
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09:58Number 1. The Loss of a Father – Wake Me Up When September Ends
10:03Green Day's mournful rock ballad from their American Idiot album
10:12was not only a hit, upon its release, fans speculated about its
10:16meaning. It has since gone on to inspire memes that always crop up
10:24around September. But in the years since, fans also take to the
10:28internet to remind us the reason Billy Joe Armstrong wrote it in
10:32the first place.
10:37He first came up with the title in 1982. In fact, it was something
10:42he said to his mother after his father passed away that month.
10:45Green Day released the song over 20 years later, capturing the
10:48feeling of grief and depression after a profound loss.
10:54Did these sad truths about these great songs surprise you? Let us
11:04know in the comments.
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