History Fridge / Music

* What was originally one of the more puzzling lines in "Intergalactic" is now one of my favorite examples of the Music/BeastieBoys' tendency towards intentionally silly BoastfulRap. The line in question is "Got an A from Moe Dee for sticking to themes". As it turns out this refers to Kool Moe Dee, who infamously published "report cards" for other rappers in his album liner notes: He did in fact give the Beastie Boys an A for "sticking to themes"... and straight C's for everything else. That's sort of like a high school kid bragging about the A they got in Phys. Ed when they're otherwise a straight C student, and knowing their humor, that's probably the joke - Tropers/MikeK

* The intro to the song "YYZ" by Music/{{Rush}} seemed irregular and out of place, until the intro was, in fact, the phrase "YYZ" in Morse code, repeated several times, it's fascinating.

--> '''Sen''': Man, that is a butt-ugly cover. Seriously, ''I'' was cool and all, but this?! Did the dude do it in like 30 minutes? Also why's there a chick on the cover? Seriously, this makes no sense. Where's the rhyme and reason? Better check Wikipedia. (checks wikipedia) Oh, hey, Dave Juniper did do it in like 30 minutes. Big surprise. Oh hey, the original's The Red Baron. Pretty neat I guess, but not as cool as the exploding Hindenburg. Chick on the cover's an actress called Creator/GlynisJohns. Never heard of her. Wait. The first album's engineer was ''Glyn'' Johns. * laugh* Did he seriously go through all that trouble for an IncrediblyLamePun? And I thought Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic was overdoing it... Also, ''Andy'' was the engineer this time, not Glyn. Meh, still, this would make a good TV Tropes entry. Still doesn't make the cover good for me though.

* There's a line in Music/TheWrens' "Everyone Choose Sides" that makes much more sense when you know a bit of the backstory to ''The Meadowlands''. The Wrens put out their first two albums on an independent label called Grass Records. After this, the label was bought out and the new owner wanted the band to sign a bigger contract and record more radio-friendly songs. When they refused, they were dropped and their albums were pulled out of print. Grass Records subsequently became Wind-Up Records (whose most successful act was Music/{{Creed}}, by the way), and The Wrens were left quietly working on new material while simultaneously looking for a new label, which they eventually found 6 years later. Thus the somewhat punny TakeThat "Greener grasses fade from where you wind up".

** Miku's name. "Mi" is a homonym for one Japanese pronunciation of the number 3, and "Ku" is a homonym for one pronunciation of the number 9. Another way of saying 3 and 9 are "san" and "kyuu". [[JustForPun 39 = "sankyuu" = "thank you".]]

* Music/{{U2}}:
** "Where The Streets Have No Name". At first, it sounds like a basic "searching for a dream world"-song, with the whole "Streets have no names"-thing being mainly a cool line. Then you read up on it, and learn that the title is a reference to [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles the religious conflicts in Northern Ireland]]. Since people almost always follow the tradition they grow up in, there are places where you can tell a person's religion just from the name of the street where he lives. Therefore, the place "Where the streets have no names" becomes a metaphor for the place where you are judged for who you are, not where you grew up.
** In the clip for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", Bono's character is seen become into a Batman-style villain after being struck by a car as he is distracted by reading a copy of ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters''. This metamorphosis into an evil character is a sharp contrast to the theme of the book written by C.S. Lewis where the demon Screwtape advises his nephew Wormwood that "the safest path to hell is the gradual one."
** "Peace On Earth" is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh_bombing Omagh bombing]] with the third verse listing the first names of some of the victims. The Brilliance comes if you compare the names Bono mentions to the actual list of victims. He lists both Catholics and Protestants, possibly as a way of saying the perpetrators are killing their friends as well as their enemies.

* When first listening to the Music/{{Therapy?}} song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNdTs9Ar3h4 "Polar Bear"]], the song seemed very simple and the lyrics monotonous. However, think about what the lyrics say about being a polar bear in a zoo. Out of all of the zoo animals, the polar bear is not only one of the the most potentially vicious (there have been several past cases of suicide by polar bear) but also one of the most out of place and out of its natural environment. Add that to the fact that the music gets slowly more out of control, going from tight basslines to the messy pick scrapes and strings being caught on the guitar to the final bludgeoning outro. It's lyrically and musically a journal of being alienated and completely out of place and becoming more and more agitated to the point of losing control

* In the song "Every Dog Has It's Day" by Music/TobyKeith, there's the line "when the big dog throws him a bone," was just a random line to set up the next rhyme. It isn't until later that "The Big Dog" is Toby Keith's nickname. He's talking about himself.

** While reading about Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' model of the Five Stages of Grief, it suddenly hits you, after assuming it to be drug-inspired randomness, that THAT is what "[[Music/{{Queen}} Bohemian Rhapsody]]" is all about (through the eyes of a man on death row).

** "Haifisch" is German for shark. During the video, Richard and Paul got into an arguement that devolved into the five remaining members fighting. The fight started when one of them got punched in the nose, drawing blood...which attracts sharks.

* Music/{{Self}}'s "Trunk Full Of Amps" would practically be a SingleStanzaSong if not for the fact that every verse namechecks a different rock band or vocalist ("Got a trunk full of amps, mother***er / like (insert musician here), mother***er!"). What do all the acts mentioned have in common beyond being famous rock musicians? They all have songs prominently featuring the word "mother" (or "mama") in their titles or lyrics! Lenny Kravitz's "Mama Said", Music/ElectricLightOrchestra's "Mama" (or possibly "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle"), Music/{{Queen}}'s "Tie Your Mother Down" (or less obviously "Bohemian Rhapsody") and of course Music/{{Danzig}}'s "Mother".

* Listening to Music/JacksonBrowne's "Rosie" a few dozen times would realize that what sounds like a tender love ballad is a song about [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbation]]. When you realize that "Rosie" is a reference to "Rosie palm and her five lovely daughters," the chorus makes prefect sense:

* Many people have wondered why the Music/WuTangClan's "Protect Ya Neck" remains censored in all incarnations, considering that all other songs on the album and the Wu's catalogue are uncensored. Then a realization hits: The skit introducing the song is a man calling into a radio station, requesting them to play the song. The track itself is the song being played on the radio, so it's censored!

* {{Fridge/David Guetta}}

* Fridge/TheBeatles
* Fridge/TheBonzoDogBand
* {{Fridge/The Chainsmokers}}

* Fridge/TheLonelyIsland

* Fridge/WeirdAlYankovic

* At first, it seemed that the Korean song "Wannabe" by Music/EpikHigh had very little to do with the otherwise amusing music video which was based on the Korean horror movie ''The Host'' and had many references to other movies, such as a [[StarWars lightsaber]]. But after looking closer at the lyrics, the song is singing about imitation, hence why the one singing the song is a ''wannabe''.

* Music/{{Bush}}'s "Glycerine" includes seemingly irrelevant {{shout outs}}s to Stealers Wheel and Music/TheBeatles ("we live in a '''wheel''' where everyone '''steals''' / but when we rise it's like '''strawberry fields'''"), while "Everything Zen" has an equally arbitrary Music/DavidBowie ShoutOut ("Minnie Mouse has grown up a cow, Dave's on sale again"). The thing The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever", Bowie's "Life On Mars?", and Stealer's Wheel's SignatureSong "Stuck In The Middle" happen to all have in common is [[WordSaladLyrics surreal, difficult to interpret lyrics]], something Bush themselves are also known for - perhaps they included these references to point out that rock music has a long history of WordSaladLyrics.

* The Music/{{Minutemen}} included a live version of their cover of "Don't Look Now" by Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival on ''Double Nickels On The Dime'', which is otherwise entirely a studio album. One would wonder why this was, especially since it's not a very clear recording of the song, and you can hear the audience talking over most of it. It could figure maybe they really wanted the song to be on the album, but couldn't seem to do a good studio performance of it, so they just grabbed the best live recording they happened to have of it. Then reading the book from the 33 1/3 series on the album, and it was noted that a friend of the band had made the recording from the audience, and convinced them to use it because he thought the audience chatter actually added something to the song. It suddenly started to make sense: "Don't Look Now" is sort of about taking conveniences for granted (and more specifically the hard work that goes into those conveniences), so using a live recording where the audience seems to be too busy talking among themselves to hear the message of the song adds a level of irony.

* Music/{{Bush}}'s "Glycerine" has a seemingly arbitrary Music/TheBeatles ShoutOut ("...when we rise it's like strawberry fields"), while "Everything Zen" has an equally arbitrary Music/DavidBowie ShoutOut ("Minnie Mouse has grown up a cow, Dave's on sale again"). The thing "Strawberry Fields" and "Life On Mars?" happen to have in common is WordSaladLyrics, something Bush themselves are also known for. Maybe those shout outs are their way of saying "Yeah, none of this makes any sense, but hey, you let The Beatles and David Bowie get away with it..."

%%* Music/TracyChapman's song ''Fast Car'' can "drive" the listener bonkers. The verse was just so monotonous and repetitive, and the only part that seemed free and light and airy was the chorus.- Administrivia/ZeroContextExample
* "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by Music/TheCharlieDanielsBand seems to show Johnny victorious, but that's only in the short term. In beating the Devil, Johnny claimed a golden fiddle and mockingly declared his superiority, thus committing two of the SevenDeadlySins: Greed and Pride. Not only that, but he did so in full knowledge that taking the bet was a sin. As such, he has committed at least one mortal sin, potentially ***ing his soul. So long as Johnny does not repent and gain forgiveness, the Devil was the real winner.

* Fridge/TheBeatles
* Fridge/TheBonzoDogBand

* Fridge/TheLonelyIsland

* The song "Your Woman" by Music/WhiteTown. The lyrics may have double meanings, but reading a quote from the song writer made it clear that he meant wanted it that way. From Wiki/TheOtherWiki: "The lyrics could mean 'Being a member of an orthodox Trotskyist / Marxist movement. Being a straight guy in love with a lesbian. Being a gay guy in love with a straight man. Being a straight girl in love with a lying, two-timing, fake-ass Marxist. The hypocrisy that results when love and lust get mixed up with highbrow ideals.' Many listeners also likened the song to a breakup letter, where the man reading the breakup letter imitates the woman's voice."

* Music/SufjanStevens' ''Illinois'' originally featured an image of Superman in its album artwork; His label subsequently realized they never got permission from Creator/DCComics to use Superman's image, and subsequent copies either replaced him with a string of balloons, {{Creator/Marvel}}'s Chicago-based superhero The Blue Marvel, or just an empty sky. The balloon version of the cover can still be considered an abstract representation of Superman: The balloons match the red and blue color scheme of his clothing, the positions of the three balloons sort of resembles his head and arms in his trademark flying pose, and the balloons' strings are flowing behind them like a "cape".

* In the "Complete History of the Soviet Union, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris", there is a bit which goes "what's the point of it all, when you're building a wall, and in front of your eyes it disappears". It first seemed like this was about the Berlin wall coming down very suddenly - but also when you complete one or more continuous layers in Tetris, the lines you have just made disappear.

* Music/{{Nightwish}}:

* In the Music/{{Genesis}} song "Stagnation" on their second album "Trespass", there's a line that goes "I wanna sit down" repeated. The next line, also repeated, is "I wanna drink". This all fine and dandy at first, but in the album's liner notes, it says the song is about the last survivor of a nuclear apocalypse. It just turns out that fatigue and extreme thirst are the earliest symptoms of radiation poisoning.

* The double BaitAndSwitchComment in the chorus of Music/{{Lit}}'s "Miserable" could be interpreted as the progression of how he sees the woman he's singing to: first as a sexual object, then as a soulmate, then as an ex he's broken up with. As a reminder, the part is this:

* It takes a while to appreciate "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" by the Canadian band Music/{{Stars}}, and an even longer while wondering about the title, when the song clearly depicted both parties alive and well. There's an assumption that the lyrics merely highlighted the fact that their breakup was mutual, and it was their relationship which was "dead." Eventually, it strikes the thought: "ex-lover" refers to the person they once fell in love with, and now, seeing each other again after all that time, and declaring that they had no regrets concerning their relationship, that person is now "dead."

** "Adam's Song" features a brief reference to the Music/{{Nirvana}} song "Come As You Are". ("I took my time, hurried up./The choice was mine, I didn't think enough.") The realization hits later that the reference works with the song's theme of suicide. Music/KurtCobain committed suicide and "Come As You Are" contains possibly the band's biggest FunnyAneurysmMoment about his method of suicide. (Cobain died by shooting himself and the bridge of "Come As You Are" repeatedly says "I don't have a gun.")

* To one unfamiliar with Scandinavian folklore, the lyrics to Music/SeventhWonder's "King of Whitewater" may seem to run in random directions and make no sense... but if one knows about näcken (which is said to appear as a man playing a violin, using his hypnotic music to lure women and children to their deaths), the lyrics go from apparent MadLibsMetalLyrics to telling a coherent story - the verses being the näcken luring a boy and his mother to their deaths, and the chorus being from the perspective of the boy, and then his mother, giving in to his false promise, only for him to lead them to deadly waters. Even the [[MultipleNarrativeModes sudden switch to second-person]] during the last chorus goes from arbitrary to TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou (not helped by the violin interlude shortly before it) - the first two end with Tommy singing about "the very last words you will hear", which are a warning to the listener.

* Music/MCHammer's "Pumps and a Bump" video infamously features Hammer wearing nothing but a zebra print speedo for most of it - intentionally or not, this is a notable break from other {{Fanservice}}y hip hop videos. A more typical video would have the male artist in baggy clothes, surrounded by scantily clad female extras; Instead Hammer is just as exposed as most of the women in the video. It could be seen as him saying he's not asking anyone to do anything on camera he wouldn't do himself.