Happy songs that suddenly sound sinister

[Paul Monk]

Have you ever listened to a jolly sounding song only to discover that the lyrics are a bit sinister?
The other week I was listening to Norwegian Wood by The Beatles. A lovely little folky song I hear you say. I thought so too until something in the lyrics made me think again.
At the beginning the person in the song 'has' a girl who then shows him her room. "Isn't it good? Norwegian wood." is the next line which to me kind of implies that the room is panelled in Norwegian Wood. It can't be furniture because there wasn't any chairs and we're not told about anything else in the room.
At the end of the song after "this bird had flown" the next line says "So I lit a fire, isn't it good Norwegian Wood." Given what I said above this would imply that his sets her house on fire. Doesn't it?
Scary!

Anyone else have similar experiences with happy sounding songs or am I just a fruitcake for over analysing them?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I thought for a moment your analysis of Norwegian Wood was going to be far worse ...

She shows some guy "isn't it good Norwegian Wood" ... cos it's actually her coffin, and she's dead. He's enjoying some necrophilian, and she's to be cremated in the morning.

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"You were made for me, Everybody tells me so,
You were made for me, Tell me then that you don't know"

It just reeks of STALKER!!!

[Stephen Morgan]

"You were made for me, Everybody tells me so,
You were made for me, Tell me then that you don't know"

It just reeks of STALKER!!!

Especially as Freddie Garrity was wont to drop his trousers revealing spotty Bermuda shorts on every tv performance he gave.

[Perry Vale]

'We Will Become Silhouettes' by The Postal Service is one for me. A really jolly, bouncy, happy sounding song, with cute female backing vocals....then you realise it's about the effects of a nuclear blast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEILFf2XSrM

[Paul Monk]

I thought for a moment your analysis of Norwegian Wood was going to be far worse ...

She shows some guy "isn't it good Norwegian Wood" ... cos it's actually her coffin, and she's dead. He's enjoying some necrophilian, and she's to be cremated in the morning.

Thats just made it even worse now!

Especially as Freddie Garrity was wont to drop his trousers revealing spotty Bermuda shorts on every tv performance he gave.

That would be taken in a completely different way nowadays.

[Philipnet]

It would be a crime to not mention Strawberry Fields.
After all that singing, some people mistook John Lennon saying "cranberry sauce" as "I buried Paul". And then how things escalated

[Jeff]

Internationally known Australian childrens band The Wiggles:

We can wiggle and wiggle.
wiggle at home without a care
Wiggle and wiggle,
wiggle at breakfast, lunch or tea
Wiggle and wiggle,
wiggle along with me, wiggle along with me

[WhiteCrowNZ]

'We Will Become Silhouettes' by The Postal Service is one for me. A really jolly, bouncy, happy sounding song, with cute female backing vocals....then you realise it's about the effects of a nuclear blast!

As with 99 Red Balloons. Which lots of people think is a poppy happy song. But it's about German fears of nuclear war. She lets 99 red balloons off, but it causes a Third World War cos everyone's so trigger happy ...

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I know there is a whole When The Wind Blows theme here ... but Simon & Garfunkels The Sun Is Burning is a kind of pleasant song when you hear the first verse ...

The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the lazy bees
Are joining in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky

But by the fifth verse it's ...

The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the lazy bees
Are joining in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky

Why the change of theme? Cos that's folk music guys!!!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Not really sinister - but Dido's "Mary's in India".

It always sounds to me "OMG my best friend Mary is going for a gap year to India and is gonna bore me for the rest of my life over what she's seen over there.

"Anyway ... whilst she's away I'm gonna sleep with her boyfriend ..."

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I thought for a moment your analysis of Norwegian Wood was going to be far worse ...

She shows some guy "isn't it good Norwegian Wood" ... cos it's actually her coffin, and she's dead. He's enjoying some necrophilian, and she's to be cremated in the morning.

This song just came up on random play on my MP3 player - it's now officially ruined for me - lol!