@@marie-jo2604 If you use the logic that our ancestors coming from Europe precludes our ability to be American than no one can be and everyone is African. Humans didn't spontaneously evolve in the Americas, everyone's ancestors were from some place else.
For Pumped Up Kicks an important note is the bassist's cousin was a student at Columbine High School during the infamous school shooting. "bassist Cubbie Fink has a cousin who survived the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Fink said of his cousin's experience, "She was actually in the library when everything went down, so I actually flew out to be with her the day after it happened and experienced the trauma surrounding it and saw how affected she was by it. She is as close as a sister, so obviously, it affected me deeply. So to be able to have a song to create a platform to talk about this stuff has been good for us"
As someone who graduated slightly over a month after Columbine, Pumped Up Kicks always felt dark to me. Bit of trivia, the bassist's cousin was a survivor of Columbine.
@@rochellealexander8271 no, I didn't go there. But that last couple of months felt suffocating at our school, and I'm sure nearly every other. Teachers, administration, even other students were on edge. It was not the first school shooting but at the time it was big enough to garner live nationwide coverage in a still mostly analog time. EVERYTHING changed after that. I only experienced a couple months of increased security, zero tolerance rules, and severe consequences for trivial infractions, esp as seniors.
So Anthony Kiedis has stated Under The Bridge is not about him doing heroin, it is about the loneliness about being clean from drugs while the rest of the band was using. He even said he almost didn't share the song with the band.
I realize there's no way it was meant like it comes across but "Sandy Hook shook me, I was literally depressed for like a week" is an insane statement. 😂
Foster the People have also said Columbine was pretty much the shooting in mind because a relative of a band member was a victim/survivor of that shooting.
Duran Duran has several songs that are much darker than people would expect. "Do You Believe in Shame?" and the amazing "Ordinary World" are both about the overdose death of a friend of Simon Le Bon.
I'm shocked Master of Puppets wasn't on this list as the song is about how having an addiction (i don't remember for what drug off the top of my head) the lyrics literally say "obey your master, you're life burns faster" ,along with the rifts going fast (the high) and then slowing down (the wear of the high). Or Smoke on the water that is literally written about the tragedy of a Frank Zappa concert where the whole venue caught on fire ,but the song is mainly known for it's iconic guitar rift that is banned in some music/guitar shops.
Seriously, that one chick screeching her way through those songs, especially this one was really grating. And yes Pumped Up Kicks was about as subtle as a gun. No pun.
So many people “oh yeah that song gets me pumped” about Jump and I’m like no… no… you are NOT getting it- That and people using Every Breath You Take as the first dance at wedding receptions… creepy….
The video features a violent fight in an apartment between a male and a female character shown in reverse, beginning with the death of the female character at the hands of the male character, who bludgeons her with a breeze block. As the fight progresses backwards, it is revealed that the female character is the aggressor in the fight, having ambushed the male character as he returned home to discover his wife bound and gagged. In the song it's the opposite.
It's wild to me when people don't know about the first song, Semi-Charmed Life, cuz the lyrics really spell it out, lol. "I was taking sips of it through my nose" "doing crystal m. will lift you up until you break" "I took the hit that I was given, and I bumped again, and I bumped again." Among other things. 😂
To be fair the radio edit blurred it out. And while classic rock stations are playing the unedited one today these people don't seem to be listening to the lyrics.
I was a little surprised "I Don't Like Mondays" wasn't played. Would have been interesting to see their reaction to "Strange Fruit" as well...I think with so many songs that have darker meanings, this video needs to be done again with more songs.
I'm surprised no one ever talks about how 'Unwell' by Matchbox 20 is someone dealing with depression /( or schizophrenia, depending on how you're looking at it)
Some songs the meaning is clear if you listen to the lyrics and some aren’t clear unless you recognise the double entendre It’s usually when it’s got a really boppy/uplifting tune that you don’t expect the darker meanings - so the people that just listen to the tune and aren’t massively interested in knowing the lyrics are most shocked by these reveals
Uncle Kracker sing a song called follow me which is about heroin. There’s a line in the song that says “ I’ll swim through your veins like a fish in the sea” that line is talking about shooting up heroin
It crazy that song was in our high school video yearbook at the end of the year. Each year they made videos with pics, short videos or clips, and music (vhs tapes) they'd have them for sale the last few weeks of school. Just something to remember the fun/good times during the year.
The song Jeremy by Pearl Jam is another song that has a dark meaning behind it its about a kid in high school that was being bullied so what he did was he brought a gun too school and in class shot himself in front of his teacher and classmates when the lead singer of Pear Jam Eddy Vedder heard about it he immediately started writing the lyrics and music the Mother of the actual boy that killed himself was not too happy and the boys name is Jeremy its a great song however a very sad one too .
"Jump" by Van Halen and "Every Breath You Take" by The Police were both released as singles in '83, with "Every Breadth You Take" being the #1 single of '83. For the first 18+ years of my life, I lived in 83 County.
I never understood how people thought Pumped Up Kicks was a happy song. Like, haven't you listened to the chorus??? They literally talk about some crazy person pointing a gun and shooting someone Also, wanna hear to a dark song? Listen to Copacabana. It may sound happy, but let me tell you you're in for an interesting ride
my friends in college was vibing this song back then because an indonesian idol contestant singing it. and it really surprising to me while we are in english major and this friends of mine can't comprehend anything about that song, not sayin my english is better or something but the lyrics of the song didn't even try to be subtle at all
I hope there is a part two because they are so many songs with dark meaning. I think my favorite has to be slide by the goo goo dolls since its about two teenage kids who gets pregnant and They’re trying to decide whether she should get an abortion or if they should get married and try to make it work
Could've sworn Little Talks was about a couple dealing with the wife's dementia/Alzheimers. "Some days I can't even dress myself," "It's killing me to see you this way," "Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear," "Though the truth may vary." It's all there in the lyrics.
The song is about the perspective of West Germany when 99 Luftballons crossing into East Germany mislead as missile and prepare with Soviet counter strike
Hayley said she was depressed for a week after Sandy Hook: imagine having lived in CT at the time, which I did, and was terrified that someone was going to do the same at my sons' schools. So hubby and I rushed to their schools and got them, and we were the only parents there! I expected to see so many cars at both schools, but there were none. I don't know if no one had heard what happened or if they were at work and couldn't get the time off. Also, a friend of mine had a baby that same day, her child will be 12 this year.
What about Pink Floyd "when the tiger broke free" ? Fleetwood Mac "Go your own way", " Silver Springs" , Pearl Jam "Jeremy ", Judas Priest "beyond the realm of death ", Ozzy Osbourne"suicide solution " etc. Include those type of songs in the next episode.
I watched an interview once where Sting mentioned that he was truly terrified at how many fan responses he got to Every Breath You Take saying that they really identified with the song.
Great episode REACT. Didn't ruin anything but made me see some of these songs in a new way. I KNEW it was gonna be a little different when RU-vid put the "agree" tag before it would let me play it.
I know I’m 2 weeks late to watching this but I relate to this video during the pumped up kicks song because of being in a school shooting back in may of 2019
"Pompeii" by Bastille is probably an example for a happy sound, but dark meaning? And because alt-j is mentioned in this video: You know the feeling when you listen to a song for the first time, the sound a bit dark, but quite catchy (I LOVE them that way) and you don't really pay attention to the lyrics (because they are not in your first language) - just to find out later that it's REALLY dark, disgusting even? Happened to me with "Fitzpleasure". That was like...I really enjoyed this song, but finding out about the meaning took the fun out of it...
Literally just a few hours ago, there was a minor wildfire that just happened a few blocks away from my work, and I work in California where the fire started at the back of a highschool and spread at the foot of a hill and onto a trail lol I just had to pause on the moment when they were talking about Billie Eillish's song lol
Van halens jump was INSPIRED by a suicide jumper but the song itself is a positive message like the reactors were thinking.example- If there's a pretty girl on the other side of the room , you eye her, she eyes you, you're gonna go talk to her but you start to freeze. It's like being on that ledge...don't chicken out...jump. go for it.
"Pumped Up Kicks" always reminds me of those Reebok Pumps, a major hit for shoes. Weird History has a video about it called "How The Reebok Pump Changed The High-Tech Sneaker Game Forever." Such a great song, it's so cool!
Anyone who ever thought that “Every Breath You Take” was a love song might be an idiot. 😆 It is clearly a stalker song, and always has been! In 1988 my aunt wanted to use it as her wedding song and even at 14 I pointed out that it was creepy AF! 🤣🤣🤣
The way by Fastball is about a real life elderly couple that went out for a walk and never returned Arms of an angel by Sarah McLachlan is about drugs Good riddance ( I hope you have the time of your life ) by Greenday is about the lead singers girlfriend breaking up with him and moving away I remember when this came out it was used at a lot at graduations
I love American pie because everything in it relates to some event/person and you can really get into unravelling the meaning to enjoy the song on another level
There's a dark song by Nirvana called *_Polly_* where the lyrics are based on an actual story of a girl kidnapped where very morbid things happened to her but fortunately escaped.
Somebody probably already mentioned this but I don't want sift through the many comments to find it. If it has already been mentioned... major props to the first person who mentioned it. However if not, 'Gloomy Sunday' would have been a fantastic one to add. Not only is the song dark but everything surrounding it is just as dark if not more so.
The end when that kid said: I'll be missing you by P Diddy as a song that was darker than we think. That made me laugh as they had just listened to the song he sampled from. Every Breath You Take, by Sting.
I would say Possum Kingdom by Toadies is the song I think of when thinking of a song with a much darker meaning than most people think. Most people I knew thought it was about a vampire turning his lover. It is actually about a real serial killer. Possum Kingdom is where the killer stalked and killed his victims.
How about reacting to "Happy Sounding Songs That Are Anything But?" *Examples: Bullet by Hollywood Undead, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People, Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen, ect.
Honestly, I knew the meanings of most of these songs when I first heard them. But I'm big on lyrics. It's all there. And it actually makes me happier to learn that songs continue to be written with deeper meaning than what's on the surface. Songs with purpose warms my heart! 🥰 I would have like to see Drive by Incubus or Janet Jackson's Together Again was on here.
Me when listening to the song "Pumped Up Kicks" in the original version: 😁🎧☀🫂 Me after hearing the song "Pumped Up Kicks" in the slowed reverb version: 💀🔫🏫🇺🇸 Lyrics: 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️💨 - - 🔫🤓 But.. Still my fav!! 😆❤
The mark foster one is so obvious, how can you see it any other way, the lyrics are literally, literal...i had never heard it before this video, and hearing the lyrics, i was like dude, why are these people bopping to it like a teenie bopper song....(ok I'm really not as old as i sound...or maybe i am....lol)
