Most kids start out digging mainly the beat, melody, and rhythm of pop music. Later on, many of them start to appreciate the lyrics. I got into lyrics right from the beginning. I’ve become a human Karaoke machine and probably know at least the opening line of 10,000 songs by heart. I’ve always been fascinated by the pop songs that have lyrics that are nearly impossible to understand. Some because the singer slurs them, like Louie Louie by the Kingsmen. Others, because the words just don’t seem to make sense. Here’s a great example of a song I’m sure you’ve heard 1000 times. See if you can make out the lyrics!

Some people think this song is about Marijuana, or Mary Jane. Here’s what they’re actually singing. What do YOU think it’s about?

Every time I think that I’m the only one who’s lonely
Someone calls on me
And every now and then I spend my time in rhyme and verse
And curse those faults in me

And then along comes Mary
And does she want to give me kicks , and be my steady chick
And give me pick of memories
Or maybe rather gather tales of all the fails and tribulations
No one ever sees

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

When vague desire is the fire in the eyes of chicks
Whose sickness is the games they play
And when the masquerade is played and neighbor folks make jokes
As who is most to blame today

And then along comes Mary
And does she want to set them free, and let them see reality
From where she got her name
And will they struggle much when told that such a tender touch as hers
Will make them not the same

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

And when the morning of the warning’s passed, the gassed
And flaccid kids are flung across the stars
The psychodramas and the traumas gone
The songs are left unsung and hung upon the scars

And then along comes Mary
And does she want to see the stains, the dead remains of all the pains
She left the night before
Or will their waking eyes reflect the lies, and make them
Realize their urgent cry for sight no more

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

Some people have also speculated that the song was a reference to Mother Mary and religion. However, in the 1980’s, the guy who wrote this song, Tandyn Almer, said in an interview that he sat on the sidewalk on Sunset Strip in Hollywood, stoned, and wrote 419 verses to this song. It had nothing to do with religion but was solely about the perspective that marijuana gave him about the people who passed by and the events taking place at the time.