Mybe you know the truth, maybe it was a rumour...

did Phil Collins really see somone drown someone else, inspiring "In the Air tonight"?
and what does "25 or 6 to 4" mean?

heard any good stories behind the songs?

An excellent topic KKay 8)

With "25 or 6 to 4", I have heard 2 theories ...

The time of day or he ratio of powdered sugar to pure heroin.  The song came out in 1970, so I can only guess the second theory :D


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In the Men at Work song "Be Good Johnny", who is Johnny?  I have always wondered.  Usually sogsg with people's names in them are in reference to an actual person

"25 or 6 to 4" is not about drugs.


http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m25or6to4.html


Perhaps you're too young to recall that in the late '60s and '70s it was a popular parlour game--if not quite an intellectual pursuit--to read hidden messages and double meanings into song lyrics. Many people thought "Hey Jude" was about shooting heroin. Just about everything Bob Dylan wrote went through hours of scrutiny by his fans. Did you ever check into the "Hotel California" by the Eagles? Many of the Rolling Stones songs were supposedly about drugs, though it's hard to ignore the more explicit meanings ("You make a dead man come.") What about "I Am the Walrus," which was supposedly written on an acid trip about Paul McCartney's greatly exaggerated and rumored demise? Goo goo g'joob, baby.

Lamm says it's simpler than that. "The song is about writing a song. It's not mystical," he says. Take a look at some of the lyrics:

    Waiting for the break of day--He's been up all night and now it's getting close to sunrise.
    Searching for something to say--Trying to think of song lyrics.
    Flashing lights against the sky--Perhaps stars or the traditional flashing neon hotel sign.
    Giving up I close my eyes--He's exhausted and his eyes hurt from being open too long, so he closes them.
    Staring blindly into space--This expression can be seen often on the faces of writers and reporters. Trust me.
    Getting up to splash my face--Something you do when you're trying to stay awake, though a good cup of Starbuck's does wonders for Cecil and me.
    Wanting just to stay awake, wondering how much I can take--How far can he push himself to get the song done?
    Should I try to do some more?--This is the line that makes many think it's a drug song. But it is just as easily construed as a frustrated writer wondering if he should try to do some more lyrics/songwriting.

As for the curious title, Lamm says, "It's just a reference to the time of day"--as in "waiting for the break of day" at 25 or (2)6 minutes to 4 a.m. (3:35 or 3:34 a.m.)

I think we can take Lamm's word for the whole thing. Because, when it's that early in the morning, does anybody really know what time it is?

As for "In The Air Tonight", it's NOT about anyone drowning.


http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/someair.htm


In the
Air Tonight (as well as most of Collins' 1981 Face Value album) deals with his bitterness and frustration over the end of his marriage to his first wife, Andrea. As Collins has repeatedly explained, the lyrics are not based on any specific real-life event.

This rumor -- nothing more than another case of song lyrics being interpreted too literally -- originated not long after the release of the song 1981 and has been in continuous circulation ever since.

I heard Gary Numan's "Cars" was written after a big accident kinda created chaos, and some guys tried to beat the crap out of Numan.. he got in his car and they couldn't get to him or something.

Modest Mouse's "Blue Cadet 3, Do You Connect?" was allegedly written as a memoir of the last time Isaac Brock ever heard from his father, over a CB or something. I'm not sure on this one, though, because interviews with Isaac later imply that his father was around (he talks about his father attempting suicide a few times, etc.)

It's not really a story behind the song, but what about that rumor about recording the screaming of a girl being murdered in "Love Rollercoaster"?

It's not really a story behind the song, but what about that rumor about recording the screaming of a girl being murdered in "Love Rollercoaster"?


Yeah.. I remember that. Mayb that's why I thin it's creepy. 

It's not really a story behind the song, but what about that rumor about recording the screaming of a girl being murdered in "Love Rollercoaster"?



Just another rumor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Rollercoaster

Some claim that a scream can be heard during the song of a woman being murdered. Or specifically, the woman featured on the front of their album Honey. However, according to the liner notes of their 1995 collection Funk On Fire: The Mercury Anthology, "it was a shriek by keyboardist (Billy) Beck, caught deep in the mix on tape."