10 Songs That Definitely Don't Mean What You Thought

10. Dirty Water - The Standells

Okay, I admit that this one is more of a theory than a definitive meaning, but the theory is lent a lot of credence by the song's lyrics, and it gives a very dark flavor to an otherwise upbeat song, so I feel that it deserves a place on this list. The theory states that "Dirty Water," often thought to be a simple love song to the city of Boston, is actually written from the point of view of the Boston Strangler (later discovered to be Albert DeSalvo), the notorious serial killer who preyed upon the single women of Boston from 1962 to 1964. The Strangler case became one of the first of the "media frenzy" serial-killer investigations; people from one coast of the United States to the other devoured the facts of the case the second each new tidbit was revealed. The case was so well-followed by the whole U.S.A., in fact, that the L.A.-based band The Standells recorded a song from the POV of the man, or so the theory says. There are several sections of lyric that the theorists cite to prove their point, The first line of which is the line about "frustrated women" having to "be in by twelve o'clock." At a nursing school near Boston, the curfew for women to be in their dorms was at midnight; during the Strangler's reign of terror, DeSalvo often snuck into the school's women's dorms and entered dorm rooms, claiming to be a maintenance man. He would then go on to murder the unsuspecting girls. The second line theorists point out is the line where the singer is "wishin' and a-hopin' that just once, those doors weren't locked." During the Strangler's killing spree, single women purchased lots of new locks, feeling that such measures would make them safer; most single women's apartments and homes were locked tight by the early evening. The line that theorists consider to be the clincher, however, is one of the song's last, in which the singer states, "Hey, have you heard about the Strangler? I'm the man, I'm the man." I don't think I need to explain the explanations taken from that line. Personally, I feel that the theorists are right; there are too many parallels between the lyrics and the true events to be coincidental. However, most people prefer to think of this classic garage-rock tune as a paean to Boston or a celebration of the Red Sox. In this case, either party may be right, for the band has never made a definitive statement on the song's meaning.