The Rick Rubin produced Reign in Blood was an instant thrash masterpiece, but the album’s first track claimed Slayer of Nazi sympathizing and racism. Ozzy was eventually cleared in court, but the song’s legacy still looms.
While Ozzy’s lyrics were fairly direct, “Wine is fine/But whiskey’s quicker/Suicide is slow with liquor/Take a bottle, drown your sorrows,” the controversy took place during the height of PMRC’s crusade against “offensive” music. Osbourne defended the song in court, saying it was using the word “solution” not as a means of solving a problem, but as something that dissolves into a liquid.
OZZY OSBOURNE ROAD TO NOWHERE LYRICS MEANING TRIAL
Six years after the release of Ozzy’s massively successful Blizzard of Ozz, Osbourne found himself on trial due to a fan committing suicide while listening to the track.
It’s an interesting claim, but when Fenton sings “I want to look at you from inside as well,” it doesn’t lend any credence to his case. Vocalist David Fenton’s words wring with obsession and alienation, “No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women/No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it’s dark/Everyone around me is a total stranger,” land him at the conclusion of “That’s why I’m turning Japanese.” While it all seemed rather obvious, Fenton has claimed the song is about youthful angst leading people into situations they didn’t expect. Looking at the song’s lyrics, it’s pretty clear why it would be seen as such. Much like Lauper’s “She Bop,” The Vapors’ “Turning Japanese” was a song dealing with masturbation. The line between where MacKaye’s anger is placed often goes back and forth, leaving “Guilty of Being White” in an awkward state all its own. The song is equal parts apology for the crimes of MacKaye’s ancestors, and frustration with being grouped in with them. The song was written about MacKaye’s experiences of being bullied while at Woodrow Wilson High School-a school with a 70 percent African-American population at the time. However, “Guilty of Being White” from Minor Threat’s 1981 In My Eyes 7-inch had many labeling MacKaye a racist. Ian MacKaye’s music-as well as his work for various charities and his fierce DIY ethic-is something many still find inspiring. Somehow, Lauper’s relatively tame encouragement of self-gratification was dirty enough to become one of the songs sited when the PMRC wanted to put warning labels on albums. Lauper wasn’t hiding her intent-a line like “They say I better stop or I’ll go blind,” is anything but vague-it was veiled enough to become a hit the world over. Ok, this one wasn’t as well guised as some of the others, but Lauper did a great job of making the pro-masturbation lyrics secondary to insatiable hook. The song’s chorus, “So where are you, my little needle/ The stacks been burned away but I’m so inebriated” finally made sense, it was not about addiction, but finding true love-the “needle in the haystack.” It wasn’t until 2008 when the album was rereleased that a bonus documentary cleared the air. Opening with, “I’ll come down and get you high,” it seems obvious the song is about a literal needle, and descriptions of withdrawal make an ever stronger case. Vocalists Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano made numerous references to drinking and drugs, so it was no surprise to find a song called “My Little Needle” on the band’s debut Goddamnit. In its infancy, Alkaline Trio was known as much for its members’ love of substances as its music. Here are eight examples where ambiguity-or poppy hooks-sent listeners down a completely different path. It gives the listener control to create their own story, but it often leaves room from gross misinterpretation. It’s fun to hear songwriters wear their hearts on their sleeves, but it can be more interesting when they lace their meaning with cunning misdirection.
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