We all love a good mystery in music, especially when that mystery has lore to it.
Sometimes the lore is very clear, and other times it isn’t, leading to a lot of songs that are secretly about things and people you might not expect. For example… other musicians? Below, we’ve compiled a list of alt-rock songs from the past few decades that are secretly about other rockers, whether it be directly or slightly more indirectly…
Fall Out Boy – “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” is apparently about The Killers
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On their third studio album, Infinity on High, Chicago’s own Fall Out Boy delivered a pop-rock anthem with “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” which bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz has said was a “kind of a tongue-in-cheek look at the way we are so addicted and obsessed with new arts, cultures and loves — to the point where it just becomes oversaturated.”
It’s maybe also about Brandon Flowers of The Killers?
It all seems to have started when Flowers was quoted as saying that Fall Out Boy makes music that could have an impact “that you don’t really want,” whatever that means. Wentz responded a couple of times, seemingly taking the jab in stride, but then this song emerged, and people began to take notice of the concepts of using war analogies to talk about beefs within the music industry.
The rumors have only been exacerbated by the fact that the bands were label mates on Island Records at the time.
R.E.M. – “The Wake Up Bomb” is Probably about Liam Gallagher from Oasis
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Back in the mid-’90s, Oasis’s Gallagher brothers pissed off just about everybody with their abrasive personalities and unfiltered opinions. This may have led to the song “The Wake Up Bomb” by R.E.M.
The two bands played together a couple of times, and while R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck claims it’s not, fans have mined the lyrics to find many parallels that seem to reference Oasis, such as a line where R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe sings “supersonic, what a joke.” This, online music sleuths say, is referring to Oasis’ 1994 song “Supersonic.”
Pavement – “Range Life” is Definitely about Billy Corgan
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OK, so to be fair, this one isn’t really a “secret,” but godamn is it funny.
Back in the early ’90s, Pavement’s brand of nonchalant indie rock was burning up the underground and bringing them to the mainstream surface, but it became clear this was not the path they desired, and they made that clear in the song “Range Life,” from their 1994 album Crooked Rain Crooked Rain.
“Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins / Nature kids, I / They don’t have no function / I don’t understand what they mean / And I could really give a fuck,” sings Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus, specifically name-dropping Billy Corgan’s iconic grunge band.
While Pavement went on record as saying the diss was just meant as a joke, rumors have it that Corgan was so pissed off, he had the band blacklisted from Lollapalooza ’94.
Smashing Pumpkins – So many songs about Courtney Love (allegedly), but we’re gonna focus on “Zero”
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And finally, from a song about Corgan, to one(s) written BY Corgan!
Over the years, it’s been rumored that many Smashing Pumpkins songs are about Courtney Love. The Hole frontwoman, and Kurt Cobain’s widow, and Corgan have had a relationship that is sometimes amicable and sometimes tumultuous.
Most specifically, fans have noticed that there are a lot of aspects of Smashing Pumpkins’ hit song “Zero” and Hole’s tune “Miss World,” including the music video for “Miss World” featuring a backdrop that reads “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” which is famously referenced in the lyrics of “Zero.”
Now, to be clear, Corgan has mostly denied that any of his songs are about or were inspired by Love, but she has said that she very firmly believes a number of them actually are.