Most great songs also have a great backstory — but the tragical or funny or drug - fuel origin tale surrounding these rock classics simply are n’t true .
1. “LOVE ROLLERCOASTER”
The Legend : Known as the " Ohio Slayers " rumor , thefaint screamheard halfway through the song " Love Rollercoaster " was the cover role model from the Ohio Players’sHoneyalbum being poke to death in the studio ( or being burned by heated honey ) .
The the true : That particular vocalism was keyboard histrion Billy Beck prove to hit aMinnie Riperton - style high note . The exemplar in question , Ester Cordet , was a formerPlaymate of the Monthwho wasprovocatively drizzling beloved into her mouthon the album blanket . She is reportedly awake and well and has been tie for many years to motivational guru Robert Ringer ( whom she met at a party at the Playboy Mansion ) .
2. “IN THE AIR TONIGHT”
The Legend : The haunting 1981 hit was publish by Phil Collins after he see a serviceman drown . He was too far away to extend assistance , but he saw another man sitting idly by on the shore . The man could have easily reached the swimmer , but did n’t even prove to help . Years later , after some clever detective study , Collins located the bystander and invited him to a concert , give him a front run-in seat . He then had a public eye glint on him when he execute this song to in public humiliate him .
The Truth : Collins wrote “ In the Air Tonight , ” and many of the other song on his first solo album , Face Value , while alternately downhearted and furious overhis disintegrating man and wife . His first wife , Andrea , was reportedly fed up with his constant touring and had taken the yoke ’s two tyke and fled back to her aboriginal Canada , where she finally filed for divorce .
3. “AMERICAN PIE”
The Legend : The individual woodworking plane that Buddy Holly chartered on February 3 , 1959 ( " the day the medicine break down " ) was namedAmerican Pie , which is what barrack Don McLean to write his number one hit .
The Truth : The single - locomotive engine Beechcraft Bonanza that Holly take in Iowa had no name , just a registration number ( N3794N ) . It crash shortly after sendup , killing everyone alongside including Holly , Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson ( a.k.a . The Big Bopper ) . McLean hada composition routeat the time and years later would recollect cutting open a bundle of papers and see a newspaper headline about the virulent clang . He came up with the line “ the solar day the medicine give out ” and proceeded to compose one of the most over - analyse tunes ever .
4. “PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON”
The Legend : The Peter , Paul and Mary hit that fathom like a childlike nursery rhyme is really written all in code and is about smoking Cannabis sativa .
The Truth:“Puff ” obviously refers to toking ; Jackie Paper means rolled papers ; Honah Lee was a sly nod to Hanalei , a Hawaiian small town know for its potent tummy … It was all too obvious to those in the know , right ? Wrong . Leonard Lipton , a freshman at Cornell University in the bounce of 1959 , reada poem by Ogden Nashabout a dragon at the campus library . Walking back to the dorms to cope with his acquaintance Peter Yarrow , he think to himself that he could write a better poem about a dragon , and proceed to weave a story of the remainder of puerility purity via a magical character list Puff . Yarrow set Lipton ’s poem to euphony , and “ Puff ” reached number two on theBillboardchart in 1962 . Aboutthe weed rumor , both Lipton and Yarrow emphatically assert that “ at Cornell in 1959 , no one fume grass . ”
5. “ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST”
The Legend : Queen was on the Q.T. encouraging fan to fume smoke — just work the chorus to “ Another One Bites the Dust ” backwards and you ’ll find out Freddie say “ it ’s fun to fume marijuana . ”
The the true : Ever since someone decided to ruin their phonograph needle and flirt the Beatles ’s “ Revolution 9 ” backward ( “ wrick me on , numb man ” ) , folks have been finding secret messages that artists have been allegedly hiding in their call . How a backwards , illogical message would barrack millions of fans to seek out their neighbourhood dealers is unclear , but what is evidently derisory is that anyone would think that Queen ( or any artist other than Pat Boone ) would go to such heavy lengths in 1980 to conceal a comment about marijuana . Also , Queen ’s label ’s spokespersoncontinues to denyany backmasking in the vocal .
6. “LOUIE, LOUIE”
The Legend : The lyrics to this Kingsmen garage classic are obscene , and could be understandably get wind if you played the undivided on 33 1/3 rpm instead of 45 .
The Truth:“Louie , Louie ” was pen by L.A. singer / songwriter Richard Berry in 1956 and became a local smash on the Pacific coast a year afterwards . The words , about a Jamaican sailor lamenting to a bartender how much he misses his young lady , are written in Pidgin English ( “ Me see Jamaica lunar month above , it wo n’t be long me see me love ” ) , which made them a spot toilsome to decipher in the first station . tally to that the substandard transcription equipment in the studio used for the quicky - single , and the words became even more disconnected . The rumor about the naughty lyrics had such legs , however , that the FBI even got involve after many parents complained to the Bureau about FCC regulations and obscenity laws . J. Edgar Hoover and his boy ultimately conclude ( after a30 - monthinvestigation ) that they were “ unable to interpret ” any of the words on the disk .
This slice to begin with run in 2013 .
