Behind every love song lies a story, and some are darker than others. Join us as we explore the unsettling origins and hidden meanings of romantic hits that changed music history. From stalker anthems to songs inspired by true crime, these tunes will never sound the same once you know their backstories.
00:00Voices trapped in yearning, embers trapped in time.
00:09Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're uncovering the dark facts and surprising inspirations behind iconic songs that will make you hear them completely differently.
00:16What had quickly become the number one song in the country was a living tribute to his mother.
00:2110. Every Breath You Take – The Police
00:25For years, people thought this was a swoon-worthy love song. The perfect sentiment for a wedding playlist, right? Then they actually listened to the lyrics.
00:3211. Every Breath You Take – With Every Move You Make
00:39Turns out it's less romance and more obsession. Even Sting admitted he didn't realise how unsettling it was at first. With lyrics full of surveillance imagery, it sounds more like Big Brother than a first dance.
00:49The theme of control runs deep, and it gets darker. Sting wrote it while his first marriage was falling apart. He later said that it reflected his personal and professional struggles at the time.
01:07So, yeah, probably best to strike this one from your wedding playlist.
01:199. You're Beautiful – James Blunt
01:22Here's another one that had people saying, aww, on first listen, until they found out what it was actually about.
01:28The singer revealed the song was inspired by learning his ex had moved on after seeing her with another man on the train.
01:40He says he wrote it in just minutes, from the perspective of someone who had indulged in certain substances and is now following the woman on the London Underground.
01:47Suddenly, those sweet sounding lyrics feel a lot more unnerving. Not quite the romantic gesture we initially thought we were listening to. So, yeah, probably safe to say to bump this one off the wedding playlist too.
02:108. Leila – Derek and the Dominoes
02:22Eric Clapton found the spark for this song in The Story of Leila and Marjanan, a tale by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi about a man driven to madness by love.
02:31But when Clapton wrote Leila, it wasn't just literary, it was personal. He was in love with Patty Boyd, who just so happened to be married to his best friend, Beatles guitarist George Harrison.
02:50The song was his very public way of expressing feelings that weren't exactly mutual at the time.
03:03Eventually, Boyd and Harrison divorced and she and Clapton got married. Harrison even attended the wedding, so we're guessing there was no hard feelings there.
03:107. My Sharona – The Knack
03:19This song was inspired by 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who caught the attention of singer Doug Feger.
03:25He apparently became infatuated and wrote several songs about her, including this one, which he says took 15 minutes to finish.
03:39But here's the part that raises eyebrows. Feger was several years older than her. When asked about that, he tried to explain it by saying that he wrote it from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy.
03:50Is it just a game in my mind?
03:56Perhaps not exactly the defense he seems to think it is. Feger and Sharona eventually dated and even got engaged, but ultimately split.
04:03Still, they reportedly stayed close until his death in 2010.
04:076. Hey There Delilah – Plain White Tees
04:17Frontman Tom Higginson said this song was inspired by distance runner Delilah DiCrescenzo, whom he called the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
04:25What's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away, but girl tonight you look so pretty.
04:32He told her he had written a song about her, even though he hadn't yet. She was already in a relationship and turned him down, though they stayed in touch.
04:39After that first meeting, he wrote the song, imagining conversations as if they were together.
04:44After I got past that first verse, I was like, well, that pretty much sums up everything I know about this girl.
04:51So, I had to kind of imagine the rest of it, like, if I was in this long distance relationship with somebody, what would I want to say, you know?
05:00Now, imagine a love song sung by someone that you weren't involved with playing non-stop, topping charts and earning Grammy noms.
05:08She admits it's a bop, sure, but has also voiced that being put on that pedestal can feel uncomfortable.
05:13Our friends would all make fun of us, and we'll just laugh along, because we know that none have never felt this way.
05:21Number five, Possession, Sarah McLaughlin.
05:24Just listening to this song, you'd never think it was anything more than a beautifully haunting love ballad.
05:28Well, until you reach the chorus.
05:30Kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away.
05:37The singer later revealed that she wrote it from the perspective of someone experiencing obsessive love.
05:42She shared that the inspiration came from disturbing letters that she'd received from fans who had blurred fantasy and reality so intensely that she feared for her safety.
05:59Writing the song became a form of therapy.
06:01Apparently, one of those fans even tried to take legal action against her for lifting words from his letter.
06:06However, he ended up taking his own life before it ever went to trial.
06:10Wipe away your tears. Just close your eyes, dear.
06:17Number four, Never Learn Not To Love.
06:19The Beach Boys.
06:20It's hard to hear this as this simple love song once you know it was originally written by Charles Manson.
06:24Yes, that Charles Manson.
06:25According to the story, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson met Manson after picking up two hitchhikers who just happened to be part of Manson's cult.
06:39Eager to break into the music industry, Manson waited outside of Wilson's home.
06:43His version of the song was called Cease to Exist and featured different lyrics.
06:53He gave up the rights in exchange for about $100,000 worth of stuff.
06:58While he didn't mind the new arrangement, he was reportedly furious that they rewrote some of his lyrics.
07:04Number three, He Hit Me, It Felt Like A Kiss.
07:16The Crystals.
07:17The title tells you everything you need to know about this song's contents.
07:20He couldn't stand to hear me say.
07:26Jerry Goffin and Carole King wrote it after learning about their babysitter, later known as singer Little Eva, and her relationship.
07:33When they asked why she stayed with her partner, she reportedly said it was his way of showing love.
07:38I could have never made him mad.
07:43King herself, a survivor of abuse from a previous marriage, said her goal was to show others in similar situations that they're not to blame, and that they deserve to feel safe.
07:52Sadly, the message didn't land.
07:54Radio stations refused to play it, and the writers later said they regretted ever having written it.
07:59When he kissed me from now, he made me go.
08:07Number two, I Can't Make You Love Me, Bonnie Raitt.
08:10The idea for this song came from a news article, though co-writers Mike Reed and Alan Shamblin remember different versions of the story.
08:17Lay down with me, tell me no lies.
08:24One involved a man, a gun, and a car belonging to a woman he'd once been involved with.
08:29When he stood before the judge, the man reportedly said,
08:32I've learned that if a woman don't love ya, you can't make her.
08:35You can't make her love ya.
08:37Just give me until then, to give up this fight.
08:44The other version tells of a man living under a bridge whose wife arrived to take him to the courthouse for their divorce.
08:50Though it seemed amicable, he said what would become the song's title.
08:54Cause I can't make you love me.
09:01Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
09:05Luca, Suzanne Vega.
09:07While sometimes mistaken for a gentle ballad, it's actually about giving a voice to those who feel silenced by their trapping environments.
09:13If you hear something late at night, some kind of trouble, some kind of fright.
09:20You're all I need.
09:22Motley Crue.
09:23Band member Nikki Sixx confirmed that he wrote this about a girlfriend he suspected of cheating.
09:28Love will tear us apart.
09:37Joy Division.
09:38As the title suggests, it's about a broken relationship.
09:41After Ian Curtis took his own life, his wife had it inscribed on his headstone.
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10:09Number 1.
10:11The Way.
10:12Fastball.
10:13On the surface, this song tells the story of a couple who set out to relive the joy of their youth, only for their car to break down.
10:19So they keep walking instead.
10:21Where were they going without ever knowing the way?
10:27But the real inspiration was far more heartbreaking.
10:30It came from a news story about Leela and Raymond Howard, an elderly couple who went missing on their way to a local festival.
10:36Raymond was recovering from brain surgery and Leela was showing signs of memory loss, prompting family to urge them not to drive.
10:42They went anyway.
10:44Fastball's Tony Scalzo imagined a more romanticized version of their journey.
10:54Sadly, the real ending was far more tragic.
10:57Because a lot of families don't have that closure.
11:00And that must be very hard.
11:02Which song can't you hear in the same way since learning its dark trivia?
