Sean Bostrom

April 1, 2014

Period F

Double Entendre in Songs

                Tom Petty’s song “Mary Jane” is counted as a double entendre. Mary Jane could either be a girl who he likes or it could be the drug marijuana. Lines such as “She grew up in an Indiana town” could be taken as a girl would was raised up somewhere in Indiana or it could be taken as a plant that has grown and blossomed. Another line that displays the double entendre for example would be “Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain” shows that one last dance could be with a women or he has a lot of pain and majority of people who use drugs use them to not feel pain anymore. I think Tom Petty used a double entendre for this particular song to show that no matter where you are from or where you go you are most likely to come in contact in marijuana at some point.

                Another song that contains a double entendre is GZA’s “Animal Planet”. GZA use’s different types of animals to show the listener all the different kinds of people that make up the world. For example lines such as “The rat squeals” and Now you’re neck deep in a bunch of loan sharks” relates to humans because people who tell on others who have usually committed a crime are known as rats and loan sharks are people who others borrow money from and if you don’t pay them back a certain amount at a certain time they will find you and most likely hurt you till the point of death. I believe GZA used a double entendre in this specific song to display the world we live in and all the corrupt people that make it up.

                Rush’s song “The Trees” use’s nature to represent a double entendre in this song. This song in my opinion is about equal rights between blacks and whites. Through lines such as “But oaks can’t help their feelings, if they like the way they’re made, and they wonder why the maples, can’t be happy in their shade” is basically saying that the blacks are proud to be who they are and won’t let the whites turn them into something they’re not so they do not want to live or be around the same area as them. Another line for example is “And they grab up all the light” shows that the whites believe that have all the power over the blacks and they basically control them in a way but the blacks just want more sunlight, they want their rights so everyone can be equals.

                The last song of the day that contains a double entendre is the band Tool’s song “Right in Two”. This song talks about crime and how people are figuratively act like animals. Lines that support this idea are “Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky” is saying that people will kill one another over the littlest things just because they can, and “Angels on the sideline again, wondering when this tug of war will end” is saying that those who have past and are in heaven are wondering when will the crime and violence will end because it is get worse and worse as the days go by. Tool also is trying to say that why were people given free will because all they are doing is abusing it and using it for bad and not good.