What makes “Jeremy” particularly chilling, however, is not just the story that inspired it but the way the song unfolds. Having read the story in a newspaper, Vedder was so moved by the account that he proceeded to write a song about it. In 1991, he committed suicide in front of his class and teacher in Texas. Lead singer Eddie Vedder says the song was inspired by the true story of 16-year-old Jeremy Delle. “Jeremy,” a classic Pearl Jam song, deals with a troubled youth who is bullied at school and emotionally neglected by his parents at home. The final line of the song, “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave,” can be interpreted as a description of the irrevocable act of selling one’s soul to the devil. The travelers remark upon arriving at the hotel that “this could be heaven or this could be hell.” A later reference to stabbing but being unable to kill “the beast” provides further clues. (Some people mistakenly believe that the Church of Satan was established in 1969, the very year mentioned in the song, but it was actually launched in 1966.) The album cover is said to depict Anton LaVey, who founded the Church of Satan in California in the 1960s. His strange experiences there seem likely to be about devil worship.įeeling unable to address the subject head-on, the band supposedly made the song as a metaphoric allusion to Satanism with plenty of clues for those who care to look.

The song concerns a traveler in the California desert who chances upon an unusual hotel. Many believe, however, that the truth is somewhat darker. In subsequent interviews, the band sought to put to bed the wild speculation about the lyrical contents of their biggest hit by claiming that it dealt with the hedonistic life of excess they were living at the time. “Hotel California,” the title track from The Eagles’ fifth album, is a musical tour de force featuring contrasting styles, the best guitar solo of all time, and, yes, rather creepy lyrics. The vague, somewhat ominous lyrics and the obscure climax add to the overall spooky feeling of the song. Having used minimal percussion throughout, the explosive drums introduced after the second verse bring the building tension to a dramatic climax. The music itself adds to the tense, atmospheric feeling of the song as described in the title. This is evidenced by the chorus line, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life.” But upon close inspection, it’s clear that the song is about someone who once committed some unspecified unspeakable act that was unknowingly witnessed by the singer at the time.ĭuring the song, Phil is supposedly addressing this individual, revealing what he knows about him, and preparing for some long-overdue act of retribution. Anyone familiar with the number, however, may have noticed that it has a distinctively dark undertone, both musically and lyrically. “In the Air Tonight,” the monster hit from Phil Collins’s 1981 album Face Value, is undoubtedly a musical masterpiece that went on to define an entire generation.

Songs about being evil inside