The Surprising Inspiration Behind 13 Favorite '90s Songs

What is this song even about? Well, it's basically about nothing. "It doesn't matter what I say, so long as I sing it with inflection," starts off the hit, and it only spirals from there. But after listening to the lyrics carefully, you realize that the song is literally about writing pop music that doesn't necessarily soothe the soul, but that the masses will eat up. The fact that this song was a hit in the '90s only goes to show that John Popper knew exactly what he was doing. By bashing pop music in a catchy song, he curated a hit.

Shockingly dark material for a bubblegum boy band, I sang along to this one even though I had no clue what any of it was talking about. Turns out? It's about cheating. Who knew 98 Degrees had it in 'em?

Mr. Jones is a real person, who knew?! According to lead singer Adam Duritz, Marty Jones was a bass player in all of the previous bands he was in before he made it to the Counting Crows. The story recalls the tale of Duritz going out one night, getting drunk, and trying to meet girls.

Who didn't annoy the heck out of their parents by playing this one on repeat? Like most '90s children, I sang along blissfully unaware of the meaning behind the lyrics. As it turns out, the alternative ballad was depressing as hell, and about lead singer Brian Van Ark's experience when he was 15 and found out he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant and that she was having an abortion.

The only song by Tonic that ever became a hit, the song tells the tale of a woman that the singer's parents don't approve of. Little do you know, it's a true life story. Lead singer Emerson Hart was 17 years old, dating a 32-year-old woman, according to People. His parents were less than pleased, but it made a smash hit song. Not all bad, mom and dad!

This song Lightning Crashes is allegedly about Barbara Lewis, a close friend of the band who died in a car accident one night after seeing the band perform. Some say she was killed by a drunk driver, some say she was fleeing an armed robber — that same night, her heart was removed for organ donation and transplanted into a newborn baby that had been born with a heart problem.

Obviously, a love song. But about who? What makes the story behind this song so amazing, is that the song wasn't written for a woman, but a man. Singer Darren Hayes is notoriously private, and kept his personal life just that, personal. Hayes didn't come out until the the 2000s, and while peddling gooey love songs to the masses, he was living his life. I love that music transcends seuxal preference. Booyah.

Yeah, Macarena! More like no, Macarena, no. This song is about a girl named Macarena whose boyfriend is being drafted into the army, so she cheats on him with two of his friends. Google translate, my friends.

While the song became a favorite of bartenders everywhere, Closing Time is actually about childbirth. Frontman Dan Wilsontold American Songwriter in 2010 that he was thinking about babies while writing the song. "My wife and I were expecting our first kid very soon after I wrote that song. I had birth on the brain, I was struck by what a funny pun it was to be bounced from the womb." Babies, not bars.

Upbeat and bouncy as all get out, Rolling Stone notes that Semi-Charmed Life is really about a couple doing crystal meth. The upbeat and light feeling of the music was completely intentional, according to lead singer Stephan Jenkins. He said to Billboard, "that was the feeling of speed."

Decidedly a graduation or prom song, the acoustic song was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about a girlfriend who was moving to Ecuador and leaving him behind.