Buzz
A song's influence can be gauged in numerous ways. While chart rankings and sales data provide some insight, they don't capture the full picture. When a song deeply connects with its audience, it often sparks imaginative stories about its creation. Below are 11 popular tracks that have given rise to entirely unfounded—yet endlessly fascinating—urban myths.
1. “American Girl” // Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The Myth: This 1976 rock anthem, according to legend, was inspired by a University of Florida student who tragically ended her own life.
The Reality: Although Petty hails from Gainesville, where the university is located, he firmly denied any connection to the story. “The song isn’t about that at all,” the musician once stated. In reality, Petty composed the lyrics while residing in Encino, California, where the distant hum of the freeway reminded him of ocean waves.
2. “Strawberry Fields Forever” // The Beatles
The Myth: At the conclusion of "Strawberry Fields Forever," John Lennon allegedly whispers, “I buried Paul,” fueling the infamous conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney perished in a 1966 car crash and was replaced by a doppelgänger.
The Reality: Lennon actually mutters “cranberry sauce,” repeating it twice. For a clearer listen, refer to “Strawberry Fields Forever - Take 7 and Edit Piece” on The Beatles’s Anthology 2 album, where Lennon’s odd remark is more audible.
3. “Dancing With Myself” // Billy Idol
The Myth: This edgy ’80s hit by Billy Idol is rumored to be about self-pleasure.
The Reality: Idol drew inspiration from a 1978 visit to a Japanese disco, where he observed young people dancing to their own reflections in mirrors. However, the urban legend isn’t entirely off-base. “There’s a self-indulgent aspect to those kids dancing with their reflections,” Idol explained to Rolling Stone in 2014. “It’s not a huge leap to connect it to sexual self-gratification. The song captures a sense of disconnection, where these kids are left alone, dancing with their own images. They seemed detached from each other, lost in their reflections.”
4. “Love Rollercoaster” // Ohio Players
The Myth: The piercing scream at the 2:32 mark of this 1975 funk hit is said to be from a woman being killed in or around the studio. Some versions of the tale claim the victim was Playboy model Ester Cordet, featured on the cover of Ohio Players’ Honey album, pouring honey into her mouth. The honey allegedly reacted with fiberglass (visible in the gatefold photo) and bonded to her skin, prompting her to threaten legal action. In response, the band’s manager supposedly murdered her during a recording session.
The Reality: The scream was actually keyboardist Billy Beck performing an “inverted” inhale to mimic the sound of rollercoaster riders.
5. “In the Air Tonight” // Phil Collins
The Myth: Collins allegedly penned the 1981 hit after witnessing a man refuse to rescue someone drowning. During a concert, the British musician supposedly spotlighted the culprit, revealing his guilt to the audience.
The Reality: Collins insists he has “no clue” what sparked the lyrics—though he acknowledges feeling “anger, bitterness, and pain” following his divorce from his first wife.
6. “The Kids” // Lou Reed
The Myth: Producer Bob Ezrin reportedly manipulated his own children into screaming at the song’s conclusion by falsely claiming their mother had died. Some versions of the story even allege he physically harmed them.
The Reality: Ezrin never mistreated his children—he merely captured them protesting bedtime one evening. The studio maestro then applied compression and distortion to their cries, amplifying them in the final mix. “It’s so emotionally intense that people accused me of harming my kids,” Ezrin noted in the liner notes for the 1992 compilation Between Thought and Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology.
7. “Hotel California” // The Eagles
The Myth: This 1976 hit, with its references to “hell” and “the beast,” is said to glorify the Church of Satan. Anton LaVey, the church’s founder, is rumored to appear on the balcony in the inner sleeve photo of the Hotel California album.
The Reality: As clarified by the myth-busting site Snopes, the figure on the balcony isn’t LaVey but a “model hired for the shoot.” Regarding the enigmatic lyrics, co-writer Don Henley explained in 2007: “It was about the excesses of American culture and certain women we knew, as well as the tension between artistic integrity and commercial success.”
8. “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” // Looking Glass
The Myth: This beloved 1972 pop-rock tune is said to draw inspiration from Mary Ellis, a woman from New Brunswick, New Jersey, who passed away in 1828. Local lore claims Ellis fell for a sea captain who promised to marry her upon his return from a voyage, but he never came back. Oddly, her grave now lies behind an AMC movie theater.
The Reality: Although Looking Glass hails from New Brunswick, vocalist/guitarist Elliot Lurie states that “Brandy” was partly inspired by his high school sweetheart, Randy. It eventually evolved into a tale about a fictional bartender—not Mary Ellis. “I’ve never heard that story, though I’ve seen it online,” Lurie told Tennessean, refuting any knowledge of the Ellis legend. “If it’s true, it’s an incredible coincidence.”
9. “Solsbury Hill” // Peter Gabriel
The Myth: The eagle that descends to console Peter Gabriel in the opening lines of his 1977 solo debut is rumored to represent Bruce Springsteen, who deeply impacted Gabriel during his first London performance in 1975. Springsteen’s show supposedly motivated Gabriel to leave Genesis and pursue a solo career.
The Reality: In 2011, Gabriel told Rolling Stone that the Springsteen theory is “nonsense,” though he did attend Springsteen’s London debut. “When I left Genesis, I wanted out of the music industry altogether,” Gabriel explained. “I felt trapped in the machine. We had our schedules planned years in advance, and I simply didn’t enjoy it anymore.”
10. “Wind of Change” // Scorpions
The Myth: This uplifting 1991 power ballad, released just before the fall of the Soviet Union, wasn’t actually composed by the West German band Scorpions. Instead, it was allegedly crafted by the CIA to advance a pro-Western narrative.
The Reality: Scorpions’ lead singer Klaus Meine maintains that he wrote the song—not the U.S. government. “It’s an intriguing and amusing theory, but it’s completely false,” Meine told metal journalist Eddie Trunk in 2020, around the time the Wind of Change podcast, which delves into the conspiracy, was launched.
11. “You Dropped a Bomb On Me” // The Gap Band
The Myth: This 1982 funk classic is believed to reference the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, where hundreds of Black individuals were killed and over 1250 homes were razed. The racially motivated violence devastated Tulsa’s Greenwood District, once known as “Black Wall Street.”
The Reality: In a 2012 conversation with BlackTree TV, Gap Band frontman Charlie Wilson clarified that the song has no connection to the 1921 tragedy, despite the band’s Tulsa roots. “It’s simply about an older woman who captivated a younger man, leaving him overwhelmed,” Wilson explained. “He was inexperienced and didn’t know how to handle it.”
