I ain’t no student of ancient culture, but there’s one thing that I do know: The B-52’s didn’t do a ton of research when writing the song “Mesopotamia.”
But that’s kind of what the song is all about, and kind of why I love the band. They made songs about whatever weird shit they felt like: counterfeiting, driving in the south at night, odd beach encounters, how there are a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia.
Because we’re living in the future, Apple Music automatically showed me the lyrics as I was listening, and I realized I’ve had it wrong for 30 years. When Kate sings, “I know a neat excavation!” I had always heard it as “I know I need excavation,” which I’d always thought was some kind of weird horny double entendre. The real version is much more charming and in the spirit of the B-52s, of course.1I don’t think they ever had any racy lyrics at all, did they? Apart from “Strobe Light” and “I’m gonna kiss your pineapple!!!”
Another lyric I always misheard was from “River Euphrates” by the Pixies. I thought they were just saying “ri-ri-ri-ri” over and over again for River Euphrates, much like Shaggy would say “gh-gh-gh-gh” for Ghosts. Apparently the real lyric is “Ride a tire down the River Euphrates.” Which is also much more charming than I’d thought. It generates a calming image of the Black Francis and Kim Deal tubing through the cradle of civilization while Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson call from the shore to come check out some neat pyramids.
True, the B52s were never that explicit, but they were hornier than I remembered too, especially their earlier songs. It’s pretty clear that “Dirty Back Roads” is about more than just driving a car. And “Hero Worship” is pretty similar, referencing jerking motions and mouth-to-mouth. And the song “Lava…” “Oh, oh! Look out, it’s about to erupt…”
Huh. Dirty Back Roads is probably my favorite B-52s song, and I always heard the lyric as “you and me” instead of “you ride me.” The “foot on the pedal, feet in the air” thing makes a lot more sense now. I am really bad at mis-hearing lyrics.
Oop. I hope the other reading of it comes as a bonus, not a detraction. “A deeper meaning, but only a few inches deeper.”