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What does 'Down on Me' mean in this Janis Joplin song?

Down on Me
Well, down on me, Lord, down on me.
I said it looks like everybody in this whole round world,
Yeah hey yeah all right, is down on me yeah.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah.
[...]

I'm sceptical about the 'oral sex' meaning here.

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Interpretation of lyrics is generally considered off topic. – Barrie England Jan 23 at 10:49
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@BarrieEngland that seems a reasonable rule. In this case though it happens to be an idiom the querent doesn't know, so maybe we should consider it as chancing into on-topic matters? – Jon Hanna Jan 23 at 11:05
Yes i'm new here, but thanks for the info. Just tryin' to learn your beautiful language. i will bookmark this site – Zoltán Oláh Jan 23 at 11:17
Zoltán Oláh If you are not a native English speaker (as it appears), say that may get you some leverage. Also, a member must focus more on the main point of the question. – Kris Jan 23 at 11:59
And: look in a dictionary! In this case Oxford Dictionaries Online has exactly the answer required in its entry for "down on". – Andrew Leach Jan 23 at 12:00

2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote

It looks like everybody in this whole round world Down on me

It seems like everybody in the world is hostile to, negative toward, or critical of me.

The "Down on me" refrain at the beginning can't be understood on its own, until you get to the fuller sentence. This is quite common in songs.

You're correct that it has nothing to do about oral sex, and I suspect that any explanations claiming such are either joking, or wishful thinking. That said, Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel No.2" with the line "Giving me head, in the unmade bed, while the limousines wait in the street." was about Joplin.

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Thank you, English is not my first language, that's why it's difficult to understand some lyrics sometimes :-) – Zoltán Oláh Jan 23 at 10:53
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@Zol: Sometimes even native speakers have trouble understanding lyrics because they're so unclear, so personal, so slangy (but not my slang), and so cryptic. – Bill Franke Jan 23 at 11:38
Yes, in this case there was indeed an English expression being used that you didn't understand, but often if you have difficulty understanding lyrics, that won't be the case. – Jon Hanna Jan 23 at 11:47
up vote 3 down vote

It looks like everybody in this whole round world is down on me.

ODO on down on:
be (or have a) down on
British informal feel hostile or antagonistic towards:
she had a real down on Angela

"It looks like the whole world feels hostile or antagonistic towards me."

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