Lyrical nitpicking

[instantdeath999]

I, personally, enjoy reading lyrics on songs and digging through them to see if there is anything deeper, intentional or not.

One I recently had is with the Beatles "Norwegian Wood".

I love lyric nitpicking.

"I wanted a girl
Or should I say, she wanted
She showed me her room
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?

She asked my to stay and told me sit anywhere
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair

I sat on a rug, biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two, and then she said:
"It's time for bed,"

She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn't, and crawled off to sleep in the back

And when I awoke, I was alone
This bird has flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?"

Apparently, he burnt down her house in anger. That's something I never wouldn't gotten without reading the lyrics.

There are many others that I might post later, but this is the most recent one.

What seemingly simple songs have a nice little double meaning to you?

[Quinarvy]

I think Holy Diver is about how religion is a deception. I don't know though.

I'm just listening to it right now

[supernova1324]

Nirvana's lyrics can be interpreted tons of different ways.

[Runesmith]

Nirvana's lyrics can be interpreted tons of different ways.

Lyrical ambiguity is one of the reasons why I love Nirvana, The Smiths, and They Might Be Giants so much.

[instantdeath999]

Nirvana's lyrics can be interpreted tons of different ways.

Oh yeah, I have a lot of fun interpreting his lyrics... I often get the feeling he had no idea what they meant, either.

[warthogdb]

Oh yeah, I have a lot of fun interpreting his lyrics... I often get the feeling he had no idea what they meant, either.

I think that a lot of artist choose lyrics because they sound cool and fit well into the rhythm and melody. Even folks like Dylan admit that many lyrics don't really have a meaning. He even joked about how people would interpret them. Of course folks like us who frequent these forums are all too ready to give things a lot more weight and meaning than they probably deserve.

[instantdeath999]

I think that a lot of artist choose lyrics because they sound cool and fit well into the rhythm and melody. Even folks like Dylan admit that many lyrics don't really have a meaning. He even joked about how people would interpret them. Of course folks like us who frequent these forums are all too ready to give things a lot more weight and meaning than they probably deserve.

Which I don't think is a bad thing. There's a term that refers to interpreting something different than an artists original intention, which I think is perfectly fine. Many novels can be interpreted in off the wall ways that the author may have never thought of as well.

[warthogdb]

Which I don't think is a bad thing. There's a term that refers to interpreting something different than an artists original intention, which I think is perfectly fine. Many novels can be interpreted in off the wall ways that the author may have never thought of as well.

Point well taken. I just get tired of the way critics and the music snobs at large try to elevate the content or apply some meaning or message that probably wasn't intended by the artist to make themselves feel more important. Of course I also get frustrated with folks who don't dig in and try to connect in some way. All that should really should matter is if it has some personal meaning and moves the listener in some way. "I know it's only rock and roll but I like it."

[Soror_YZBL]

I, personally, enjoy reading lyrics on songs and digging through them to see if there is anything deeper, intentional or not.

One I recently had is with the Beatles "Norwegian Wood".

Huh huh huh huh you said wood.

[Squaretriangles]

"'Cause in this ever-changing world in which we live in...."

Makes me cringe every time.