Jeffrey Goldberg on the meanings of song lyrics.

[randomness]

Jeffrey Goldberg writes "What's Your Problem?", an advice column in The Atlantic. His most recent column answers a question from B.F. of Philadelphia, who asks:

For some reason, I don't get the hidden references of important songs. For instance, I was shocked to learn that the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" is about a vibrator. Could you tell me what else I'm missing in famous pop and rock songs?

Goldberg's answer:

You are missing quite a bit. While the lyrics of many songs are fairly straightforward—the AC/DC canon contains little in the way of ambiguity or poetic complexity, and 2Live Crew’s “Me So Horny” is about a man who is, in fact, very horny—I myself am continually surprised to learn the hidden meanings embedded in other works. For instance: Bob Dylan’s “Tambourine Man” is actually a Minnesota Vikings fight song. “Heart of Gold,” by Neil Young, is about the boutique allure of midget porn. The entire Justin Bieber oeuvre concerns the secret shame of knowing that he is a terrible musician and, never­theless, fabulously wealthy. Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” is about heroin. Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” is about heroin. The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is about heroin. Lou Reed’s “Heroin” is about cocaine. Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine” is about the earned-income tax credit. If you play Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” backward, it asks you to subscribe to The Atlantic. The Nirvana song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is about carbohydrates (“Here we are now/ with potatoes/ with a Mars bar/ and potatoes”). “Stairway to Heaven” is not about anything.

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

This guy MUST be pulling our collective legs.

He is. The whole answer is made up for comic effect.

For that matter, I believe the question may be, too.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I disregard the whole thing as snark-fail. It could have been an interesting article (i.e., Jackson Brown's song "Rosie" is about masturbation, a fact that completely bypassed me when I was listening to the album every day in 9th grade). This guy sounds like a bitter toad with a chip on his shoulder.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

This guy sounds like a bitter toad with a chip on his shoulder.

Actually he's not. The whole thing is made up for comic effect, probably including the question. I think his whole advice column is fabricated.

The one that had all of us falling down laughing was the one about the earned-income tax credit.

[marith.livejournal.com]

I thought it was hilarious, fwiw.

(...and I'm pretty sure "Start Me Up" is not about a vibrator. Mostly. Scuse me, time to go fire up iTunes just in case.)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

which of those were jokes.

All of them, I believe.

However, if I have to explain the joke I think I failed here.

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

I disagree: Stairway to Heaven is all about how awesome Celtic mythology is when you're on drugs.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

*applause*

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Hah!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

My icon fistbumps you!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That may have been mean, but it was also really f***ing funny. Besides, song lyrics are supposed to be poetry; whatever happened to personal interpretations?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Of course, that may describe all of pop music.

You can't possibly mean "best performed by William Shatner". :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.

For me it depends. I'm not going to go into that any more online.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

"Seeking Major Tom: William Shatner returns to the final frontier of music recording with this space-themed concept album that boldly goes where no man has gone before - available on both 2CD and 3LP set!"

It's awesome stuff. Or at least awe-inspiring. Somehow I missed this when it was released in October. Amazon has clips, youtube has more, and his bridge to the outro in Bohemian Rhapsody is right up there with that closing "Mr. Tambourine Maaaannnnnnnnn!!!!!"

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Whoa.