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

[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.)