In one of those free association Google/Wiki sessions that, people (or at least I) have at times, I ended up on a YouTube video for the Genesis song “Mama”, song that I absolutely loved when the album first came out, and hadn’t heard in some 25 years. (It’s still a heck of a song, IMO, but YMMV) I noticed in the notes/comments people posted below that a significant minority of the people there had thought the song was about abortion or early childhood, i.e. that the song was being “narrated” by a foetus or small child. While I can see how some of the lyrics could have been interpreted that way, and I fully understand how you can catch some but not all the lyrics and totally misunderstand a song, I have to wonder if they had actually heard the song and what the hell kind of foetus or child they thought was singing? The Foetus from Hell? Baby of Chuckie? Spawn of Satan? That’s one of the single most sinister songs I’ve ever heard, both in instrumental and vocal interpretation, and they’re imagining it to be a foetus???
However, that’s not my actual question. In a totally different stream-of-consciousness internet adventure, I ended up with the Phil Collins song “Like China”, which you can hear at rhapsody.com by clicking on the first listed Track link here. You have to register, IIRC, but it’s free for up to 25 tracks a month. Please take the time to listen to it, both words and delivery, if you’re interested in this question, because I want to know if you think I’m reading something into the song that isn’t there.
I looked it up on Wiki, and they just said that it was presented from a very naive, young lower class guy trying to get his gf to sleep with him. I agree with that, but to me there was more: it always seemed to me that the girl in question was probably a somewhat higher class dilletante digging the “thrill” of going out with a lower class guy and enjoying his humble adoration for her without any serious interest on her part, rather than someone who actually returned his affection. Yeah, she might sleep with him (although his promise that ‘you won’t feel nothin’’ is not exactly tempting!), but if so, it’s sure as heck not her “first time!”
I’d like other opinions.
BTW, I don’t only listen to Phil Collins songs; it just so happened by coincidence that those two are the ones I had questions about at the moment.
On what? On whether we agree with you on your interpretations of the one Genesis and one Phil Collins song? If so - can’t comment on the Genesis song, and the Phil Collins song is a nice throw-away pop tune that sounds like he is trying to get into the girls’ panties (“I’ll be so careful, I’ll hold you like china”) - but I never really thought it was worth trying to delve deeper.
If you are looking for opinions on the broader issue of song interpretations, I would need more clarity…
No, I’m talking about these specific songs. I agree with your assessment of “Like China,” but that wasn’t the point. The point is that I used to listen to the Phil Collins album “Hello I Must Be Going” in the car a lot, and heard the song, and automatically interpreted it as I described above. It didn’t take any thought; it never occurred to me that not everyone else would hear it as I did. A week or two ago, I got the song stuck in my mind, and checked it on Wiki, and was shocked to see no mention of my interpretation, and so I wanted to see if it was just me, or other people also got the same impression. No depth level of the song is implied or intended here; just a sanity check.
As far as “Mama” goes, it just so amazed me that some people could have interpreted it as an anti-abortion plea or a child talking to his mother, because even apart from the words, the song is very chilling. So I wanted another sanity check.
Exapno Mapcase, I assume that that’s a quote of some songwriter who is bewildered/exasperated by the wild interpretations placed on many songs that are highly ambiguous or even meaningless. I don’t think these questions qualify as that kind of thing. And actually, I’m not sure that either song rhymes at all. They certainly aren’t nonsense songs that I’m suggesting wild supernatural or conspiracy-theory type interpretations for, so I really don’t think I deserved that.
Hmm, I see where you are going, but in my case, I experience a variation on your situation: Sometimes, I simply choose not to invest any time in the lyrics and assign the meaning I get from the music. Sometimes I don’t put much faith in the band’s lyric-writing abilities - for some reason, the band Bush jumps to mind - but the music is pretty good…
Well, my assessment of “Mama” is as much based on the music as the words, but wrt “Like China,” I’ve always rather liked what you might call ‘story-songs,’ so I always enjoyed the lyrics, just as I like ‘Meeting Across the River’ by Bruce Springsteen (although the music for that is far more beautiful as well). I like much folk music for the same reason.
I’m old, so I have no idea who or what ‘Bush’ is, other than a man who has done an enormous amount of harm to my country over the past seven years.
I can’t listen to the songs at work so I can’t offer my interpretation, but a good site to get other’s is Songmeanings.net . Fair warning though: if the song is even halfway popular and only slightly vaugue, if at all, about 50% of the post you’re going to get is that the song is “about drugs”.
I was a huge Genesis fan in my youth, and am familiar with both songs… Like China seems like a pretty obvious song about naive infatuation with some references to class and past sexual experience. Mama came across as a song about sexual obsession, perhaps for a stripper, but that notion came to me from seeing Phil Collins act out the song live.
As for the OP, though, how can you not expect that the masses would hear or interpret something different than you? People read things into songs for a variety of reasons, and these interpretations often reflect their own experiences, values, priorities, etc.