Yeah, this varies widely by genre and lyricist. Some are completely abstract; some are quite literal. I do agree that a lot of people try to force meaning on songs that are purposely vague and borderline nonsensical.
Athena by The Who is about nuclear weapons and not Theresa Russell, no matter what Pete Townshend claims.
Some, not all, songs from “Blood On The Tracks” are about or at least inspired by Dylan’s break-up with Sarah, although he has always denied it.
There’s literally a demo version where he sings “Teresa” instead of “Athena”, FTR.
Besides, that album already has two songs that are explicitly about nukes, so there’s no need to hypothesize a third.
Sarah McLachlan claims* that her song “Angel” is about heroin but I think it’s actually about orphaned dogs in shelters.
*On the ‘enhanced CD’ Quicktime special features. Remember those?
U2’s “One” was interpreted by some as not a love song, but telling the story of a son with HIV confronting his father. I’ll admit, I could totally see the lyrics working with that interpretation. Bono has said no, that’s not it but I know several people who swore up and down that’s what he’d revealed in the early 90s.
(unless he’s changed his mind in his recent book but I fell out of the U2 fandom years ago and can’t be arsed to read it)
What about Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? Dude - lucy, sky, diamonds. It’s about LSD, man.
I was being a little dogmatic to be cute. Some songs are about drugs but there is a school of thought that assumes any vague or fanciful lyrics must be about drugs and it makes my skin crawl.
I believe Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is about LSD. I also believe it’s about a child’s drawing. A song can be about more than one thing. I once wrote a song about knuckleball pitching that was also about existential angst and depression.
Wow, I had that CD and you just reminded me of the first time I clicked on a link and it did something. It didn’t “go” any place (just to a 250x180 pixel clip saved on the CD), and it wasn’t quite a web page, but it was certainly a feeling of what was to come.
And I’m laughing at your “orphaned dogs” line…
I thought it was about currency.
And Snopes.
I agree. I feel Julian Lennon did draw a picture which he told his father was titled “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. I feel that John Lennon was then inspired by that title to write a song which contained ambiguous references both to the picture and to the drug LSD. And I feel that John Lennon then lied and denied there were any drug references in the song.
I think his current story is it’s about a time in the studio when the band was close to breaking up. Of course Running to Stand Still has a different inspiration every time he talks about it which would make sense if it is about everyone with a heroin addiction.
This lie was understandable because at the time, you inevitably got in hot water when admitting to write about drugs, with the song getting banned on TV and radio as the least severe consequence.
Lennon was still saying this in his Playboy interview in 1980. It’s hard to believe Lennon was worried about the success of his career in 1980.
So, you’re insisting that the post has a different meaning than the poster claims?
Pete Townshend knows better than me what the song is about? The hell you say.
I thought they were all about me…
Only that Carly Simon song.
I should be less vain, I know.