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Originally Posted by Hip Priest
I hope not! 
I can see your point, but I think the majority of lyrics are written around some kind of form or idea, and as such there will be some kind of meaning. This is especially apparant in a song like Youth Against Fascism, where the video also ties in ideas that are complememtary to the impression that the song gives.
Apart from that, I think it's nice to see how different interpretations can arise - interpretations of a song will be a reflection not only of the song's contents but will also be an intellectual consequence of factors such as one's upbringing, education, society, personal relationships, religion etc etc etc. If I were the artist, I'd enjoy seeing what different interpretations people had of my product. I think.
I think that lyrics, such as displayed in songs like Beauty Lies In The Eye or Chapel Hillfor example, are evidently not the result of freeform creation - there's a subject that's being explored, and since we each have our own experience (or impression) of any given subject, we will each percieve things in a slightly different way.
Or do I stand for everything you are railing against?  |
I agree with you - there's got to be something in observing the impact your 'product' has on its audience. Especially in the area of sociological observation, as you pointed out. Nor do I think that every piece, or necessarily any piece, is the result of freeform thought.
I just think that, to a degree, it takes some real ballls to presume to know what the finer points of an artist's psyche are.
What brought this all to mind was a thread asking what boardies thought about SY's relationship to the Grateful Dead, because of "Rather Ripped" (not that I'm at all criticizing the thread topic, I'm sure the person is genuinely curious). And I just thought, essentially, we can espouse all the theories we want, but in the end, it doesn't really matter what the fuck we think anyway, because unless someone from SY steps up and says, "Look shitbrains, this is why we chose that title," what's the point in surmising? We'll never know, it's just fodder for another pseudo-intellectual discussion topic.
I can forget that sometimes, you can appreciate something on a purely visceral level, and to dissect it with fabricated knowledge can taint it. While I certainly don't ignore the substance within SY's music, or fail to give them credit for experimentation, often I listen to their music and think, "This is true rock."