It's been 30 years since Bruce Springsteen released the wildly popular Born In The U.S.A. album, which would go on to become the most popular album of his career, and one of the best selling records of all-time. It's also been 30 years since Ronald Reagan came under fire for using its title track as the theme song to his 1984 Presidential campaign. Like so many other folks, Reagan didn't seem to get the point. Despite the cheerful melody, the song was not a flag-waving anthem, but rather a sad story of a Vietnam vet who has trouble finding work after the war. But many people chose to ignore the lyrics because they simply got caught up in the melody, and how easy it was to simply chant "born in the U.S.A." without thinking of the deeper lyrical content behind those words.
To some degree, this was understandable. If we're being honest, there are plenty of people who don't pay a great deal of attention to the lyrics, and just focus on the catchy tune. That's why people were stunned to find out that Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" was about crystal meth, even though it's referenced directly in the lyrics without any attempt to be covert about. Most people just knew it as the "doo doo doo" song and paid no attention to whatever was going on in the verses.
Sometimes dark lyrics and a dark melody still aren't enough to get people to understand what a song is trying to do. Consider Kendrick Lamar's single "Swimming Pools (Drank)," which became one of late 2012/early 2013's more enduring hits. It's hard not to read this song as anything other than a condemnation of alcohol abuse, and when Lamar mentions his grandfather doing the "golden flask backstroke every day in Chicago," we're supposed to understand that this was a reference to someone who had a serious problem with alcohol. And if that wasn't enough, the beat is dark and foreboding, seemingly intended to warn someone of the dark road they are headed for if they don't stop turning it up a notch. While it was easier to just think of it as a fun drinking anthem, it was hard to ignore the voice in our heads that desperately wants to view the idea of getting a swimming pool of liquor and diving in it as a pretty fucking fun activity.
So, where is this conversation headed? Quite simply, people have a long history of ignoring both lyrics and their deeper meaning so that they can make the song into whatever they want. Consider the war that was fought over "Blurred Lines" last summer. For many, lyrics in the song that seem to promote rape culture were an unavoidable fact, and the song was condemned by a lot of people, but it still spent more time at the top of the charts than any other song that year. So, how could that be? Were people nakedly approving of lyrics that seemed to take some highly questionable stances on sexual assault? Well, maybe in some instances, but for the most part, people just wanted to dance to a catchy song. They didn't want to think about what the lyrics were actually saying because if we're being honest, pop music is a form of escapism. That's why the backlash to the song was met with such anger: for people who didn't consider what the lyrics were saying, they could only wonder why those pesky feminists were trying to ruin their good time.
To some degree, misinterpreting song lyrics is understandable and unavoidable. Hell, I'd be lying if I told you I never took a second look at a song I thought I had a firm grip on and thought "wait, THAT'S what that song's about?!," so I can certainly relate. At the same time, I do wonder if we're doing all we can to work towards understanding what the songs we love are actually saying. There's nothing wrong with loving music as a form of escapism, but we should spend a little time thinking about the messages our favorite bands are trying to project. If not, we risk having the message be cheapened, or worse, disappear from the conversation altogether, It's enough to raise the question: if we don't care about our favorite songs mean, do they really mean anything at all?
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