Wordplay, lyrically trickery, and just straight-up confusion are three, more or less, tools that songwriters use from time to time. Why do they use them? That answer resides either within them or on the page of some article from back in the day. Regardless, when they do use them, they often stump the people who listen to the song in which they are used.
Loads and loads of musicians from the 60s did this, as it was seemingly a fairly en vogue trend at the time. Well, that trend built up some steam and the 1960s, so it was, of course, also around in the 1970s, and here are three songs from the decade that resist clear interpretation because of it.
“Echoes” by Pink Floyd
Released in 1971, Pink Floyd‘s “Echoes” is about as bohemian, psychedelic, and avant-garde as it gets. Frankly, the single is 23 minutes of exquisite instrumentals and seemingly arbitrary lyrics. It is a trip to say the least, and when you get to the end of it, you’re not really sure what its purpose was, as the lyrics are incredibly difficult to fully comprehend given their reliance on surreal imagery.
One might believe that Floyd explores themes of human connection, the lack of it, and the relativity among all humans. Well, that’s one reading of the lyrics, but given their nature, hundreds of readings could be attached to the words of this single.
“Dancing Days” by Led Zeppelin
Generally, one can pull out the romance, hedonism, and innocent summer fun being articulated in Led Zeppelin‘s 1973 single, “Dancing Days”. However, at the same time, several lines in the song are entirely nonsensical and, as a result, contradict the reading you might have of the song.
One of the lines that seemingly does just that: “I saw a lion, he was standin’ alone / With a tadpole in a jar.” Who knows what in the world Robert Plant is alluding to in this line? But, needless to say, what in the world does it have to do with the rest of the lyrics? On the surface, not a gosh darn thing. Though who knows?
“Life on Mars?” by David Bowie
David Bowie himself was a figure that resisted clear interpretation. So, is it a surprise that much of his work does that same thing? Surely not, and one song attesting to Bowie’s mission of abstraction is the 1971 single “Life on Mars?”.
Bowie seemingly had a very clear lyrical meaning with this song; it just so happens that the only way you can get to it is if you go through the pounds and pounds of surrealist poetry and narrative in place. We don’t want to spoil the meaning for you, but there is one there, and a rather great one at that.
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