Pop song lyrics - the journey from pen to ear

Posted on: 22nd February 2012 in Marketing (jemma)

Does anyone else remember Smash Hits magazine? As a pre-teen did you pounce on the Top 20 song lyrics therein, desperate to memorise them? I hope it wasn’t just me.

I’m still fascinated by song lyrics today. There are those that tell a story, like Rod Stewart’s ‘Maggie May’ and those that are wonderfully absurd, like The Beatles’ ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’.

I don’t think anyone’s supposed to understand what David Bowie’s songs are about, though the likes of ‘Life on Mars?’ are powerfully evocative, leading us to establish our own meaning from his obscure yet alluring words.

Britpop brought lyrics we could instantly relate to in their glorious mundanity – Damon Albarn telling us in ‘Parklife’ how he is woken by dustmen before having a cup of tea. A particular favourite of mine from this era though is the gritty reality of Pulp’s ‘Common People’.

Interestingly, the Boomtown Rats’ ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ has been adopted by jaded office workers – quite a divergence from the trigger-happy schoolgirl that Bob Geldof had in mind.

A prime example of misinterpreted song lyrics is ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police. A favourite at weddings, many couples believe it epitomises true love and devotion. Conversely, however, Sting has been vocal in insisting that the song is ‘about the obsession with a lost lover, the jealousy and surveillance that follows’. So, a song about a stalker, then.

What’s important, here though? Isn’t the widespread public understanding of a song’s lyrics just as significant as the songwriter’s intended meaning?

Let’s consider this phenomenon in relation to the world of marketing. If a copywriter has a specific message in mind when penning an advertisement, but the target audience interprets the words very differently, this will affect the outcome of the whole marketing campaign.

Now…can anyone tell me what on earth the lyrics to ‘Human’ by ‘The Killers’ mean?