A song can be a confession, a prayer, a warning, or a joke, and the very best songs are all of these at once. “Ring of Fire” is one ofContinue readingThe Meaning of “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash
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The Meaning of “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay
A king stands alone in a hall that no longer belongs to him. The crowd that once cheered his every word has withdrawn into a silence, and the keys toContinue readingThe Meaning of “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay
The Meaning of “Ordinary” by Alex Warren
Every age produces its own forms of public love. The Victorians had the sentimental ballad, the fifties had the doo-wop serenade, and our own time has the wedding video, theContinue readingThe Meaning of “Ordinary” by Alex Warren
The Meaning of “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison
There are comeback songs, and then there is the comeback song as theater, a three-minute drama in which a man steps out of the shadows, dusts off his shoulders, andContinue readingThe Meaning of “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison
The Meaning of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
There is a question at the heart of John Fogerty’s best-known late song, and it is not really a question about weather. It is a question about whether a manContinue readingThe Meaning of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Meaning of “Linger” by The Cranberries
There is a certain kind of pop song that sounds, on first hearing, like pure sweetness, a string-laden lullaby with a girl’s voice floating over it like smoke over aContinue readingThe Meaning of “Linger” by The Cranberries
The Meaning of “Drag Path” by Twenty One Pilots
A strange thing happened to a Twenty One Pilots song in the autumn of 2025: it became famous without being available. It was not on streaming services. It was notContinue readingThe Meaning of “Drag Path” by Twenty One Pilots
The Meaning of “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
For most of the nineties, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a band that seemed to exist at the edge of an abyss. They were famous for bare-chested funk, tubeContinue readingThe Meaning of “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Meaning of “Demons” by Imagine Dragons
There is an old American suspicion, going back at least to the Puritans and probably to the first person who ever looked into a still pond and did not likeContinue readingThe Meaning of “Demons” by Imagine Dragons
The Meaning of “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners
Some songs arrive with fanfare, and some arrive like a letter slipped under a door, unread for years until somebody finally steps on it. “Evergreen” is the second kind. ItContinue readingThe Meaning of “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners