By 1968, the Beatles had become the most closely studied band on earth, and nobody studied them harder than their own fans. Every lyric was scoured for secret messages, everyContinue readingThe Meaning of “Glass Onion” by The Beatles
Song Meanings
The Meaning of “Statue” by Lil’ Eddie
Not every great R&B ballad arrives through the front door of the pop charts. Some creep in sideways, passed from listener to listener, discovered on playlists and social feeds yearsContinue readingThe Meaning of “Statue” by Lil’ Eddie
The Meaning of the Song “Erika”
Some songs are damaged by the company they keep. “Erika,” a German marching song from the 1930s, is a tender-sounding tune about a flower and a sweetheart, yet it isContinue readingThe Meaning of the Song “Erika”
The Meaning of “Name” by The Goo Goo Dolls
Before “Iris” made them a household name, the Goo Goo Dolls were a scrappy Buffalo bar band with a punk edge and a modest following. What changed everything was aContinue readingThe Meaning of “Name” by The Goo Goo Dolls
The Meaning of “Imagine” by John Lennon
It is hard to think of a pop song that has been asked to carry more weight than “Imagine.” Since John Lennon released it in 1971, it has been sungContinue readingThe Meaning of “Imagine” by John Lennon
The Meaning of “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” by Simon & Garfunkel
In the middle of Bridge over Troubled Water, an album famous for gospel-tinged grandeur, there sits a track that sounds as though it drifted in from another continent. Which, inContinue readingThe Meaning of “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” by Simon & Garfunkel
The Meaning of “Closing Time” by Semisonic
There is a particular kind of song that gets played at the end of every wedding, graduation party and last-call bar night, and “Closing Time” by Semisonic is the reigningContinue readingThe Meaning of “Closing Time” by Semisonic
The Meaning of “Hold on Till May” by Pierce the Veil
Some songs are written to be played at parties, and some are written to be played at three in the morning when the room is dark and the phone isContinue readingThe Meaning of “Hold on Till May” by Pierce the Veil
The Meaning of the Song “Jimmy Crack Corn”
Few songs in the American folk canon are as widely sung and as poorly understood as “Jimmy Crack Corn.” Generations of children have bounced through its chorus at summer camps,Continue readingThe Meaning of the Song “Jimmy Crack Corn”
The Meaning of “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles
Every solo career needs an argument, and Harry Styles made his in five minutes and forty-one seconds. When “Sign of the Times” arrived in April 2017, the former One DirectionContinue readingThe Meaning of “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles