Decoded: Songs and their meanings

For some, a song is all about the melody, the lyrics merely an "added extra – like a conservatory or a patio", as Jarvis Cocker once claimed. But for many others the words touch the heart and the soul, even if we're not exactly sure what they mean. Consider "A Whiter Shade of Pale", "Hotel California" or even "Do Wah Diddy Diddy". Inability to grasp what a songwriter truly means has led to confusion, hilarity and occasional heated exchanges. The more famous the song, it seems, the more intens...

Read full article Share article