Four Legendary Lyrics — Their Real Meanings Revealed

Some song lyrics have the depth of a kiddie pool.  Others are a complex web of words, spun with mysterious meanings and obscure symbolism.  Sometimes the writers of these lyrics openly explain their meanings, while other writers are secretive about their lyrics, leaving us to draw our own conclusions.  Here are a few songs whose meanings have teased and tantalized listeners:

“American Pie,” by Don McLean, 1971

Luckily, McLean explained that his lyrics, “the day the music died,” referred to the February 3, 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly.  He said the song begins with lyrics regarding his memories of Buddy Holly’s death, and his recollections of America at the time.  Then it switches to fantasy sequences with the phrases “the jester,” “jack flash sat on a candlestick,” “drove my Chevy to the levee,” and other symbolic lyrics he intentionally left open to interpretation.

“Stairway to Heaven,” by Led Zeppelin, 1971

Considered by many to be Led Zeppelin’s masterpiece, “Stairway to Heaven” is supposedly about a woman who discovers that all her money has made her life meaningless, and won’t buy her a place in heaven.  It has also been speculated that Robert Plant, who was a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan, based the song lyrics completely upon the author’s “Lord of the Rings” books.  Plant said that the lyrics were almost entirely written in one sitting, and that an otherworldly force was moving his pencil for him.  Guitarist Jimmy Page thought the lyrics were brilliant, and insisted that Plant write all of the band’s future lyrics.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” by Queen, 1975

Singer Freddie Mercury, who wrote the lyrics to this remarkable, operatic song, said they were “random, rhyming nonsense.”  Guitarist Brian May would only say, “I think it’s best to leave it with a question mark in the air.”  However, others disagreed with him, so popular speculation about the lyrics is that they are about Mercury’s family’s forced exile from Zanzibar to England in 1964.  The lyrics also contain many real Arabic words which appear in the Qu’ran, and were relevant to Mercury’s family’s religion:  “Bismillah” means “In the name of Allah,” “scaramouch” means “a boastful coward,” and “Beelzebub” refers to the devil.  Despite its cryptic lyrics, what we do know for a fact is that it was Queen’s first Top 10 US hit.

“Smoke on the Water,” by Deep Purple, 1972

“Smoke on the Water” cranks out one of heavy metal’s best known riffs, and its lyrics are about a fire set off by a flare gun at the Casino in Montreaux, Switzerland, overlooking the waters of Lake Geneva.  “Funky Claude” was Claude Nobs, who helped rescue people from the fire.  Deep Purple was slated to record an album there, but had to relocate to the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio.  “Swiss time was running out,” meant their visas were on the verge of expiring, so they had to quickly write and record their music and lyrics.

Some of these song lyrics have murky meanings, but one thing is crystal clear:  they’re all classics.

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