3 Iconic Songs Whose Meaning the Songwriter Flat-Out Refused To Explain (and What We Think They Mean)

Quite a few songwriters through the years have refused to explain the core meanings of their songs. That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Music is meant to be interpreted by the masses, after all. Let’s look at a few examples of such songs and what we think they actually mean.

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“How Soon Is Now” by The Smiths (1985)

Morrissey has never directly explained what the meaning behind this alternative rock classic is. However, The Smiths fans have picked it apart over the years and deduced what it’s likely about. The song features just one verse and a chorus. The opening lyrics “I am the son, and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar / I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular” are adapted from a line in the George Eliot novel Middlemarch. Some believe it might be a reference to 1980s Manchester LGBT club culture. Others believe that the whole of the song is about a person who deals with crippling social anxiety and thus cannot find someone to fall in love with. If there’s a more specific meaning behind this classic, Morrissey has not revealed what it is.

“American Pie” by Don McLean (1971)

One of the most famous folk rock songs of the early 70s, “American Pie” is about as American as… well, apple pie. But when it comes to deep diving into the meaning of the song’s lyrics, songwriter Don McLean has never really explained. He said himself that the lyrics are “beyond analysis.” 

As a result, this song has been interpreted heavily through the years. We do know that the song acknowledges when McLean first learned about Buddy Holly’s death. Outside of that, the rest of the song has been up for interpretation by many. Some say that there are religious connotations, while others believe that it explores the dark mood of the cultural era at the time. In the end, we still don’t know exactly what the meaning of this iconic song really is.

“Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam (1992)

Songwriter Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam has been tight-lipped through the years about the meaning of this particularly cryptic rock song and seems to have refused to explain what it’s about, years after it was released. That hasn’t stopped numerous fans from interpreting it themselves. Some believe “Yellow Ledbetter” is about someone who received a letter about their brother’s death in an overseas war. Vedder did give a little bit of an explanation in the 2000s, noting that it is an “anti-patriotic song.” 

Vedder often changes up the lyrics of this song when he performs it live, though. So who knows what it is really about?

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