Most pop songs from the 1960s were straightforward in their meanings, often exploring themes of love, loss, dance, and freedom. However, some songs from that era were a bit more enigmatic than one would expect from a pop tune. Let’s look at just a few pop songs from the 1960s with meanings that no one has quite figured out yet.
“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys (1966)
On the surface, the meaning of this progressive pop jam from The Beach Boys is pretty straightforward. Musically, it pushes the boundaries of pop, recording, and using the studio as an instrument. Lyrically, though, to most, it’s a simple song about a girl the narrator is in love with or “excited” by.
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However, some listeners believe there are some hidden psychedelic themes in this song. I’m inclined to agree, honestly. Brian Wilson admitted that he was inspired by extrasensory perception and psychedelic substances like LSD. Many believe lines like “Close my eyes, she’s somehow closer now / Softly smile, I know she must be kind / When I look in her eyes / She goes with me to a blossom world” are revealing something Wilson might have discovered about the metaphysical world during a trip. Neither he nor Mike Love really dove into complex explanations of “Good Vibrations”, so we’ll likely never know the truth.
“I Am The Walrus” by The Beatles (1967)
I’ve written quite a bit about this song, namely because the story and themes surrounding it are so entertaining. Ahead of this psychedelic song’s release, Beatlemaniacs had been picking apart and trying to find meaning in the Fab Four’s music for years. They’re still doing it, decades after the band called it quits. So when John Lennon found out the meanings of his songs were being studied in college classes, he decided to pen a nonsensical, whimsical song that realistically doesn’t have much of a deeper meaning, according to Lennon himself. And yet, people still try to figure this song out. It’s hilarious, honestly.
“Let the f*ckers work that one out,” Lennon said after writing “I Am The Walrus”.
“Windy” by The Associations (1967)
Everybody wants to know who “Windy” is. What kind of magical girl was she? Is there truth behind who she really is, and did she really exist? This entry on our list of 1960s pop songs with ambiguous meanings was eventually explained frankly by its songwriter, Ruthann Friedman. In the end, Windy wasn’t a woman. She also never existed at all. Or did she? Unfortunately, Friedman has given conflicting statements.
“I have heard so many different permutations of what the song was about. Here is the truth,” said Friedman. “ I was sitting on my bed – the apartment on the first floor of David Crosby’s house in Beverly Glenn [sic] – and there was a fellow who came to visit and was sitting there staring at me as if he was going to suck the life out of me. So I started to fantasize about what kind of a guy I would like to be with, and that was Windy – a guy (fantasy).”
Makes sense, right? Unfortunately, Friedman would later say that the song was actually written about herself. So, what is the truth? We’ll probably never know.
Songfacts: Windy | The Association
In our 2014 interview with Ruthann Friedman, she said that she later came to understand the true meaning of the song. Said Friedman: “These days, looking back at myself in my mid to late 20s, I finally realized I was talking about me in that song, and how I wanted to be.”
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