Art is created for many reasons. Sometimes it’s made to connect with an audience. Other times it’s only for the artist’s benefit. The latter can sometimes confuse us. If we don’t have the backstory, how are we meant to know how to decode the lyrics? However, time and time again, it has been proven that lyrics don’t have to make sense for us to love them. Many rockers have written songs that confuse us to this day, but we love them nonetheless. Whether it was a conscious effort to throw their listeners off or accidental confusion, check out three rock songs with nonsensical lyrics below.
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“Dig a Pony” – The Beatles
The Beatles‘ “Dig a Pony” is one of their odder songs. John Lennon admitted that this song means very little. “It was literally a nonsense song,” he once said. And, when reading the lyrics, that fact becomes very plain. Well, you can penetrate any place you go…Well, you can radiate everything you are…You can imitate everyone you know…You can indicate anything you see, some of the lyrics to this rock classic read. Sometimes a song is more about the vibe than the lyrics themselves. This song proves that can also be an effective method of songwriting.
“Black Hole Sun” – Soundgarden
Alt-rock is famous for figurative language. Take Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” Very little about this song makes sense at first glance. It’s like trying to analyze a poem in English class. If given the context, we might be able to put together the puzzle. Without it, it’s better to just listen to the melody and forget trying to figure out what Hides the face / Lies the snake / And the sun in my disgrace / Boiling heat / Summer stench actually means.
“Monkey Man” – The Rolling Stones
Of all the songs on this list, the Rolling Stones’ “Money Man” makes the most sense…somehow. And still, there is a level of nonsense here that will undoubtedly leave some of their less involved listeners in the dark. I was bitten by a boar / I was gouged, and I was gored / But I pulled on through / Yes, I’m a sack of broken eggs / I always have an unmade bed, the lyrics in this coded reference to fame read.
(Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
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