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THE
POWER OF AN AUDIENCE: Trust the Art, Not the Artist
Page 5
In Support of Polysemy
Song lyrics can mean many different things to many different people.
From the artists' intent of creation to the audience's reception,
songs' meanings are always taking on new forms. Is the artist
or the fan right? It does not matter. John Lennon once pondered
Paul McCartney's purpose of "Hey Jude", "[Paul]
said it was about Julian…But I always heard it as a song
to me. Now I'm sounding like one of those fans reading things
into it" (Morse, 71). The point is not that John (the fan)
is right or wrong or that Paul (the writer) is right or wrong.
The point is that both of their perceptions are valid and thus
give the text multiple meanings. This polysemous quality of song
lyrics is what gives power to the writer, power to the audience,
and power to the art…the song.
Bibliography
Condit,
Celeste Michelle. "The Rhetorical Limits of Polysemy".
Critical Studies in Mass Communication 6. 1989.
Ford, Andrew. "Rock'n'Old". Sydney Morning Herald. June
16, 2001.
Marley, Bob. "Trench Town Rock". Natural Mystic. Island
Records. 1995.
Morse, Tim. Classic Rock Stories: The Stories Behind the Greatest
Songs of All Time. St. Martin's Press. New York. 1998.
Springsteen, Bruce. "Born in the USA". Born in the USA.
Columbia Records. 1984.
Stipe, Michael. VH1 Storytellers. Transcription from http://www.angelfire.com/ma/grrrlbat/rem.html
Weingarten, Marc. Station to Station. Pocket Books. New York.
2000.
Wilkins, Jason. "Open a New Door: Silent Jay Farrar speaks
up". The Rage. October 11, 2001.
Young, Neil. "Pocahontas". Rust Never Sleeps. Warner
Brothers. 1979.
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