Why do some musicians make their lyrics vague?

[Tobin S.]

I dig this tune, but I have no idea what it means.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vumslEsQ-2c

"The Only One" by Manchester Orchestra

I am the only one that thinks I'm going crazy
And I don't know what to do
And I am the only son of a pastor I know
Who does the things I do
But if it was you
I don't think that it would matter
And if it was true
Then I just wouldn't matter

I was amazed at the color and shapes you do
A paper part for two
I am the only son of a bastard I know
That knows the bastard too
Because it was you
I called it a different story
But if I was you
I'd make this a simpler story

I bet you did what you did
When you did it
To do it again
By the time you were done with it
I bet you did what you did
When you did
Just to tell every friend that you have
That the Lord did it

I finally knew that I simply couldn't matter
You finally knew that you simply couldn't matter
I guess it's true you never knew
The passive power of the truth
Would let me lose
If I could write another phrase
We might be better off this way
But there's no use

[abq e streeter]

1. can only speak for myself, but when I'm lucky enough to catch some lyric ideas

to put on paper, I'm just trying to write em down fast enough so that I don't forget em. I often am not even sure what I was trying to say ( besides in the most general way) until the song is at least half-finished (or even just about completely done), and the individual thoughts (?) or lines sometimes make sense in and of themselves and many times they don't, but I hope that somewhere in all the jumble of words,I will have at least conveyed some sort of mood , or psychological description etc......( Hmm, I guess this was pretty vague too....further proof that I still don't really know what I'm trying to say).

[Tobin S.]

3. Well, thanks for trying to explain even if in a general and vague kind of way.

:)

I guess I can see trying to set a mood without the specific words. It seems like Jim Morrison was pretty good at that. I have no idea what most of his lyrics mean either, but it's got to be some deep, disturbing stuff.

[mitchum]

2. Because they are not essayists?

[MilesColtrane]

4. You don't have to actually tell a story to evoke a feeling.

Most artists are trying to engage the heart not the mind.

[Tobin S.]

5. Manchester Orchestra makes me want to get drunk and smoke cigarettes

But I don't know if that's what they were going for.

[Rising Phoenix]

6. because being specific

is either too shocking or makes them feel too vulnerable

[Tobin S.]

7. I guess I could understand that

James Hetfield wrote a lot of his lyrics about his fucked up childhood, especially about his relationship with his father. But the lyrics don't make a whole lot of sense unless you know that, and I didn't learn about it until recently.

[Rising Phoenix]

8. I don't write music, wish I could

but my writing and art def gets vague sometimes because being really real scares me or others

[petronius]

9. I suspect one of two reasons: they're telling a story that is deeply personal, and the listener

won't get all of it without knowing the background, or they've made the mistake of believing that incomprehensible = intelligent...

[hippywife]

10. I'm thinking that the lyrics

mean something to the person that wrote them. If anyone else can relate, that's cool, too.

[bluedigger]

11. Because they have nothing of substance to say?

[abq e streeter]

13. Shhh...that's supposed to be a secret

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. because you then get to interpret it in a way that is meaningful for you

[flying rabbit]

14. Correct, I like art that allows personal interpretations

of what is presented, while it may relate to a personal story (or whatever), ambiguity allows others to fill in the blanks.

[enigmatic]

15. Absolutely

Correct answer :thumbsup: