lenny unencumbered

Songwriters are poetic geniuses. They’re really good at creating ambiguous lyrics that appear to have multiple meanings. Unless they explicitly tell you what their lyrics mean, we just have to guess or make up our own understanding.

Over the years, I have tried to interpret the meaning of so many songs, only to find later that I was completely off the mark. It’s, however, fun trying.

There are two excerpts from two completely different songs that reside permanently in my mind.

The first is a couple of lines from Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. It was written by Roger Waters as a sort of homage to former band member Syd Barrett, who was forced to leave because of mental health issues. Waters later also admitted that the song reflected his inner conflicts.

We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.

For me, those lines are a reflection of a very real current event in the world, which is being terrorised by two warmongering lunatics, namely, U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. It just seems so fitting.

The second is the chorus from The Outsider by A Perfect Circle. Written by the lead singer, Maynard James Keenan, the song attempts to express the depression experienced during withdrawal from addiction from the perspective of someone who doesn’t understand what the person is going through. Keenan was inspired to write the song after his friend Layne Staley of the band Alice in Chains died from an accidental overdose.

Disconnect and self-destruct
One bullet at a time
What’s your rush, now?
Everyone will have his day to die

Again, for me personally, those lines are a reflection of very real current events in the Middle East, which are being cheered on by religious zealots to usher in what they believe are biblical predictions of the end times and final judgement.

I’m referring, of course, to the disturbing belief by Christian Evangelicals that the creation of the State of Israel, and their constant warmongering and genocidal destructiveness, will lead to the building of the Third Jewish Temple before the end times approach. his they believe will ultimately lead to the Battle of Armageddon in the Middle East, the tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ to Earth.

These people believe that up to two-thirds of the Jewish population will perish in the tribulation, while the rest will supposedly convert to Christianity. The Jewish population, for their part, not only seem unmindful of this fate propesied for them as they blunder to “disconnect and self-destruct one bullet at a time,” they seem positively determined to satisfy that outcome.

As you no doubt will observe, these two song excerpts are intricately linked – for me, at least. Am I losing my mind, or are these interpretations uncannily too close to reality for comfort?