Conceptional meaning versus personal interpretation.

Originally a song about courageous men and woman who enter war not as trained heroes but as individuals who become heroic due to their actions and sacrifices, my interpretation of Never the heroes by Judas Priest was that of ordinary people that might not feel as if they fit into the rest of society but who nonetheless keep their nose to the grindstone and get on with their everyday lives. Wanting to simply be left alone to live their lives as they see fit, I saw the song as a testament to perseverance and the right for individual freedom no matter what the obstacles might be thereby inadvertently becoming heroes of their own with the lines, ‘’never the heroes, we were not born to fight, all we ever wanted was peace’’, perfectly encapsulating that sentiment.

As my own interpretation clearly shows, a song’s ability to be interpreted in a multitude of different ways can also contribute to it having different meaning depending to whoever is listening to it. Much like Never the heroes, Metallica’s Master of Puppets for example could on the surface be perceived as being about drug addiction, however it could also mean something completely different dependent entirely on the listeners interpretation of the lyrics. While some songs, particularly about war and political corruption, remain consistently topical, others change, with past experiences and expectations dictating whether the song retained its initial meaning or if it had, over time, taken on a completely different one.

Another classic case of misinterpretation occurred when during the now legendary PMRC senate hearing in which musicians were asked to defend some of their perceived violent and machoistic lyrical content. Tipper Gore who was chairing the committee accused the Twisted Sister song, Under the blade, of glorifying the abuse of Woman just to be shut down by Dee Snider the singer of the band who accused her of hearing only what she wanted to hear in order to justify her condemnation of the song although the true meaning behind the lyrical content was in fact to do with a band member having to undergo a surgical procedure.

All this goes to show that lyrical interpretation is often not entirely reflective of its true meaning and that because of this misinterpretation a song can be instrumentalized by the wrong people which is something that can continuously been seen when politicians take a popular song and use it to underscore the message of their political campaigns even though the song means the complete opposite.

This is not just limited to music though, as even in films and other forms of media the same thing can and does frequently occur. A film that is supposed to be a warning against corruption, is misused by others for personal or political gain. Another perfect example being the film Scarface, that was supposed to be a warning against the drug trade or American Psycho that was supposed to be an indictment of the superficiality of yuppie culture, which all goes to show that our interpretations of a songs lyrical content or a films thematic narrative is often not what they really mean.