January 29, 2024
Misunderstanding a Song – for Twenty Years
Certain art forms are easier to “misunderstand” than others. That is, it’s easier for any kind of authorial intention to become something entirely different in the eyes (or ears) of the audience at a social level. Music and poetry are particularly susceptible to this, because of their abstractness. Misunderstanding a song is indeed hilariously likely, as today’s story should indicate.
Of course, the word “misunderstanding” is a little bit misleading: It is the role of art to be misunderstood. As I’ve stated before, to the extent artists have a social responsibility, that is to produce works that are interpretatively fluid.
Indeed, the story I have to share with you today is a marvelous example of a piece of art that escapes the confines – and control – of an entire society with hilarious consequences.
Misunderstanding a Song: On “Melting Ice-creams”
The song in question is a Greek rock song by the band Ξύλινα Σπαθιά (Wooden Swords) called Λιωμένο Παγωτό (Melting Ice-cream). Here are some of the lyrics, translated word-for-word:
It’s always sunny here,
But it frightens me, so
I said I’d go, I said I’d go,
I said,
And yet I’m here, still,
this summer as well,
melting ice-cream,
sticking on the arm.
If you think about it, it’s really open to interpretations because of its vagueness (that’s where art forces the audience to squeeze itself inside). Most people – perhaps because they lack imagination – just saw this as a cute summer song, perhaps speaking of lost loves.
Here’s where the hilarious misunderstanding of this song begins.
Oops? Was I not Supposed to Sing That?
Musically speaking, the song is an extremely simple Bm G A chord sequence (similar to the ubiquitous Am F G ), easy to sing, which made it very popular as a cover song. All sorts of artists included it in their repertoire, including Disney-wholesome goody-two-shoes who care less about themselves and their “art” and more about pleasing others.
Now, imagine their shock when many, many years later an alternative interpretation emerged: “Melting ice-cream”, this interpretation affirms, in Greek slang refers to the mixture of blood and heroin that often drips on the arm of a user.
Misunderstanding a Song on a Social Level
The effect would be the equivalent of mistaking “Golden Brown” as a song talking about, I don’t know, a cake?
There must’ve been plenty of people – there always are, thankfully – who resisted the easy social interpretation, and avoided “misunderstanding” the song. That is to say, there must’ve been people who didn’t readily accept that the song talks about something as superficial as summer love. Perhaps they didn’t necessarily find a connection with heroin, but they at least suspected something else was there.
If you asked me as a musician, and I’m sure most experienced listeners would agree with me, the whole arrangement and style of the song – feel free to play the YouTube video at the end of the post – simply doesn’t convey “summer love”. Not even close. There is a darkness to it, something intangible.
There can be plenty of interpretations and plenty of well argued interpretations. But I also have a meta- level theory.
What if the Joke’s on Us: The Misunderstood Misunderstanding of a Song
Nothing assures us that the supposed alternative meaning is actually true. I was able to discover some definitional sources that go back 15 years, well before the more recent “discovery” of the deeper meaning of the song, but I have no way of verifying them.
Maybe the original composer didn’t mean to refer to heroin – I’m fairly convinced he did, but let’s assume.
This doesn’t matter at all; a solid work of art must escape the conscious control of its creator. Nothing could be further from art than a song so simple and straightforward that you don’t have the slightest interpretative doubt about it.
Creativity helps us connect the dreams to those of others.
Click to display the embedded YouTube video
2 Comments
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I really think art has this depth to it, indeed. Artworks more-so soak up meaning than they do have meaning: they are libidinal machinery for us to invest our own libidinal charges (our desires, wills, intentions, inclinations, etc.). Therefore, artworks encompass and even welcome conflicting interpretations.
Excellent observation regarding soaking vs having meaning. There’s an anecdote I might have mentioned before, but I’ll mention it again because it’s telling.
The Greek poet and Nobel laureate George Seferis was once asked during a press conference about the ending of one of his poems, with the journalist making an elaborate comment regarding some symbolism and how it came to being. Then he asked Seferis what was the inspiration. Seferis, or so the story goes, smiled and said “What a wonderful interpretation, my dear fellow, not even I had thought of that!”
I think a common issue with mediocre fiction is that it fails to address the “not even I had thought of that” part. That is, it’s too focused on narrow confines, what-you-see-is-what-you-get’s, and fails to leave maneuvering room for the multiple realities that inherently exist in every story.