Alternative Character Interpretation/Music
- In "Behind Blue Eyes," the narrator could be an unrepentant Nazi being hauled off to Israel by a Mossad agent.
- Keane's song "Everybody's Changing" could be seen as a song about a Zombie Apocalypse... from the point of view of one of the Infected.
- The lyrics to the Coldplay song "Fix You" could be a song from the point of view of a heroin dealer who feels guilty after watching one of his customers waste his life. The hint is in the title ("Fix You", a drug fix), the constant references to depression and misery throughout the song, and little hints like "When you get what you want/But not what you need?" Who'd have thought Chris Martin was capable of such depth?
- You mean other than Chris Martin?
- Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me"--should we pity the Unlucky Childhood Friend, or scorn the Yandere?
- On a radio station one of the DJs talks about how the video for the song has the Hollywood Homely trope (she didn't use the trope name) and the longtime friend didn't notice her till she cleaned up. There's an interpretation that he was actually asking Taylor Swift's character out in the video after his girlfriend dumped him and then she realized that her dream man had asked her out, she dolled herself up and headed for the dance.
- The Saturdays, Ego -- Stalking Is OK When It's Female On Male? Ok, the guy might get himself killed if he goes solo, but the actions of the five girls does rather suggest an unwillingness to let the guy go rather than any actual concern for his safety. Sorry, girls, but he might just possibly do fine without you. Also, one has to wonder who's not getting rescued (or who's committing crimes and getting away with it) while five girls are too busy playing 'woman scorned' to do the hero thing.
- In The Megas: is Wily a Well-Intentioned Extremist who is trying to ascend robots out of their slavery? Or is he the same lying, manipulative, power-hungry jerk he is in the games?
- Same can be said of The Protomen interpretation of Wily.
- "One Vision" by Queen was obviously written as a cheesy plea for an end to war, famine, religious intolerance and other problems pop stars tend to call "bad things". However, due to the vagueness of the lyrics, it's more than a little ironic that it can be interpreted as a fascist anthem from the perspective of a frustrated wannabe-fuhrer. The Slovenian art-rock group Laibach did a version in German for this very reason which they re-titled "Birth of a Nation".
- "One Less Lonely Girl"? Really? Because you met up with her and are now going together, or because you killed her, Justin? (This is now an internet meme).
- Most versions of "Windmills of Your Mind" are melancholy paeans to regrets and lost love. The Muppets? A paean to gibbering insanity.
- The official meaning of Genesis's song "Mama", as explained by Phil Collins, is meant to be of a teenager who has fallen in love with a prostitute. However, another popular interpretation of it is that it's really about an unborn foetus that's being aborted (a belief that even the band manager shared).
- The video is even creepier, and also supports the official meaning of the song.
- The character of Nicklausse in Jacques Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), who in some editions of the opera is the Muse of Poetry in disguise, is sometimes suggested to be Hoffmann's conscience, who can only actually be seen and heard by him. (In at least some editions of the opera, no one but Hoffmann ever addresses Nicklausse directly.)
- "The Man Upstairs" by Voltaire. The narrator is just as messed up as his neighbors; he's certainly paranoid, and there's strong evidence that he's manipulative ("If you want to be my friend, you'll have to prove you mean it.") Then, too, maybe his paranoia causes him to interpret someone perfectly normal and pleasant as an allegory for God Is Evil.
- "Little Red Riding Hood" By Sam the sham and the Pharaohs, and a Song by the same name by The Cartoons, both interpret the big bad wolf as being in love with Red riding hood.
- Julio Iglesias's 1987 song Lo mejor de tu vida (the best of your life) in which the narrator sings to a girl from whom he took all that's valuable in her (namely her virginity). Also, lots of verses allude to her youth at the time of the "seduction". This sound very suspicious, like what an sexual abuser would say to a victim (a child?), in order to make her feel worthless and dissuade her from having future healthy relationships.
- Train's "Hey Soul Sister"; a nice little love song or an unsettling ghost story? The story takes place as this: a guy died from a blood clot to his brain (Your lipstick stains, on the front lobes of my left side brains) or commited suicide (And so I went and let you blow my mind), the ghost was very fond of her (Your sweet moon beams, the smell of you in every dream I dream), so he haunts her (I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight). The girl thinks that he is a ghost haunting her and takes he takes her fear as affection (Just in time, I'm so glad you have a one track mind like me, you gave my life direction, A game show love connection, we can't deny). The haunting is going on for so long now the girl is considering killing herself (You see, I can be myself finally, I want the world to see you'll be with me) and possibly goes through with it.
- That officially ruins the song for me...
- Katy Perry's "E.T (Futuristic Lover)" to me sounds like someone who has fallen in love with the person who has kidnapped, raped and brainwashed them. The Kanye West remix furthers my belief ("See I abducted you/so I tell you what to do")
- The song. Is it a romantic song laced with some sexuality, or pure sex? Kanye's part of the song leans to the latter, but then again he is Kanye.
- Is it about a romantic love affair from two different groups of people but somehow manage to be on the same wavelength despite the huge difference in their lives. Love Story (Taylor Swift) but with more sex...
- Ian Dury's I Want To Be Straight deliberately uses this trope. It can be a song about somebody who wants to be on the 'straight and narrow', that is, wants to kick their alcohol and drug habits and live a normal life... or it can be about a homosexual who wishes they were into the opposite sex because it's more socially acceptable. The song can be interpreted as either or both of these.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, on the two occasions he's left the band. Reclusive genius or selfish bandwrecker?
- Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". Did he even cheat? Does she actually know whether he cheated or not? Is she justified in destroying his car if he did cheat? Maybe he stopped calling because he realized she was the type of person who was so crazy she was willing to smash up his car because she thought or knew he was cheating. Maybe he forgot to get the keys back, or told her where the spares are. Maybe the scene at the bar was her finally tracking him down after weeks of searching. She takes the bat, the Special Bat, she's been carrying with her just in case she found him, and peeks inside. Oh, there are a lot of people in there, and he's with some blonde "tramp". She can't Talk with him in there. Maybe she'll just leave A Message on his car...
- Is the Gorillaz 2-D an irredeemable idiot, or Genius Ditz with wits dulled by head injuries and painkillers?
- Whether you see the lyrics in "I Can't Do This" by Plumb as being "Oh, God, I need your help" or "Oh God, I need your help" depend on the person. The former makes sense being that it's a Christian band but the latter seems more like you're asking a person for help.