It is not uncommon for the lyrics to a song to be written in the
first-person even when the song writer has no intention of conveying a story
from his or her own past. There are several songs that I have written in the
first-person even though they contain no autobiographical content. Three such
songs that come to mind are
"Sexy Governor",
"Fresh Brownies",
and, my most recent YouTube posting,
"Fancy Restaurant".
The lyrics to all these songs are more amusing because they are delivered as
if coming from the person singing the song. Although it's not quite the same
as actually acting, delivering the lyrics of a song written in the
first-person does require the singer, at least to some extent, to actually
play the part of the character portrayed in the song. So, the usual
distinction between the actor playing a role and the character being
portrayed applies in the case of song lyrics delivered in the first-person,
unless of course the singer actually is presenting autobiographical
material, which is also sometimes the case.
How is the person listening to a song supposed to be able to know whether or
not a song is autobiographical or just a portrayal of a fictional character?
Sometimes there are obvious clues that make this distinction conspicuously
clear, but at other times there is ambiguity in this regards. Quite often
humor is a clear indicator that a song presented in the first-person is not
autobiographical, but this isn't always the case. Conversely, a serious
song, delivered with apparent heart-felt emotion, doesn't necessarily indicate
autobiographical content either. Ultimately, without some kind of
explanation or inside information, it may be difficult to be certain
whether or not a song portrays a true story or not. However, a more
important question is whether or not it really matters if a story is fact or
fiction. After all, it's the entertainment value of the song
or the life lessons imparted that are of real importance.
For those of you who were disappointed that this blog was not a discussion
of the evolution versus creationalism debate: well, that's another area
where people often have to cope with ambiguity. Just as it is sometimes difficult to
be sure if a story is real or made-up, it is also the case that the
origin of life on this planet is another one of those areas of uncertainty.
While some obsess over this debate and some even jump to conclusions in an
attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance by convincing themselves that they
have found the truth, others are quite able to tolerate the ambiguity and
don't feel a compulsive need to settle the issue. Life is full of
unanswerable questions and it is important that individuals be able to
endure uncertainty. Just as whether or not a song is fact or fiction doesn't
really matter, similarly while the debate regarding the origins of life
may be an interesting intellectual topic to discuss or investigate,
it should not be something to get all emotional about!
