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[shamanicshaymin]

"Don't Leave Home" by Dido is supposed to be about addiction, and even without that Word Of God, lines like "You won't need other friends anymore" and "I arrived when you were weak / I'll make you weaker like a child" ought to be a tip-off. Dido has said that people have told her they played it at their weddings and that she finds this fact a little disturbing.

Fuck. I've always listened to the whole song and interpreted those lines much differently, and thought it was an adorable fluffy song that cheered me up whenever I listened to it. WELP nice to know I was completely wrong. That song is ruined for me now.

Meanwhile, is anyone else sick and tired of people using "White Flag" as the fandom anthem for OTP/shipping? Especially when the song itself is about someone wanting to stay with their ex even though the relationship is clearly falling apart. Not exactly stable grounds for supporting your OTP with.

Comments

[shamanicshaymin]

Yeah, the chorus is pretty much the reason people use it, and of course, the only part we remember when it comes to songs. But when the rest of the song doesn't work quite as well, it's like finding a piece of a puzzle that wasn't supposed to fit, but somehow does... and then the rest of the puzzle falls apart, 'cause that piece was actually meant for something else. And that analogy makes no sense.

I still feels kinda weird though. I have my meaning and then I have the other meaning besides it, and it's kind of jarring. For a book example, I've always believed that one of my all-time favorite books, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was a powerful message about censorship. But nope! Word of God says it's about the evils of television and technology making people not care about books anymore. Which, imo, makes it sound cliched and shallow and anvilicious, unlike the censorship interpretation, which did make me care about the future of books (which I already did before, but Fahrenheit 451 elaborates on my feelings). Heck, Bradbury stormed out of a classroom 'cause readers were convinced it was still about censorship. And to be honest... I'm with the students. I'm just a little afraid to read the book again because I want to read about it with my interpretation in peace, Death of the Author and all, rather than have Bradbury breathe down my neck about what the book's actually about. :/

[outstretched]

...I will go down with this ship ;_; (or, I don't really have an argument, and I see your point but can't accept it, because I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP.)

Oh. I never did like Bradbury, and lol, that only reinforces that notion. Imo he's wrong—and most people agree with you; pretty much any movie and any class I've ever seen taught about it enforces the censorship theme. So, lol author, give up? I know it's probably frustrating but just let your work be seen in a good light, jeez.

[shamanicshaymin]

One of the most interesting things about writing and storytelling is the various ways in which it could be interpreted. Hell, that's one of the signs that a book is good (or at least talked about. :P) because it shows how individualistic a reader can be. Another author, Isaac Asimov, explores that concept:

Isaac Asimov has repeated in several places an anecdote based on this: he once sat in (in the back of a large lecture hall, so semi-anonymously) on a class where the topic of discussion was one of his own works. Afterward, he went up and introduced himself to the teacher, saying that he had found the teacher's interpretation of the story interesting, though it really wasn't what he had meant at all. The teacher's response was "Just because you wrote it, what makes you think you have the slightest idea what it's about?"

Hell, just look at Twilight. Whether it's creepy or unintentionally hilarious or a trainwreck or all the above, I doubt that's what Meyer had in mind. :P

Boy, when I think about it, it gives me more freedom to think, and that feels niiiiiiice.