What exactly IS a ledbetter?!

It occurred to me yesterday that some of the coolest songs are either unintelligible or end up having meanings that I completely failed to grasp.

My favorite Pearl Jam tune, "Yellow Ledbetter," is completely over my head from an interpretive standpoint. I don't have a friggin' clue what they're talking about. I could, I suppose, research this and try to gain some insight. But that would just spoil it for me. I know he's talking about some people on the porch who aren't waving, etc-- but other than that-- it's greek. What exactly is a ledbetter and why is its color significant??

And how about "Rain King?" I love the Counting Crows. And I get twitchy every time this favorite comes on. I can't allow interruptions because it is IMPERATIVE that I be able to mimic the "Yeeeaaaaaaahhh!" at the very end. And the lyrics are pretty. But I have to be honest: I don't have a clue about what some of them mean.

Don't get me started on "Rock The Casbah." Possibly one of the most overplayed favorites of all time. I wish I could remember what commercial it was that had the misinterpretation of the lyrics by some poor soul..... "Stop the catbox!!" Once in awhile I will send this in a text message to my husband out of the blue. One doesn't want to be boring, right?

Then of course there are those songs which have been often heard and most frequently misunderstood or not analyzed at all. If I had a nickel for every person who thinks Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" is a feel-good patriotic song as opposed to the jaded take on American industry and military that it really is..... I could put my kids through college. I'm not saying it's a bad song. Just that it's not the one you want to play for a military homecoming or the 4th of July, necessarily.

And my favorite unrealized meaning of a song (for me personally) until a couple of years ago: "Rock You Like A Hurricane." OMG. Have you listened to the lyrics? Really listened? I mean this is a classic state fair favorite. Air guitarist's plaything. But at the end of the day there's no getting around the innuendo. "So give her inches and feed her well....?!" I guess I had to be a grown up (technically, anyway) to understand what old boy was talking about!!

Anyway, I think I will opt to embrace my naivete' and continue to enjoy that which is over my head or which has meaning I'd rather not know. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.