h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why is it that songs seem to have so many different meanings and can be misinterpreted? Recently there’s one song that I've been thinking about that seems to be able to be read in a variety of different ways, and I wanted people’s opinion on here as to what they thought it was about.
The song is No One Is To Blame by Howard Jones. The lyrics start like this:

“You can look at the menu but you just can't eat
You can feel the cushions but you can't have a seat.”

full lyrics to be found in the multimedia section of www.howardjones.co.uk

Now, on a youtube site, people were saying, oh it’s obviously about being unfaithful. See, I never looked at it like that. I took it to be like an observation of two people who desperately wanted to be together, but neither had the courage to commit, for whatever reason. I might be naïve and missing the point, but that was what I thought the song was about. What do you think?
Kaz.

Don't think it sounds like an unfaithful kind of song. Thought it was more about not letting yourself do something. All that stuff about lookng but not getting to enjoy it. Though that could be seen as wanting to be unfaithful, you know like you want someone who's taken, so you can't have them.

Yeah.

See I'm glad it wasn't just me who thought it wasn't an "unfaithful" song.
Have you heard it by the way? It's a very good song.

Don't think I've heard it. Unless I have but haven't realised.

It sounds more like an unrequited sort of thing than a fling. If there's a married/taken person involved, they're the loved-but-unavaliable one.

Yeah, I thought that.

I don't know how other people thought it was an "unfaithful" song. Maybe they were concentrating too much on the line with "sin" in it.

Will find a link to the song so you can have a listen if you like.

Here's one that someone posted as it appears on the record:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9M-p6DoAjVQ&feature=related

or here's a live version that's recent (I think something threw him in the first verse, there's a bit of an instrumental bit to cover it up, but it's still good). http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcLXo1JsPY

The moderators have removed my whole journal entry, on the basis that there is copyright enfringement because I reproduced the No One Is To Blame lyrics in full.

Having discussed this with the moderation team, I fully understand the reasons for removing the posting, however, If you are a moderator and are reading this, may I ask that my journal entry is posted again, without the lyrics, but with the following added:

"full lyrics to be found in the multimedia section of www.howardjones.co.uk."

Many thanks. You see, I would like to continue this conversation with other researchers, not just Not Panicing Yet, and it may be tricky to do so without the original journal entry for reference!

Thanks again

Kaz.

Please put back the original!! There was no intention to break copyright. It was only put there for reference!!

I tried that. It didn't work. I even quoted the law when I emailed them. There is a clause in it that means you can reproduce stuff for criticism and review purposes, but apparently even that doesn't extend to the whole lot.

What they've done is a fair compromise. At the end of the day, they can't print it because of the *potential* risk of copyright enfringement, (even though in reality Howard or his publisher wouldn't bother to chase something so miniscule) because it'd seem a bit like double standards on the house rules.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a direct link to the lyrics on Howard's site (something to do with a quirk in the way his site works) but if you go to the multimedia section and to lyrics, it'll be in the list.

Just to be awkward!!!