One place where music differs from other media is its relationship with the truth. Movies might be “based on a true story.” Episodes of a television show might be “ripped from the headlines”. If you’re Mike Daisey you might refer to your monologues as an “exaggerat[ion of] my own experiences”.
Rarely do musicians use “truth” as their hook to get you to listen in.
The social contract for most listeners and artists is pretty simple: It has to be you on the record. If you’re a singer, it has to be your voice. If you’re credited with playing an instrument on a song, it has to be you playing it. If you’re a DJ with a mix, then it has to be something you mixed together.
As long as the end result is you, fans and critics will give you a fair shot — unless you’re The Monkees.
As long as a song is good, people are willing to accept a half-truth just as eagerly as they’ll accept a full lie.
We don’t expect songs to be newspaper articles. A lot of people don’t even care about the lyrical content of a song as long as the vibe is right. One of the things that makes music great and different from other forms of media is that songs don’t have to be slaves to a plot.
And so we allow artists to take dramatic license with their songs.
Songs that stretch the truth can be slotted in to three different categories. Check out these examples of great songs that aren’t completely honest.
Song: Pearl Jam, “Alive”
Category: Inspired By True Events
The Story: A mother reveals to her son that the man he thinks is his father isn’t. His actual father is dead. Mother and son knock boots. He doesn’t enjoy it. Mother wonders if he is OK. He isn’t. She reminds him that he’s still alive. That’s the problem.
The Truth: Eddie Vedder’s mother did in fact reveal to him during his teenage years that the man he thought was his father was actually his stepfather. The knowledge was a burden to him at the time. Most of us will never experience that kind of shock to the system, especially at an age as confusing as our teen years. The first and third verses of the song appear to be an accurate description of events.
Vedder admits that the second verse is pure fiction. There was no incestuous relationship with his mom. In fact, that part of the song exists because “Alive” is the first part of a trilogy of songs that includes “Once” and “Footsteps”. The main character goes insane, kills, and ends up in prison. Thanks mom.
Songs like this are a lot like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Something real happens (Ed Gein keeps body parts in his house) and a creative spark is lit that leads to something very different inspired by that real event.
The Song: Immortal Technique, “You Never Know”
Category: Based On A True Story
The Story: Boy meets girl. They become good friends, and eventually he confesses his love for her. She breaks down crying. Boy makes some poor life choices and ends up in jail. He does his time, gets out, but feels empty without her. He tries to reunite with her, only to find out she passed away due to getting HIV from a blood transfusion. And that’s why Technique doesn’t fall in love with people.
The Truth: Technique is pretty open about the fact that while the story is based on his own experiences, he did change some things when he wrote the song. The only thing that anyone knows with 100 percent certainty is that at one point he did end up in jail for a year.
What’s interesting about this song is that if search “Immortal Technique You Never Know” on Google, one of the first autofill suggestions that comes up is “true story.” The song has a certain emotional power that really strikes a chord with people and leads them to wanting to know if the story is “true.” That people are curious is a testament to his ability as a storyteller.
Songs like this are a lot like The Social Network: Something real happens (Mark Zuckerberg creates something called Facebook), and then the details of that event are modified to make it more dramatic.
The Song: Flyleaf, “Cassie”
Category: The Modern Myth
The Story: Cassie is asked if she believes in God. If she says yes, she will be shot. She says yes even though she knows what will happen. People remember this.
The Truth: If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s one of the popular myths to come out of the Columbine shootings. Although Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did ask someone if they believed in God, conflicting reports exist about whether or not Cassie Bernall was the person questioned. Most official reports suggest that the question was actually posed to Valeen Schnurr, who survived the attack.
It’s not a surprise that a band with strong religious leanings would find the story of Cassie Bernall inspiring. There are a lot of people now who still don’t know that the story didn’t go down the way it was first reported.
There are a lot of people who don’t want to believe it’s wrong. It’s not to be malicious, it’s because they have a vested emotional interest in the myth. Songs like this only continue to build the myth.
Songs like this are a lot like Bloodsport: Something real happens (Frank Dux exists) but most people only hear the myth so they think that’s the truth.
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