As a follow-up to Lee and Sheely’s excellent Think/Counterthink on the Miley Cyrus track “Party in the U.S.A.,” this edition of Musical Talmud wades into the shin-deep puddle of pop that ebbs and flows in the general area of the Jonas Brothers — the sunny shoal of music that feels comfortably warm until you realize it is the kiddie pool, at which point it becomes gross and creepy.

Listeners to the podcast (and other people who make the quixotic choice of hearing me talk) know that I have my money on a dog in the Disney Channel Music fight — although she is a young girl and it’s not a nice or appropriate thing to call girls dogs. And no, I don’t have inappropriate designs on her. But I like her music and think she has a bright future.

Today in Musical Talmud, we discuss “Get Back,” the first single off the first solo album (which came out last year) by the talented singer and, in the time-honored and resurgent American tradition of pop stars who rise to stardom from movie musicals (talk about the new Great Depression!), not-especially-great-actress Demi Lovato.

And yes, she actually wrote it.

Lee: Hey Sheely, let’s Overthink Miley Cyrus’s hit single, “Party in the USA.”

First question: is this song even worth Overthinking?

At first blush, the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” may be one of the most inane song ever written (Cracked.com certainly thinks so). The lyrics basically consist of a series of non sequitur party-related cliches. (Then again, I suppose that description could apply to most pop songs. But I digress.)

In other words, it’s the perfect candidate for Overthinking It’s “Musical Talmud” treatment, in which we subject the lyrics of pop songs to a level of scrutiny they really, really, don’t deserve.

The party starts after the jump…

The Musical Talmud is our ongoing series that finds the true meaning behind pop music lyrics.  There have been a whole bunch of entries already.  The current post attempts to decode the noise-pop band Deerhoof’s 2007 single, “The Perfect Me.”

Ok, I actually have kind of an issue with the whole premise of the Musical Talmud series, because it encourages the idea that pop music is basically a form of poetry, and that the best way to understand a song is by understanding the lyrics.  This is the point of view implicitly endorsed by about %60 of professional rock critics, but it’s also patent nonsense.  Pop lyrics are important, but at best they’re only half of the equation:  if an album were equivalent to its lyric sheet, we’d just buy the lyric sheet.  And in some pop, the lyrics hardly play any role at all.

Take a listen to this song, for instance…

Great song.  Enigmatic song, clearly worth decoding.  But do the lyrics really tell us anything about it?

[The "Musical Talmud" is our ongoing series that finds the true meaning behind pop music lyrics. See also Part 1, "Don't Stop Believing," Part 2, "The KKK Took My Baby Away," Part 3, "I Want It That Way," Part 4, "Chinese Democracy," and Part 5 "Happy Xmas (War is Over)."]

Oh no, here it comes again
Cant remember when we came so close to love before
Hold on, good things never last
Nothings in the past, it always seems to come again
Again and again and again

Looking at these lyrics, it is tempting to infer that they are lifted straight from one of the 80s many monster ballads, or really any other romantic pop song.  The sentiments are grand, the word choice is general, and love is mentioned in the second line, for chrissakes.   However, this inference couldn’t be too much further from the truth- these lyrics are the opening line of “Neon Knights”, the lead track on Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath’s first album after replacing Ozzy Osbourne with Ronnie James Dio in the late 70s.  For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Dio’s body of work, let’s just say he’s known for being heavy on the “Monster” and rather light on the “Ballad”.  Here he is performing “Neon Knights” with Sabbath back in the 80s:

Based on the title,  first verse, and one viewing of the video, it is tempting to dismiss “Neon Knights” as just another example of the excesses the dungeons and dragons wing of 1980s Heavy Metal.  After all, Dio is the singer who Tenacious D idolizes/lampoons as the patron saint of singing songs about wildebeests and angels and soaring on the wings of a demon.    However, if you stick with me after the jump, and I’ll show how Ronnie James Dio succeeds in transforming a four minute metal song into a treatise on the nature of social order.

[The "Musical Talmud" is our ongoing series that finds the true meaning behind pop music lyrics.]

Christmas Talmud? Oy vey. That’s our awkward way of wishing you a Happy Overthinking It Holiday Season. Let’s take a deeper look at John Lennon’s protest/ Christmas song, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” Since the meaning behind this song is already well known–it’s a protest against the Vietnam War–I’m going to use this as an opportunity to examine this song as an example of “earony.”

[The "Musical Talmud" is our ongoing series that finds the true meaning behind pop music lyrics. See also Part 1, "Don't Stop Believing," Part 2, "The KKK Took My Baby Away," and Part 3, "I Want It That Way."]

It’s way over budget. It’s blown past multiple deadlines. I am, of course, referring to the long-awaited deconstruction of the lyrics to “Chinese Democracy,” the title track to the long-awaited Guns ‘n’ Roses Album Chinese Democracy.

On January 1, 2001, when Axl debuted the song at a live concert, he specifically cited Chinese political oppression as the inspiration for this song, so it’s a safe bet that Axl didn’t intend for “Chinese Democracy” to be a coded reference to something unrelated. With that in mind, let’s see what geopolitical insights Axl has to offer.

You are my fire
The one desire
Believe when I say
I want it that way

This opening is more interesting than it looks. It’s one thing to say someone is your fire/desire. But the singer goes a step further – he says he wants her to be his fire/desire. That’s sort of a weird thing to say. “Not only am I in love with you, I want to be in love with you.”

But this actually becomes kind of a poignant sentiment when you realize the song is about a relationship on the verge of collapse. The girl is either dumping the guy, or seriously considering it. Anyone who’s ever been through a bad breakup knows that those feelings of dependency that seemed so cute when you were together can make you miserable when the other person is out of your life. But this guy is doubling down on his love. He’s saying, “No matter what happens to us, I don’t regret my love for you.” Or as Fanny Brice put it, “I’d rather be blue over you than be happy with somebody else.”

[Second in a series.  See also part 1, "Don't Stop Believing."]

Oh, the Ramones, those sages of rock.  No subject is too lofty nor banal for their insightful commentary, be it existential angst (“Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”) or preemptive warfare (“Blitzkrieg Bop”).  The Ramones’ catalog alone occupies multiple volumes of the Musical Talmud, but I’m going to choose one exceptional example for discussion here on this blog: “The KKK Took My Baby Away.”

Many speculate that this song was written by lead singer Joey Ramone after guitarist Johnny Ramone started dating Joey’s ex-girlfriend.  Johnny is referred to in the song as the KKK due to his conservative political views. Others, however, claim that the song was written before the founding of the band (thank you, Wikipedia).  All we know for certain is that Joey Ramone has the sole songwriting credit. Given the uncertain nature of its meaning, I think it’s time to set the record straight here in the Musical Talmud.

This is the first part of what may very well prove a one part series, in which I’ll invite our brilliant readers to overthink the lyrics of a particular pop song.

To kick things off, how about we take a little Journey?

Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin’ anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train goin’ anywhere

So far, so good. We have a girl and a boy who are both on the same train. Maybe the train’s metaphorical (real midnight trains go to specific destinations), but the point is clear – here’s a couple of random people who fate has brought together. You’d expect the next verse will tell us what happens when these two meet. But Journey isn’t going to play by your rules.