Frequently Rock and Roll musicians intentionally utilize ambiguity to disguise lyrics (i.e., double-entendre). They do this typically, so as to circumvent censorship rules for radio and television airplay, to appeal to mature audiences wit, or just express creativity.
Although musicians may sometimes intentionally be clever and devious, other times they may not. Other times, lyrics may be presented in an ambiguous form that allows for accidental and unintended misinterpretation. This category attempts to identify those lyrics that may accidentally be misinterpreted or taken out of context due to their ambiguous presentations. Many of these misinterpretations are forced, that is, most rational thinking people would probably not arrive at these interpretations.
What are some of the factors that are used to help place lyrics into proper context? Some of the factors may be whether the performer is using first person, second person, or third person, or using other literary techniques such as sarcasm, ambiguity, humor, and exaggeration. In addition, sometimes it may require listening to an entire song, album, the accompanying music, tone of voice, current events, or cultural/political environment from which the artist comes from to attain a full understanding of the intent of the performer.
However, some lyrics may be extremely difficult to interpret or fruitless in analyzing to establish any rational logic to the meaning or intent. Also, even if the intent of the artist may be innocent, one must still consider the impacts of how it may be perceived or misinterpreted, particularly with regards to a sound bite driven society, by children who have not yet developed the mental facilities to make good judgments, or by other individuals in society who may be in susceptible situations.
Performing artists cannot control the interpreter, but they can influence the interpretation. There exists a line in the gray area that asks the question of how far should people be concerned with how material may be interpreted beyond the original intent? Perhaps another question might be, what are acceptable risks to misinterpretations and how can they be minimized?