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Ever heard a song and thought, "What the heck are they talking about?" Well you're not alone. I've been baffled by lyrics from The Beatles and Led Zeppelin for years.

Like a good book, most songs are open to numerous interpretations, and in rare instances, artists come forward to clear up the confusion. We've listed below some controversial tunes with either some fans' perceptions or the artist's explanation of the true meaning.

Nirvana — "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
For years, nobody could figure out just what Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain was saying, let alone what those lyrics meant. The lyrics have since been cleared up, but the song's meaning is still quite a mystery.

Fan: "I think this song is about teenagers and all the crap they go through. Cobain says 'With the lights out, it's less dangerous.' I think he's explaining a teen's fear of embarrassment and how they avoid it.... The 'mulatto' and 'albino' thing shows how a teen feels as though they're different from everyone else and how they feel as if all eyes are on them. The 'libido' shows the teen's drive for sex, and the 'mosquito' shows how teens feel small and unimportant."

The Beatles — "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" Some think this song is about the experiences the band had with LSD ("Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds"). But others take a different view.

Fan: "John's son Julian came home from school one day with a watercolor. His son had drawn a picture of his friend, Lucy, flying through the night sky. The diamonds are stars, and Lucy is literally in the sky with the diamonds. Now the rest of the lyrics might have been written on LSD, but not about LSD. Lyrics like 'plasticine porters with looking glass ties,' 'rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies,' and 'tangerine trees and marmalade skies,' are not inspired by LSD but may have been written on LSD."

Third Eye Blind —"Semi-Charmed Life" Another controversial song because of its latent drug references, the meaning of the band's first major hit has never really been left to the imagination, as the band's singer came right out and explained it.

Band: "It sounds bright and shiny for a reason. That's the way crystal meth feels. It's a sunny-disposition drug. It's supposed to sound attractive because the song is about the allure of a decadent lifestyle. But it's also a cautionary tale. There are real consequences to the choices we make. 'Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break.'" — Stephan Jenkins, singer

Pearl Jam —"Alive" Back in the early '90s, Pearl Jam was the epitome of the Seattle way to rock. This song, from the album Ten, begins by telling the story of singer Eddie Vedder's childhood, but it ends non-autobiographically. In "Five Against the World," an article by Rolling Stone's Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous"), Vedder explains the song's meaning.

Band: "... a mother is with a father and the father dies. It's an intense thing because the son looks just like the father. The son grows up to be the father, the person that she lost. His father's dead, and now this confusion, his mother, his love, how does he love her, how does she love him? In fact, the mother, even though she marries somebody else, there's no one she's ever loved more than the father. You know how it is, first loves and stuff. And the guy dies. How could you ever get him back? But the son, he looks exactly like him. It's uncanny. So she wants him. The son is oblivious to it all. He doesn't know what the %@$# is going on. He's still dealing, he's still growing up. He's still dealing with love, he's still dealing with the death of his father. All he knows is 'I'm still alive' - those three words, that's totally out of burden." — Eddie Vedder, singer/lyricist

Written by Alexis Garcia

Did you think of a different interpretation for any of these songs? E-mail us.

Our Readers Respond

• The true meaning of the Led Zeppelin song, "Stairway to Heaven" is stated right at the beginning of the live version when Robert Plant introduces it saying, "This is a song of hope." Another clue on the live version is when it says, "Well I've got some good news!" Gospel is the greek word for good news. Combine these clues with the title word Heaven, and other lines in the songs and you will see that this song is a thinly disguised evangelistic song about Jesus Christ, referred to in the song as the piper, and about being a sinner and hearing the word of Jesus, continuing to sin and then later finally accepting Christ and being saved! You get to heaven by the grace of God, not by your works, and it doesn't matter how much or for how long that you've sinned. It's not too late to be saved by the grace of God. — John Koroulakis