On the Use of Magical Places in Popular Songs

In this ebook we are going to look at a phenomenon that sometimes occurs in popular songs – the use of a magical place in it as an artistic technique. We will examine four songs and see what role the magical place plays in each one, what are its relationships with the rest of the song, and what effect is gained by using it in the song. We will not interpret the songs in matters that are not related directly to the use of a magical place, because that is far too big a task, and I lack the knowledge to do so.

Hopefully though, this is going to be a fun exercise that will provide new perspectives to us all.

Xanadu (1979)

Many songs were written about love, but in this one, love is called xanadu. What does it do to a song when you replace a commonplace word with a non-commonplace name?

Xanadu is the name of the historical summer capital of Kublai Khan, emperor of the Mongol Empire. The sound of the word strange and foreign to a westerner. The location – far away – in both space and time. In the realm of legends.

So by calling love Xanadu, the song immediately makes love something unreal and far away. To get to such a place must be the result of a long journey, and a grand accomplishment. It is even referred to that way in the song: “What we have made is real, we are in Xanadu” – indicating that reaching Xanadu is a grand accomplishment.

Musically, the song’s combination of electronic sound, strings and high pitched, sometimes howl-like, singing, creates a strange, even alien atmosphere. The music does the same thing that the word Xanadu does – to make a known subject feel strange, foreign and distant. Somewhat unreal. But also new and thrilling. For Xanadu is “a place where nobody dared to go.” so the lovers, having reached that destination, must feel something completely thrilling and unearthly.

One more small point to look at – in the second verse, the language changes from first person (“we needed the world to know…”) to third person (“they needed the world to know they are in Xanadu…”) creating a sense of progress from “we” to “them”, and thereby creating distance even from one’s self.

So to conclude, the song uses the magical place Xanadu to paint love as a new and foreign thing, and the music and lyrics interact with it in a way that enhances the same effect. What other uses can we have for magical places in songs?

Goodbye Yellow brick road (1973)

In this song we see a different use for a magical place. The whole song is very realistic and concrete. Its about relationships, power and money. It does not use fantastical imagery other than the Yellow Brick Road reference. The music too does not give hints for magical inclinations – its a great rock song, but it does not aim for other-worldly atmosphere. If we remove the Yellow Brick Road line from the song, it remains almost intact.

What is the role of the magical place in the song, then? I would say it’s a metaphor. It elevates the first line of the chorus, giving it color and depth through the reference, and accentuates the punch it gives. But it doesn’t interact much with the rest of the song much. Which is too, yet another, more local and modest, way for a magical place to be used in a song.

A horse with no name (1971)

Contrary to the former example, a magical place can span a whole song, too. Or rather, a song can live within the vast space of a magical space.

A Horse With No Name is a song about a desert. About being in a desert. This is not a geographical desert, because in this one you ride a horse with no name, and you don’t remember your own. Your skin turns red but you feel no pain cause there ain’t no one to give you none. So this is a special desert. A spiritual, or magical, one.

Musically, the song is a country style song, a type of music associated with the wild west. So the music fits thematically with the lyrics, creating the same atmosphere the lyrics tell about.

If we want to examine the role that the desert plays in the song, it is the container in which the whole song lives. Because it’s not just a desert, but something else, a tension is created – what is the desert then, if it’s not just a desert? But the tension is held throughout all the song, without being at any point resolved or disambiguated. Therefore, painting the whole song with the figurative power that a desert can bring – that of solitude, freedom and spiritual introspection.

Strawberry fields forever (1966)

I claim there is a rabbit hole in this one. The song starts with “let me take you down, cause i’m going to…” and then the pitch gets lower and we enter the rabbit hole: “strawberry fields”. And another line, repeating the same melody: “nothing is real.” and then we exit the rabbit hole and the pitch gets higher again: “and nothing to get hung about, strawberry fields forever.”

So the magical place in this song, strawberry fields, is the lowest place in the song. A place where reality bends and nothing is real. Its like the center of a vortex, and the whole song spins around it, both musically and lyrically.

Musically, it uses uncommon instruments and sound distortions to create a feeling that something is strange, something is off. Interestingly, these musical distortions are less apparent in the verses. The verses almost sound normal and sane. Perhaps because they are further away from the eye of the storm, the rabbit hole in “strawberry fields, nothing is real”. But the tension, the possibility of collapse of sanity, is present in the verses through the lyrics, whether through the broken grammar of some of them, or through lines like “living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.” creating the effect that there is no place in the song that is safe from “strawberry fields.”

This song twists, breaks and revolves around the magical place at the core of it, both musically and lyrically, creating a very interesting example for the use of such a magical place in a song.

With this we reach the end of our little exercise. We saw how a magical place can be used in a song in several different ways, how it can interact with other elements of the song, and what effects it can create.

I hope this has been an interesting one!