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Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.
-John Keats
I. Introduction
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD between sense and nonsense has often tested philosophy's compass. This is perhaps because it JL is as difficult to define nonsense as it is to catalogue all of its treacherous incarnations. For Nietzsche, nonsense is a necessaiy condi- tion for happiness. For Ayer, nonsense is the province of the unverifi- able. For Deleuze, in turn, it is an intimation of groundlessness. The catalogue goes on to include all manner of theories, allusions, and references. It is interesting then that-despite the ubiquity of its uses in philosophy-rigorous studies of nonsense are relatively rare. It is also interesting that, where they occur, the scope of inquiry is limited to particular philosophical concerns, as if each philosophical problem has its corresponding brand of nonsense to contend with.
The present study will likewise juxtapose a particular brand of non- sense to a set of corresponding philosophical concerns-in this case, the concerns of aesthetics. I am specifically interested in the lyrical content of popular songs. The latter has long been an object of fascination and outrage with music critics, but is yet to be fully reckoned with by philo- sophical aesthetics.1 The problem I identify is fairly straightforward-even at their most nonsensical the lyrics of popular songs lend themselves to certain steady attributions of sense. In other words, while pop songs have the tendency to collapse into lyrical nonsense, they also avail themselves of corrective mechanisms that salvage their lyrical and/or musical meaning. Why lyrical nonsense is so frequent in pop songs and how it gets dissolved are questions that merit philosophical attention.
The most important challenge lyrical nonsense in pop music poses for philosophy is that it possesses its own corrective mechanism. This is an affront to philosophy and especially to the schools that take dispensing with what is considered nonsensical to be the very purpose of philoso- phizing. When Carnap, for example, makes the analogy between the statements of metaphysics (which he famously considers nonsensical) and music, he places an emphasis on one commonality-their reliance on an attitude towards life, a Lebensgefühl.2 For Camap the task of philosophy proper is to do away with such noncognitive, pseudopropositional atti- tudes. As...