I love lyrics with structural ambiguity, which was one of my favorite concepts from college linguistics.
Consider the following phrase from Vampire Weekend's "Campus"
How am I supposed to pretend / I never want to see you again
I'll spare you the syntax trees, but this can be read in two ways: a) as two distinct statements [a1] How am I supposed to pretend? (question), and [a2] I never want to see you again; or b) one longer statement [b1] How am I supposed to pretend (that) I never want to see you again? (question). Listen to that track here.
Or my favorite from Luna's "Black Postcards"
If I had it all to do again / I wouldn't / throw it all away
The issue here is where the phrase "I wouldn't" attaches to; does it mean [a1]If I had it all to do again, I wouldn't (do it); [a2] Throw it all away; or [b1] If I had it all to do again, I wouldn't throw it all away." Listen to that track here.
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