It’s surprising when songwriting students write reflection papers from unexpected angles, especially about songs I know well. Last year, one student wrote up Leonard Cohen’s Everybody Knows and said it was about AIDS and an end to heteronormativity. I never looked at it that way, not sure Leonard did either, but the unexpected challenge of my interpretation is always welcome since it’s all about subjectivity. Recently, there was an assignment where they read about poetic devices and compared that with lyrics from a couple older songs, Everything is Everything by Lauren Hill and I Want You (She’s So Heavy) by the Beatles. While marking the results, one paper stood out by a student who, after hearing the Beatles song for the first time, wrote it had a very basic message about finding larger women attractive. Pretty sure I have to give this student an A because it was well written and did everything I asked.