I was reminded that I did a tarot experiment a couple of months ago where I asked tarot what a random selection of songs were about. I should post it, I thought… and here we are. As always, I’m learning.

A Flock of Seagulls – I Ran
page of cups, ace of cups, page of swords
Moronic dude falls in love in the song and whines he wants to run from his wittle baby fweewings.

Wham – Everything She Wants
page of cups, 6 of swords, 10 of swords
Well, he’s trying to escape “her” grasp. Shitty romance moves towards failure? I don’t think he actually leaves in the song, but the essence is there.

Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield
5 of wands, 4 of wands, 5 of swords
Geez, I shuffled plenty for that one. Insane. There’s literally dude’s beating each other with sticks on 5 of Wands. 5 of Swords has a battlefield look to it normally. 4 of Wands could be a marriage… or, in this case, with the other cards, the battlefield.

Fleetwood Mac – The Chain
6 of wands, 4 of swords, 3 of cups
Ego takes a nap because someone cheated? Lack of success, introverted take on that fucker over there partying when they said “forever”…

Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit
death, 10 of swords, 9 of wands
Good lord. Transformation, failure, approaching the end of the battle. I’m not sure there’s an “I’m stoned af rn” card. Alice In Wonderland has a total nonsense vibe, so 10 of Swords tracks as far as intellectual failure, and the lyric “when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead” suits the card as well.

Kate Bush – Babooshka
queen of wands, temperance, king of pentacles
lol. [Edit: The song is about a wife who thinks her marriage has stagnated so she pretends to be a hot lady to flirt with her husband. Cards: hot lady, balancing over time, husband.]

Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
8 of swords, death, 7 of cups
Is this targeted at the “audience” of the song? Because they’re stuck in their head and need to choose another cup, according to the singer. [Get out of your head and transform your confusion. Also from a first-person perspective, this is JP saying they’re not going to sit around stuck in a box, they’re going to choose all those cups!]

I need to get out of classic music mode and focus on songs that have lyrical meaning I can recall better.

Sleep – Dopesmoker
8 of cups, knight of cups, 5 of cups
Well. The song is literally about walking away. To go cry about spilled milk, I guess. Or “drop out of life with bong in hand” might be literally described here. Is Knight of Cups the protagonist “following the smoke”?

Suma – Let the Churches Burn
hierophant, page of cups, 6 of cups
Well that just made me roll my eyes. Really? Am I being punked? Hierophant is literally about church/traditions. 6 of cups is about the past and healing. Page of cups is an idiot daydreamer boy. The essence of the song (“LET THEM BURN!!!”) is missing here, but the start of the concept is there. Could be page of cups is the cards saying it’s an immature take. That said, not all of the lyrics are understandable, so… not entirely certain what he’s getting at.

Tool – 10,000 Days
5 of pentacles, queen of wands, knight of swords
So it’s maydork defending his mom from the “thoughts and prayers” churchy masses who had abandoned her? 5 of pentacles is the “let me in, bitches!” card in front of the church and that’s the tone of the song.

Drunk Dad – Guts
empress, devil, 4 of cups
Both obsessed and having had enough, huh? “In control of these vices” is one of the first lines. I’m not describing the song, but yes, devil.

Depeche Mode – Nothing
7 of cups, emperor, sun
“Life is full of surprises”. I can see the 7 of cups there.

Nails – You Will Never Be One of Us
high priestess, 2 of cups, 5 of cups
boohoo you can’t join the secret club because you didn’t have the password

Ladytron – International Dateline
page of cups, fool, 9 of wands
Hmm, k. Well, to me, the song sounds like the end of a bad relationship. The first and last card, ok. Why fool? Is that a nod to the literal title, of a leap in time?

Doja Cat – Ain’t Shit
9 of wands, emperor, moon
empress, chariot, knight of cups
“You kept secrets”. The song is about dumping someone who sucks on a cycle. Emperor+Moon is probably the delusion of better, especially since the next cards I drew she heads towards a knight instead.

Ministry – Jesus Built My Hotrod
emperor, page of swords, ace of wands
Well, the song is full of nonsense words… so I see the page of swords there. The one clear line tracks with ace of wands. (“I wanna love ya.”)

Chappell Roan – Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl
fool, moon, 5 of cups
“We’re leaving the planet and you can’t come”. Is moon a lesbian card? Because, like… That’s what the fool just jumped into. 5 of cups is a disappointed sour grapes card. Boys suck so I’ll just go eat worms pussy.

Chat Pile – Dallas Beltway
7 of wands, judgment, king of cups
It’s a song about generational abuse taken to its limit. 7 of wands is about self protection. Judgment might be him thinking about his parental inheritance mixed with the tone of the song being like “well, I did the thing, fuck me up fam”. King of cups might be the negative version of the card here (emotional abuse). [Judgment could be literally taking lives. Or judging one’s supposed king of cups dad and 7 of wands defending oneself by putting a stop to the cycle.]

Whores – I See You Are Also Wearing A Black T-Shirt
ace of cups, knight of pentacles, 6 of pentacles
A lot of emotion… about slow/stopped sharing? Why you no share with me?

Black Cobra – Imperium Simulacra
9 of swords, devil, 3 of swords
“Nightmare warning envisioned” feels like that first card. “All consuming totality” is the first line, and there’s the devil. The song itself is about suffering, at core.

Red Fang – Prehistoric Dog
Alright, what the fuck is this song about?
hanged man, page of swords, moon
“HELL IF I KNOW! YOU TELL ME!” The cards are as confused as I am. Let go, it’s confusing nonsense.

Alright, my thumb hurts from shuffling now.