History Main / TheWalrusWasPaul

* Creator/DavidLynch's works are explicitly this. So much to the point where if anyone on the set of ''InlandEmpire'' asked him what's the plot/symbolism/whatever, he'd quote a passage from an Asian text that meant, "We make our own meanings."

* Similarly to Music/TheBeatles, Bernie Taupin's poetic lyrics with EltonJohn, including WordSaladLyrics like on "Levon" or "Take Me to the Pilot", were overanalyzed and misinterpreted. Bernie and Elton wrote the ''Caribou'' album track "Solar Prestige a Gammon" to, like "I Am the Walrus" before, mess with people's heads and parody the overanalyzing. And it, like "Walrus", was overanalyzed itself!

* DonMcLean, when asked what the meaning of "American Pie" was, said something like, [[MathematiciansAnswer "It means I never have to work again."]] There is ''one'' thing mentioned in the song that's definite: "the day the music died", which refers to the plane crash that killed Richie Valens, Music/BuddyHolly, and The Big Bopper. ''That'', more than anything, is why this song has been picked to death. Well, and presumably [[CaptainObvious "James Dean" is a reference to James Dean]].

* The whole point of an {{Animutation}} is to be as nonsensical as possible, even the ones that have a plot. (For example, [[http://www.animutationportal.com/modules/debaser/player.php?id=80 Holy Shit Ninjas!]] has a pretty understandable plot, but is peppered with a lot of nonsense)

** It's safe to say it's not just "I Am the Walrus", but half the songs Music/JohnLennon wrote. His quote proves it: He was so fed up with fans trying to find hidden allusions in their songs that he decided to write a completely nonsensical one -- namely, "I Am the Walrus". Lennon allegedly said, "Let's see the fuckers figure that one out" after finishing it. Which, [[FanDumb in an ironic twist]], [[MisaimedFandom was still searched for "clues"]]. But Lennon had the final word during his post-Beatles career when, in his song "God" he sang, "I was the walrus, but now, I'm John."

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJDiU98LEWQ This]] completely random YouTubePoop, as evidenced by this conversation in the comments:

* In ''Film/BladeRunner'', there is intentional ambiguity over whether or not Deckard is a replicant, clearly meant to leave the audience thinking... Unusually for this trope, the creators have actually weighed in on the matter, and some versions of the film are less ambiguous. Except... [[FlipFlopOfGod Said input from the creators is contradictory.]] Ridley Scott says he is, Harrison Ford says he isn't, and various special cuts have made it less ambiguous in ''both'' directions.

* In ''Film/BladeRunner'', there is intentional ambiguity over whether or not Deckard is a replicant, though some versions of the film are less ambiguous. Ridley Scott saying he is and Harrison Ford saying he isn't. Clearly meant to leave the audience thinking...

-->-- ''Music/TheBeatles'', "[[TropeNamer Glass Onion]]"

* AndrewHussie is well known for mercilessly toying with the concept of WordOfGod by [[TrollingCreator trolling factoid-hungry fans]], memorably claiming that the faces of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'''s trolls are actually collections of specialized genitalia that happen to look like an angry face to the human eye, and that all trolls have two penises, one for love and one for hate. When asked why he does this? "[[ForTheLulz Because it's fun!]]"

* ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'', or any other game by Suda51.

* Creator/JamesJoyce said he hoped ''{{Ulysses}}'' would "keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of ensuring one’s immortality."

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': like many 'deep' anime series -- was put together to promote differing interpretations and discussion. Ikuhara Kunihiko once admitted flat-out that he and the rest of the production team hadn't really kept track of the symbolism in show and the film because they thought the point was for people to interpret it in their own way. They didn't want WordOfGod to narrow the fans' focus, embracing something many directors often forget: past a certain point, [[DeathOfTheAuthor meaning is ascribed to a series by the viewer, not the creator]]. He admitted in one interview that the reason he [[spoiler:turned Utena into a car]] was because [[AuthorAppeal he always wanted to see a beautiful girl turned into a car.]] No further reason. Doesn't stop fans (or [[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]]) from having braingasms trying to figure out what it meant.

Not to be confused with WarmHeartedWaslrus or WilyWalrus, which are tropes about literal walruses.

Not to be confused with WarmHeartedWalrus or WilyWalrus, which are tropes about literal walruses.

* In the final "dream" episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Season 4, Creator/JossWhedon placed a weirdo with cheese on his head spouting nonsense lines. Although the rest of the episode is heavy with symbolism, he specifically wanted something in each dream sequence that meant absolutely nothing whatsoever. [[http://www.whedon.info/article.php3?id_article=5318 This doesn't stop fans from trying to explain it anyway]].

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'', which despite its apparent MythArc, was simply DavidLynch making things up as he went along.

Sub-trope of MindScrew where the creators are intentionally ''trying'' to confound explanation. Whether they're poking fun at the fans' tendency to [[EpilepticTrees explain and]] [[WildMassGuessing codify]] [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory everything]], trying to express that RealLife doesn't always have clear-cut answers, [[TrollingCreator amusing themselves]], or simply more interested in evoking a mood than communicating a specific message, they'll make the weirdest, most [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible incomprehensible]] work they can.

--> "If you understood ''[[TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]'' completely, we failed. We wanted to raise more questions than we answered." -- ArthurCClarke

* This is a major theme of ThomasPynchon's ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49''. A woman finds a piece of graffiti on a bathroom wall that prompts her to investigate what is either an AncientConspiracy, an elaborate hoax by her dead ex, or her own desire to be a detective.

* Japanese [[AvantGardeMetal Avant-Garde]] BlackMetal band Sigh. From the liner notes to ''Hail Horror Hail'':
-->This album is way beyond the conceived notion of how metal, or music, should be. In Essence it is a movie without pictures; a celluloid phantasmagoria. Accordingly, the film jumps, and another scene, seemingly unconnected with the previous context, is suddenly inserted in between frames. Every sound on this album is deliberate, and if you find that some parts of this album are strange, it isn't because the music is in itself strange, but because your conscious self is ill-equipped to comprehend the sounds produced on this recording.

* Music/VerucaSalt parodied/homaged the "Glass Onion" example in the bridge to "Volcano Girls" -- "Well here's another clue if you please/ the Seether's Louise", referring to a member of the band and the song "Seether", which had lyrics that were often debated over by fans. It was probably just meant as a tongue in cheek reference to interpretations rather than an actual mind screw though, as they'd already said in interviews that "the Seether" was a personification of anger. It's actually a very good homage to the original mind screw, though, right down to the misdirection (just as it was John and not Paul who sang lead on "I Am The Walrus", it was Nina and not Louise who sang lead on "Seether").

* Similarly to Music/TheBeatles, Bernie Taupin's poetic lyrics with EltonJohn, including WordSaladLyrics like on "Levon" or "Take Me To The Pilot", were overanalyzed and misinterpreted. Bernie and Elton wrote the ''Caribou'' album track "Solar Prestige A Gammon" to, like "I Am The Walrus" before, mess with people's heads and parody the overanalyzing. And it, like "Walrus", was overanalyzed itself!

*** Note that this was supposed to be a pun, but the editor "fixed" it, the last sentence was supposed to say "and it is ''nevar'' put with the wrong end in front!"

** Just about anything Lewis Carroll writes, really.
* ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' gets this way toward the end, with the LemonyNarrator outright admitting that there are no straight answers and we must keep on questioning.

* DavidBowie has written most of his songs this way. When asked about the meaning of lyrics, he's given different answers, but most recently he's claimed that he sometimes just picks words out of magazines and strings them together because he likes the sound.
* BobDylan, when asked what his songs were about, replied "Oh [[{{Henway}} some are about three minutes, some are about five minutes]]."
-->'''Interviewer:''' What's your message?\\

* Much of composer Erik Satie's music poked fun at the idea that music needed to serve some grand purpose or be consciously ''about'' anything.
* Carly Simon has given many utterly contradictory hints over the years as to who the subject of "You're So Vain" is. She changes her answer to a different clue, each just as incompatible with the others, every decade or so. The likeliest explanation of the song is that she originally wrote it without intending it to be about any actual, existing, specific man, and was as delighted as she was surprised by all the endless speculation and debate, so she decided to take the misconception that the song refers to someone in particular and run with it for as long as she could. There is ''one'' guy, in the entire world, who knows for certain who the song is actually about. He won the answer in an auction, and Simon made him sign a non-disclosure agreement. It lasts at least until Simon dies.

Often used to subvert WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic, by means of not having ''any'' deeper meaning. Compare FauxSymbolism, where it's merely "throw some meaning at a wall and hope it sticks", CriminalMindGames, when this is done in-story to throw the pursuers off-track, and CowTools. Contrast TheChrisCarterEffect. See also ShrugOfGod and TeasingCreator. For actual walruses (villainous ones in particular), see WilyWalrus.

* The art-rock group Music/{{Tool}} runs off of this. They put a huge emphasis on personal interpretation of the imagery used in their songs, to the point where they ''never release official lyrics with their albums''. Their early endorsement of lachrymology (literally, "the science of crying"), a fabricated philosophy that was psychobabble.

Often used to subvert WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic, by means of not having ''any'' deeper meaning. Compare FauxSymbolism, where it's merely "throw some meaning at a wall and hope it sticks", CriminalMindGames, when this is done in-story to throw the pursuers off-track, and CowTools. Contrast TheChrisCarterEffect. See also ShrugOfGod and TeasingCreator.

The trope name comes from a line in a song by Music/TheBeatles called "Glass Onion", which is referring to a song on the [[Music/MagicalMysteryTour preceding album]] called "I Am The Walrus", which notably was sung by Music/JohnLennon, not Music/PaulMcCartney.