No piece of music is ever just “about” any one thing. In Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni stands beneath Donna Elvira’s window and sings the aria Deh vieni alla finestra, “Come to the window, O my treasure.” It’s a serenade, a love song, and a very beautiful one. But there’s one big problem: it’s a fake. Don Giovanni doesn’t love Donna Elvira, he’s just trying to seduce her. So what’s the aria really “about”? Well, it’s certainly still “about” love, but it’s also about lying. But the