I think ideally most artists hope to have written something that is personally meaningful to them but that also can be read/heard by others and taken on board by each member of the audience in his or her own way. I think, too, that one hopes the audience is attracted to return to the piece over time, as art yearns to be lived with as opposed to merely consumed.

Of course there are some who will push the envelope into the obscure as far as they can, and others who will go the other way and write in-your-face, glaringly clear stuff where there can be little doubt what it's about.

And some will do all of the above or some version thereof. So, yeah, it depends on the artist, and it also depends on the individual project & what the goal is or is discovered to be.

Just my two copper Lincolns.

Herring405