Xorak on 8/10/2010 at 06:35
I would guess there are a few dozen artists who's song lyrics can be analyzed, the rest are just going with whatever works, and whatever sounds good enough to fit the song. Are we supposed to believe that every single musician is a genius?
Kolya on 8/10/2010 at 09:02
It doesn't take a genius to write a good song, just someone who feels passionate about something.
And considering the mass of music that has been and is being written, you're either crassly underestimating the number of songs with good lyrics or you have a very specialised taste.
Song lyrics are the poems of our time!
I was throwing quips at TTLG
It was a quarter to eight
I had a date with duty
But I knew I'd turn up late
Xorak on 8/10/2010 at 22:17
I don't know if I'm the only one that does this, but I cringe every single time I see in a magazine or article when they give a brief example of a song lyric as an example of the greatness of the artist. It's such a joke. This happens with musicians I like too.
Songs are really a meagre kind of poetry, but they're something different too. Poetry is all self-contained, music can be better because the music actually lends the words an otherwordly feel, so that even a single word repeated over and over in a chorus can be true and emotional. Trying to emulate that in poetry almost always feels so trite and stupid.
But that's also why song lyrics get away with being less concrete - the music and lyrics intermingle to create something more pleasing than traditional poetry, thus effectively killing poetry. But that doesn't mean that we have to believe that song lyrics are poetry and that there is a meaning to them. Also I don't believe that it's passion or God-given talent that is the cause of good songs or poetry, but years of practice and training is the real reason.
Kolya on 9/10/2010 at 00:17
Song lyrics get away with being less concrete? You were not thinking of Rocky Raccoon (Beatles) or Black Diamond Bay (Dylan) or many other straight forward songs. Similarly there are many very ambiguous poems.
I was about to add that poems or generally text tends to be more ambiguous than songs because it lacks the music that gives the text an interpretative foil. But obviously you are assuming that the writer will take that into account and hence write his poem to be more concrete whereas the musician doesn't have to do that.
So maybe neither true, none is more or less concrete and it all depends on the creativity of the artist. Speaking of that: Hard work and years of training don't make an artist. However they can make an artist better.
Xorak on 9/10/2010 at 01:14
That was my point, that a song written in a minor key will automatically have a mournful effect on the listener. Or a song built on suspended chords will make the listener subconsciously expectent of a resolution to a clear ending, and can be equally powerful when that ending does or doesn't come.
In a poem, the writer has to build this effect into the words, rhythm and meter, and as a result the lyrics have to be more precise, effective and powerful. And not only this, but then they also have to convey the theme and meaning.
That's part of the reason that there are so many poor poems, and not just amateur stuff, but several poems that are considered classics aren't really that phenomenal. And there are song lyrics that are mind blowing, but there is also much that just fits the line of text, made up on the spur of the moment, and can be easily replaced with any other similar phrase to produce the same effect on the listener. How many songs have you heard where the singer will sing a different line in a concert and it sounds equally good or even better? But yes, I think the best writers are producing stuff that is potentially seditious no matter their format.
Do you believe that artists, musicians etc. are born with a gift that requires no real effort to cultivate? I'm of the opinion that almost anyone can produce great things if they actually put in the effort, but there is a small percentage of people with just a hint of something extra (imagination, invention) who can always rise to the top in their chosen field, if they put in the work to do so.
Kolya on 9/10/2010 at 01:44
No, not born with it. But good artists have often had bad experiences in their life, there's something they cannot express another way, which they need to get out to deal with it. And then it doesn't matter that much if the person has expertise in that field. It can help of course but the essence is something else altogether. I want to see an artist bleed and writhe in birthing his pain, because that's life and real. As Bill Hicks said: Play from your fucking heart. Whether you can actually sing, write, paint or strum more than three chords doesn't really matter to me.
