Lyrics - who cares? - GuitarTalk Community

lindsmuse · 2011-12-20T07:04:51+00:00

As long as they rhyme, sort of. And if you think of some of the greatest pop /rock / metal - well the words are what they are - please don't come and correct...

Lyrics - who cares?

Nitebob

Tell me about it, I filled my bakkie last night...and BAM! R800 bucks gone, I remember a time when my mom did shopping for a family of 6 on that...sorry...we digress...didn't mean to hijack :'(

fjcdt

Kinda makes you wonder if the disposable lyrics of songs like whip my hair (more like it raises mine) will still have any fans in twenty years?
I wasnt even around in the 80's so i had no idea of who DM were until personal jesus was coverd by Manson. Then I sought out DM cd's. All of a sudden there was a bunch of covers of their songs, Rammstein even did one, cant remember which tho.
So I think lyrics play a big part in whether or not a song matters.

Nitebob

Now guys, have you noticed that you don't get songs about really bad dudes anymore....remember stuff like.

"bad, bad Leroy Brown, the baddest man in the whole damn town, badder than old king kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog"

Or:

"You don't tug on Supermans cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off the ole Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with Slim'

You don't get songs like that anymore...(ones that contain words like "my 9" "bitch" "yo" or "bust a cap in yo ass" do not count)

deefstes

Frans wrote: So I think lyrics play a big part in whether or not a song matters.

I'm sure it does. In fact, I imagine that is the primary reason so many people have covered Bob Dylan song. It's the poetry of it that sticks, not really his musicality.

Nitebob

Sometimes, but sometimes it's just the melody....there is this stupid song by auburn called the perfect two (download if you want to) it is possibly the kakkest song ever written, but once it played you have to try for a week to get the tune out of your head, sure you guys know some of them...

fjcdt

mister Dylon has a couple of jems under his pen, the times are changing will always be relevent bc it always feels like the world is changing.
So who else writes lyrics that could last?
Kaptein and Generaal have very short lifetimes.
Afr music doesnt seem to be able to progress from Koos dup's penmanship.
And the world is seemingly filled with over night pop stars, no real depth there.
There are a few exceptions, tho not afr.

Pawnshop kings

"say what you mean boy
mean what you say
when he grows up he's gonna be a man,
gonna try and do it any way he can.
won't be pretty and it goes fast.
Everyday the future becomes the past.
Life is for living"

Hammeron

Free speech for the dumb - Disgharge

Hammeron

We who are not as others
We who are not as others
We who are not as others
We who are not as others

We who are not as others
We who are not as others
We who are not as others

~ Sepultura - Chaos AD ~

Nitebob

True there might be no depth to afrikaans writers, however Steve (I hate his guts but it's true) have been around forever, still chalking up the hits and though it might be shortlived, he keeps on making a living. Juanita writes typical bubble-gum music, but hey she makes R45g's on a night with those. One Afrikaans writer I think the world of is Johan Vorster. The quiet guy in Eden. He wrote stuff like 'De la rey' and 'Pretoria' and 'Pa en Seun' those lyrics I feel touch deeply, don't know if it is a cultural thing but ja...all said IMO...

deefstes

Nitebob wrote: True there might be no depth to afrikaans writers, however Steve (I hate his guts but it's true) have been around forever, still chalking up the hits and though it might be shortlived, he keeps on making a living. Juanita writes typical bubble-gum music, but hey she makes R45g's on a night with those. One Afrikaans writer I think the world of is Johan Vorster. The quiet guy in Eden. He wrote stuff like 'De la rey' and 'Pretoria' and 'Pa en Seun' those lyrics I feel touch deeply, don't know if it is a cultural thing but ja...all said IMO...

I've always tried to convince myself that I must be above average because I don't listen to the stuff that average people listen to. I must therefore either be above average or below average - I'll leave that to you to decide.

But the truth is, the average person watches Jerry Springer. The average person listens to Britney Spears. The average American votes someone like George Bush into the presidency. The average Afrikaans listener enjoys Steve Hofmeyr.

I think Lucas Maree for instance was a sensationally good artist (songwriter and performer). Yet, he didn't sell nearly as many records as Steve. That means Lucas and I are either above average or below average. I'd like to believe we are above.

So what I'm saying is, I've reconciled myself long ago with the fact that I don't enjoy the same stuff that the masses enjoy and it's OK.

BobC

While I don't have any time for songs such as 'Leeuloop' and most of his other numbers in that style, Robbie Wessels has come up with a few decent songs, in my humble, pommie opinion. And yes, I can like to verstaan die taal.

Two examples which I find quite enjoyable are 'My Visserman Vriend se Pa' and 'Waar Lê Jy Vanaand?'.

Nitebob

Now I'm getting philosophical. I think Robbie Wessels has a great voice, I mean did you hear that vibrato? I am also of the opinion that most of his songs you have to be smashed to enjoy, and he was smashed when he wrote them....of course, with respect, there are exceptions, but I don't see me buying a cd or wearing a Robbie t-shirt, unless he employs me... ?

deefstes

I wouldn't have any idea if there are good songs by Robbie Wessels because he disqualified himself in my book with his originals - Leeuloop, Liewe Ouers etc. If that's how you choose to kick off your career you're obviously not catering for me and you obviously have little ambition of becoming a lyrical great. Consequently I have not bothered to listen to any of his other songs, so there may be good ones, I wouldn't know and I couldn't care less.

There are too many proper Afrikaans artists (Chris Chameleon, Theuns Jordaan, Mathys Roets...) for me to waste time filtering through the bunk of all these average, run of the mill, unimaginative wannabes in the hope that there will be a good song somewhere in there.

fjcdt

sad fact is afr music is mostly for the volk.
You have to be very average to enjoy the bulk of it.
Then again there are great lyrics in most of the afr songs that dont get played.
Hailey se komeet by Robbie Wessels,
Sterredank by Chris Chameleon.
Wonder if Pa en Seun will get asmuch airplay as Generaal?
Think we've gone a bit far off topic tho.

Which songs have had the most profound lyrics in the last year or two?

I dont think all the great lyrics were used up by the mid 80's, i just think we've almost come to accept that "whip my hair" and "baby baby baby" or some other version of the same idea is all we can expect on radio.

Bob-Dubery

In one sense it isn't about the lyrics. Radio stations and record companies are looking for HITS. If they judge that something will be a hit or will fit in with their target demographic or whatever then they'll push it - they don't think in terms of "good lyric" or "bad lyric". That doesn't come into it. If they think it'll sell or pull in listeners then they punt it.

And it's the same pretty much everywhere where there's there a mass market.

Deefstes, always remember the words of the late Marilyn Monroe: "Those who know better know better."

BobC

deefstes wrote: I wouldn't have any idea if there are good songs by Robbie Wessels because he disqualified himself in my book with his originals - Leeuloop, Liewe Ouers etc. If that's how you choose to kick off your career you're obviously not catering for me and you obviously have little ambition of becoming a lyrical great. Consequently I have not bothered to listen to any of his other songs, so there may be good ones, I wouldn't know and I couldn't care less.

There are too many proper Afrikaans artists (Chris Chameleon, Theuns Jordaan, Mathys Roets...) for me to waste time filtering through the bunk of all these average, run of the mill, unimaginative wannabes in the hope that there will be a good song somewhere in there.

It's often by pure accident that we come across the occasional gem of a song and these usually prompt us to do a little more digging. Sometimes you find more, sometimes you come up empty handed. I never had much luck blindly filtering through random artists' discographies, either and I never had any good reason to do this.

You make a fair point though. However, 'Leeuloop' and 'Liewe Ouers' were on CDs which came out a few years after the two songs I mentioned. So, not really a bad start to his career, but rather him taking his career other places, where folks like us choose not to follow. Hearing 'Leeuloop' on the radio saved me the price of his second CD (and his third, for sure), as I am sure it did for you as well.

'Leuloop' alone, while it may cater for quite a specific mass market, certainly cost him some big 'songwriter' credibility in my book as well, especially since it came out after I'd heard the songs mentioned in my previous post. However, I'm sure this simply gained him more fans in his target market. Swings & Roundabouts, as they say.....

Seems like he doesn't miss our money. Good luck to him.

Averatu

Nitebob wrote: True there might be no depth to afrikaans writers, however Steve (I hate his guts but it's true) have been around forever, still chalking up the hits and though it might be shortlived, he keeps on making a living. Juanita writes typical bubble-gum music, but hey she makes R45g's on a night with those. One Afrikaans writer I think the world of is Johan Vorster. The quiet guy in Eden. He wrote stuff like 'De la rey' and 'Pretoria' and 'Pa en Seun' those lyrics I feel touch deeply, don't know if it is a cultural thing but ja...all said IMO...

The only Afrikaans singer/songwriter that has mattered to me is Koos du Plessis.
The band Insek also wrote some good irreverent anti social lyrics, but then I may be biased.

Bob-Dubery

Nitebob wrote: True there might be no depth to afrikaans writers, however Steve (I hate his guts but it's true) have been around forever, still chalking up the hits and though it might be shortlived, he keeps on making a living. Juanita writes typical bubble-gum music, but hey she makes R45g's on a night with those. One Afrikaans writer I think the world of is Johan Vorster. The quiet guy in Eden. He wrote stuff like 'De la rey' and 'Pretoria' and 'Pa en Seun' those lyrics I feel touch deeply, don't know if it is a cultural thing but ja...all said IMO...

It's not cultural, or at least not "Afrikaans". There have been and are very fine Afrikaans songwriters. It's just commercial pressures and reality. Boyzone sell more than Steve Vai. Susan Boyle sells more than Martin Simpson. In the Afrikaans market you find Steve Stofsuier and Juanita du Plessis selling bucket loads.