Lyrics - who cares?

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 them now! Surely not every great pop / rock / metal musician just happens to be a poet as well - or do they become one in their struggle to survive - by some process - and therefore can say what they like!? And we as the audience adore it. Perhaps in time to come musicians are routinely going to hire poets to give the added edge, just as the musicianship and quality of instruments continue to improve? http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/18/top-10-worst-lyrics-of-all-time/

domhatch

singemonkey wrote Gonna contradict Alan. Punk began in New York City. Malcolm McLaren, who created the Sex Pistols had seen the New York Dolls playing at the birthplace of punk, CBGB's - an horrific little dive in NYC (as Jack can tell you) - and wanted something like that to make a statement and market his fashions.

Some say The Misfits destroyed punk because they were brainless, misogynistic fools (Glen Danzig was the lead singer and song-writer) compared to the artsy cleverness of NYC bands like Blondie, Talking Heads, and even The Ramones. But in retrospect, The Misfits were totally brilliant.

an horrific little dive? AN horrific little dive? singe, that's beautiful. music to my ears. do you have any idea how long it's been since i witnessed anyone use the correct form of an article preceding an adjective starting with an 'h'? thank you, sincerely.

make-and-do

Squonk wrote
Norman86 wrote Oh no... i like Blink, green day and offspring! :-[
But they arent punk?
I hate genre's, because jsut when you thought you knew whats what, someone has gone and created a new genre >☹
A good guide for Punk is this - If you hear it on Highveld, 702 and Jacaranda then it's not Punk Rock

+1 to above.

Nobody's mentioned IGGY & The Stooges yet! Unless I missed a post...
Good old rubber man Iggy Pop, the godfather of punk.

Back to topic: I like it when a pleasing melody is juxtaposed with a cutting/clever lyric, that
almost contradicts the beauty in the melody. I've mentioned this one before: Lola by The Kinks,
such a happy go lucky tune, and I think a lot of lyrically challenged people think the song is about
a cute romantic interlude with a girl Lola, not a transvestite Lola.

For me lyrics matter a lot.
I think it's an art finding the right words that sound right and phrase right to the music - and yet retains coded meaning.
It takes music to another level.
Lots of irony and intertextuality for me please :goodtimes:

Arno-West

X-rated Bob wrote
Norman86 wrote Oh no... i like Blink, green day and offspring! :-[
But they arent punk?
I hate genre's, because jsut when you thought you knew whats what, someone has gone and created a new genre >☹
Ignore them.

In the "rock" section at my local Look & Listen I'll find Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Sting, Green Day and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. All the same genre?

If I want anything by Neil Young (anything under his own name, including Rust Never Sleeps) then I have to go to the "folk" section.

If you enjoy it then enjoy it - who cares what marketing category it's lumped into.

I once strolled into Look n Listen and asked for Gino Vanelli. Was told by sales guy "The icecream shop is that way..." They are one of the companies with the highest staff turnover so they employ incompetent fools and get rid of them every 3 months. This way, 75% of the staff is always on minimum wage and the bigwigs keep costs down. I know all this cos I managed Hyde Park L&L for 2 years a long time ago. Shite job.

Arno-West

X-rated Bob wrote
Norman86 wrote Oh no... i like Blink, green day and offspring! :-[
But they arent punk?
I hate genre's, because jsut when you thought you knew whats what, someone has gone and created a new genre >☹
Ignore them.

In the "rock" section at my local Look & Listen I'll find Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Sting, Green Day and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. All the same genre?

If I want anything by Neil Young (anything under his own name, including Rust Never Sleeps) then I have to go to the "folk" section.

If you enjoy it then enjoy it - who cares what marketing category it's lumped into.

singemonkey

domhatch wrote
singemonkey wrote Gonna contradict Alan. Punk began in New York City. Malcolm McLaren, who created the Sex Pistols had seen the New York Dolls playing at the birthplace of punk, CBGB's - an horrific little dive in NYC (as Jack can tell you) - and wanted something like that to make a statement and market his fashions.

Some say The Misfits destroyed punk because they were brainless, misogynistic fools (Glen Danzig was the lead singer and song-writer) compared to the artsy cleverness of NYC bands like Blondie, Talking Heads, and even The Ramones. But in retrospect, The Misfits were totally brilliant.

an horrific little dive? AN horrific little dive? singe, that's beautiful. music to my ears. do you have any idea how long it's been since i witnessed anyone use the correct form of an article preceding an adjective starting with an 'h'? thank you, sincerely.

It's actually optional with an H. But I'm a traditionalist. ?

domhatch

singemonkey wrote It's actually optional with an H. But I'm a traditionalist. ?

as they say, "it depends where you went to school". i'm a traditionalist, too, but you don't see me typing with a shift key, do you? it's because i'm a lefty who plays right-handed i guess.

:roflmao:

ahem.

Averatu

Arno West wrote "Lyrics: Who cares?" - The guy that wrote them - cos the person that wrote the lyrics gets biggest slice of publishing and royalties.

well are'nt you just a say of sunshine!

Averatu

Norio wrote
singemonkey wrote If I thought Blink 182, Offspring, and Green Day were punk, I wouldn't like punk either.
What category do these bands fall into then? (I'm genuinely asking - not being cocky.)

I'm very bad with genres. After all, there are crap bands and good bands in a genre, so I try to avoid categorising when I can but it's difficult when you're trying to describe a particular type of sound.

Punk with substance would be The Clash to me, some really meaningfull songs. The Police could be considered at least heavily punk influenced as well imho.

lindsmuse

Some of my favourite lyrical moments that won't win any literary awards but were in the right place at the right time:

'In my thoughts
I have seen
Rings of smoke
Through the trees'

Zeppelin

'Birds fly out
Behind my mind
And with them
I'll be leaving'

Incredible String Band

'Now there's a look in your eyes
Like black holes in the sky'

Pink Floyd

Bob-Dubery

lindsmuse wrote
'Birds fly out
Behind my mind
And with them
I'll be leaving'

Incredible String Band

Ja. The ISB are one of the great lyrical delights that, I think, I fear may slip into the mists of obscurity and never emerge. They were so happening in the mid 60s, but these days....

It's easy to dismiss them as stoned hippies... well they were, they were the real deal, but they were much more and their early albums were full of songs dripping with the joy of life and rich with mythological allusion (and a good dash of old-fashioned English eccentricity).

For me they're the lyrical prototype for the mystical side of Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant said that Led Zeppelin found their way by playing The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter and "following the instructions") but they did it better. You could also hold them up as a model for the likes of Yes, but the ISB never had the pomposity that many prog rock bands had.

Anyway, thanks Lindsmuse, I'm feeding my ears with ISB this morning.

Squonk

Peter Gabriel's lyrics from the 1972 Genesis Album Foxtrot

I suppose it's not quite the same without the music

Suppers Ready

Walking across the sitting-room, I turn the television off.
Sitting beside you, I look into your eyes.
As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,
I swear I saw your face change, it didn't seem quite right.
......And it's hello babe with your guardian eyes so blue.
Hey, my baby don't you know our love is true.

Coming closer with our eyes, a distance fall around our bodies.
Out in the garden, the moon seems very bright.
Six saintly shrouded men move across the lawn slowly,
The seventh walks in front with a cross held high in hand.
......And it's hey babe your supper's waiting for you.
Hey my baby, don't you know our love is true.

lindsmuse

Loved Genesis - nice to hear that one again (had a quick listen) - I agree the music gives the lyric a totally different dimension - and they really created another world these guys.

Arno-West

Averatu wrote
Arno West wrote "Lyrics: Who cares?" - The guy that wrote them - cos the person that wrote the lyrics gets biggest slice of publishing and royalties.
well are'nt you just a say of sunshine!

Well thank you.

Arno-West

Averatu wrote
Arno West wrote "Lyrics: Who cares?" - The guy that wrote them - cos the person that wrote the lyrics gets biggest slice of publishing and royalties.
well are'nt you just a say of sunshine!

Reinhard

Seventhson

I dig this songs lyrics.

Primus-Sgt Baker

Sgt. Baker is my name
I'm gonna teach you how to play the game
of warfare
Suddenly it appears to me
You got a bit much dignity
For your own good, boy
Yes sir, yes sir.

I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my own philosophy
Strip you of your self-integrity
To make you all a bit like me
I said right, left

Sgt. Baker here again
And if you calls me "puddin Tame"
I'll stomp you down, boy
Steers and Queers
Steers and Queers where you come
From there's just steers and queers
And you ain't got no horns, boy
Yes sir, yes sir

I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my own philosophy
Strip you of your self-integrity
To make you all a bit like me
I said right, left

Bob-Dubery

Well if we're talking about the lot of the military man, I always had a soft spot for this one

Hou my vas, korporaal
Ek’s ’n kind skoon verdwaal
Gaan ek weer my tjerrie sien
As ek van die trein afklim?
Ja, sowaar, korporaal
Dis mos swaar, korporaal
Ek speel oorlog met my beste dae
Ja ja ja
Ek en al my maatjies bymekaar

James Phillips was one of the great South African songwriters.

lindsmuse

Talking about Afrikaans lyrics - 'Kinders van die Wind' - Koos du Plessis was pretty amazing too.

Bob-Dubery

lindsmuse wrote Talking about Afrikaans lyrics - 'Kinders van die Wind' - Koos du Plessis was pretty amazing too.

My Afrikaans can't like to be very good, but I did enjoy Riaan Malan's Alien Inboorling album, especially the song "Bloekomboom". I was a big fan of the Genuines back in the 80s. I thought they were the best live band in Jo'burg, and they had a lot of Afrikaans songs.

domhatch

lindsmuse wrote Talking about Afrikaans lyrics - 'Kinders van die Wind' - Koos du Plessis was pretty amazing too.

one day i can like to be very homesick in arsetralia. and the only thing that came to me to play was this song. as they say; 'die woorde is vergete, en tog, die deuntjie draal'. played it over and over for about half an hour. got me through quite a bit, and i think it might have something to do with being back here.

now, if this thread is about lyrics first, why bring this 'deuntjie' up? simply put, it is the liedjie in its entirety that sits in my soul, not one part or the other.

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