chris77
When did you first start to stop listening to songs as a whole and started to listen to the actual music parts that make up the song, eg. the sound of the drums, basslines, guitar parts etc. And do you think that as musicians or music lovers we unfairly judge pop songs because they lack the little pockets of magic that we look for - Isnt a catchy melody and chorus enough sometimes?
Squonk
Good Topic Chris
I think musicians are all cursed with being analytical with all the music we listen too!
I used to be a big Prog Rock fan in the 70's listening to Genesis (Not the Phil Collins comercial crap, Peter Gabriels Genesis), Yes, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd.
And when a friend of mine bought the first "Police" album, I couldn't get over how simple it sounded. I thought it was horrible at first.
I was listening to the instruments and arrangement and missing the song.
Garth-S
Do yourself a favour download and watch the film "Before the music dies". A definate must see.
andrewjbryson
I think a good 95 % of the population listen to music for the Song.
But the song itself has many elements : Beat , Melody, Progression , the "Hook", Lyrics, Vibe.
So there is really lots to work with.
The other 5 % would prefer more technicality from the particular instruments involved.
Each his own. Nothing wrong with both methods.
AlanRatcliffe
It's all good. Who can deny the beauty in the simplicity of AC/DC, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, et. al.?
I find even with the busier music, it's the ones with the strong melodies that stand the test of time. Jethro Tull is a great example - good melodies, good lyrics and good musicianship that you can enjoy, whether you want to listen casually while you are working or closely concentrating on every detail - it's basically multi-level. The best music is the stuff that is simple on the surface, but as you learn more about music, you discover there are more and more layers of complexity to hold your interest (Zappa, King Crimson).
Of course there is the stuff that's complex at it's shallowest level (McLaughlin, Holdsworth, et. al.), but I find I listen to that much less these days as it requires ALL my attention.
aubs1
Squonk wrote
Good Topic Chris
I think musicians are all cursed with being analytical with all the music we listen too!
I am 100% with you on this Squonk. I think it's not just in music, but almost in all spheres of life. In sport as well. And I think it's a natural thing, the more you know and learn, the more analytical, and critical you become of what it is you're on about. That to me is why people improve their craft/ art, be it music or sport or whatever.
Everything else I was thinking about has already been said.
Bob-Dubery
What you need to be careful of is dissing a pop song because it's presented as a pop song. "Pop" can be smart, sophisticated, beautifully crafted. Listen to Abba for a good example. Or anything from the peak of Motown - the mid to late 60s.
I do think things are dumbed down these days, or perhaps kept apart by radio/TV programming. If things were run 40 odd years ago the way they are now you might not have got clever, lovely things like "Waterloo Sunset" on the charts. That would have been filed away under some "alt" label or other.
chris77
What got me thinking is that I am notoriously k@k with lyrics...seriously. Half of the time they dont register and when they do I remember them wrong! And the reason for that is that I am too busy focussing on other parts of the song to listen to them properly. Maybe thats why I have a soft spot for artists who write music to lyrics rather than the other way around - it forces me to listen to the lyrics because they are the driving factor in the song. Otherwise I will zoom in on the melody and guitar parts and if I like them start picking out the way the drummer uses brushes or the stringsqueak during chord changes or even how the vocalist uses his/her voice etc. Its like looking at the different colours an artist uses and not seeing the picture he painted. And besides I would really, really like to be able to enjoy a song like Poker Face and get what makes it so awesome to the masses who kept it on the charts....
Byron
I do the same thing chris. I don't know half the lyrics to my favourite songs ( besides when they are hard to understand) , end up concentrating on the guitar parts and drums too much.
WantzChas
I only get lyrics about the 5th time I listen to a song, the first couple of times I just register the melody and progression.
[deleted]
I'm a lyrics person. I can remember lyrics for tons of arbitrary songs (with the occasional embarrasingly wrong word). What has put me off songs is if they in any way remind me of the nursery school work I do (playing music with toddlers). If I hear the 1- 4- 5 progression (or some variation thereof) I switch off, lyrics or not. It took 4 years of a room full of loud toddlers to break my spirit. I find my attention span now resembles theirs and if there isn't some serious drama in the music, some tempo or mood changes, I get grumpy. Ag, what am I saying. I'm still as sentimental as ever and I'll still let myself get caught up in the words. Just don't let me listen to the music then.
chris77
Hehehe. Viccy, I can just picture the chaos when a room full of tods let rip with whatever it is they listen to nowadays...
[deleted]
They listen to whatever I play them, (that is when they're at school) which are songs that let them use their imagination and work on their coordination or your general nursery rhymes to improve rhythm (I've had to censor some of the old ones, they can be quite scary and violent). I don't play a CD, it's all guitar and sometimes piano. I draw a blank if I'm asked to play a Barney song. I am NOT going there.
