Well this post is sort of a continuation of the line of thought I had with a friend earlier today regarding music. Namely, the importance of lyrics to said music or song and the effect of the words on the appreciation of the piece.
Firstly, we were discussing how important words are to a song, mainly due to their poetic quality. Some would argue, such as my friend, that the intriguing lyrical composition and choice of the words adds to one's understanding and appreciation of the piece, over merely the aesthetics of the voice. I, however, tend to not pay attention to the actual words being said as such, and rather prefer to focus my attentions on the overall sound, thinking of the voice as yet another instrument rather than exam the content it's conveying and relating through the words.
Ask yourself this: If the hypothetical song in question (or one of your own choosing) had the same vocalist, the same amount of syllables in place of the words, however instead of enunciating the words themselves, you merely got the sounds of the syllables with the same inflections. Now, would this diminish the value or adoration of the song in any way to you - given that this is a song you're hypothetically quite familiar with and possibly even one of your favourites? Or, additionally, if you listen to a version of your favourite song without the lyrics at all, does it affect your opinion of the song in any way?
Personally, I find the masterful crafting of the sound more than enough to sustain my interest and appreciation, and as long as the vocals are excellently inbuilt in the song, the quality of the lyrics I find is often unnecessary. My friend begs to differ though, in that either merely the sounds of the vocals, or no vocals at all, does not have the same depth of appreciation possible for a song with impeccable lyrics.
This brought to mind another idea, however, in regards to the issue of lyrics. Namely, the fact that I can still enjoy foreign songs (yes, I enjoy J-Pop/J-Rock, laugh it up) despite not understanding a word of the lyrics. When you're not given the *option* of that poetic depth, and merely getting the audibly-pleasing syllables, I wanted to see if that would effect one's opinion of the song, after reading a translation of the lyrics later. Though not on the *same* individual, I tested another guy with one of the most ridiculous J-Pop songs I could think of, knowing he'd hate it, heh. Thus, not only could the poetic nature of lyrics *increase* one's appreciation of a song, but could the revelation that the lyrics are terrible and nonsensical also *diminish* the value of a song in one's opinion, after already having heard it when oblivious. Here is the song in question, and you non J-Pop folk can enjoy your ears bleeding:
Firstly, we were discussing how important words are to a song, mainly due to their poetic quality. Some would argue, such as my friend, that the intriguing lyrical composition and choice of the words adds to one's understanding and appreciation of the piece, over merely the aesthetics of the voice. I, however, tend to not pay attention to the actual words being said as such, and rather prefer to focus my attentions on the overall sound, thinking of the voice as yet another instrument rather than exam the content it's conveying and relating through the words.
Ask yourself this: If the hypothetical song in question (or one of your own choosing) had the same vocalist, the same amount of syllables in place of the words, however instead of enunciating the words themselves, you merely got the sounds of the syllables with the same inflections. Now, would this diminish the value or adoration of the song in any way to you - given that this is a song you're hypothetically quite familiar with and possibly even one of your favourites? Or, additionally, if you listen to a version of your favourite song without the lyrics at all, does it affect your opinion of the song in any way?
Personally, I find the masterful crafting of the sound more than enough to sustain my interest and appreciation, and as long as the vocals are excellently inbuilt in the song, the quality of the lyrics I find is often unnecessary. My friend begs to differ though, in that either merely the sounds of the vocals, or no vocals at all, does not have the same depth of appreciation possible for a song with impeccable lyrics.
This brought to mind another idea, however, in regards to the issue of lyrics. Namely, the fact that I can still enjoy foreign songs (yes, I enjoy J-Pop/J-Rock, laugh it up) despite not understanding a word of the lyrics. When you're not given the *option* of that poetic depth, and merely getting the audibly-pleasing syllables, I wanted to see if that would effect one's opinion of the song, after reading a translation of the lyrics later. Though not on the *same* individual, I tested another guy with one of the most ridiculous J-Pop songs I could think of, knowing he'd hate it, heh. Thus, not only could the poetic nature of lyrics *increase* one's appreciation of a song, but could the revelation that the lyrics are terrible and nonsensical also *diminish* the value of a song in one's opinion, after already having heard it when oblivious. Here is the song in question, and you non J-Pop folk can enjoy your ears bleeding:
Now, for those of you who dared to listen, here is but a snippet of what the lyrics actually mean (if you can even call these 'lyrics', considering how odd they are):
Myah myah myahcology
Mankind mya? Très bie~n!
For example magnets, within the sand
The aliens have their Teatime at their branch department on Earth
Its inconvenient to be small, send out the big ones
Someone, move Battleship Yamato
Its a work horse work horse! Drink milk
Its a carriage work horse! Go to sleep early
Its a work horse work horse! Adults certainly transform in secret
Its a stranger! Better to leave him alone
Its the President! Whats your order?
Its a uniform! Your letters are odd!
Kamehameha
Mankind mya? Très bie~n!
For example magnets, within the sand
The aliens have their Teatime at their branch department on Earth
Its inconvenient to be small, send out the big ones
Someone, move Battleship Yamato
Its a work horse work horse! Drink milk
Its a carriage work horse! Go to sleep early
Its a work horse work horse! Adults certainly transform in secret
Its a stranger! Better to leave him alone
Its the President! Whats your order?
Its a uniform! Your letters are odd!
Kamehameha
Did the absolute non-poetic qualities and altogether nonsensical nature of the lyrics make you like the song any less (or hell, if it's your sort of thing, did you like it *more*)? This isn't exactly a conclusive post, more just an experiment if anyone bothers. I know opinions will vary, and some will treasure the deeper layers of meaning and appreciation that lyrics can provide to a song, whereas others such as myself just prefer the excellent melodic voices of the vocalists (or slightly high-pitched pseudo-yelling in the case of the given video, heh).
Guess that's all for tonight though. Just found it an interesting topic.
Adios.
Guess that's all for tonight though. Just found it an interesting topic.
Adios.
You're up too late writing these things xD
ReplyDeleteOMFG
FINALLY!!!
I DISAGREE!!!! Chyeah! Back to our old ways.
Anyway to the point. Well. I slightly agree, but to a deeper sense, disagree.
I don't mind J-rock, I dont have any on me, but some of it is pretty good! And I do have songs without lyrics, or significant portions of the song without lyrics, and it's brilliance, sometimes. But lyrics of a song are a large equator to the emotional reaction of a piece. I take into account both the words themselves, their meanings, and the way they sound. Sure, rhyme, alliteration and all that, it makes the song sound better, and changes your impact to the song, but the meaning behind the words, for me anyway, drives alot of the emotion, in conjunction to the sound of the instruments.
Some of the songs I listen to have pretty powerful lyrics, and effective representations or metaphors for the message of the song. Sometimes, if you listen to the piece as a whole, both lyrics and sound, the lyrics do just hit you as to their importance. Its like poetry. Sure, I'm sure you can find two words with the same meaning that both fit the right sound pattern, but its the hidden meaning of the individual chosen words, the emotions that comee with the word itself, not its sound. Like, the word betrayed, as an example, and it's connotations.
And...take for instance, not that I am promoting it as something I listen to, but is a good example in this situation: Lily Allen's F*ck you. Or most of her songs really. The sound of the song is COMPLETELY different to the meaning of the words she uses, and creates this mini paradigm in her music, which is interesting. The soft music and the harsh words work together, to create the image in the whole, and either, studied seperately, would be less affective.
*shrugs*
Thats my 2c.
Benneth (ie. Nordeau),
ReplyDeleteHello.
Please be forwarned that I am merely a psychotic old lady who lives her retired years scouring the internet for potential child victims whom are evilly locked up in my Pension Town (a village off the west coast of Hawaii). I force all my prisoners into knitting millions (usually hot pink and lime)... which I then illegally sell on the Black Market to become rich.
Anyway, I have been keeping track of your blogs for 62 years now and think you will make a great addition to Pension Town. Please pack your bags before Friday 6th August, 2009... when I shall come up pick you up in my Broomstick-Walking-Stick. Very 21st century.
PEACE OUT,
Hip Grandma.
Oops. I meant to say, "I force all my prisoners into knitting millions OF SCARVES (usually hot pink and lime)... etc."
ReplyDeleteNot just, "I force all my prisoners into knitting millions..."
Please forgo that minor error in my last post. My fingers are old and crinkled and have a mind of their own due to chronic arthritis and a lack of milk when I was young.
^ wtf at that comment. Lyrics usually dont detract from any song I like, but they can make it better. They can also give me a reason to dislike a song even more. Slightly unrelated, I think the vocals are the best part of a song more than half the time.
ReplyDeletePeople 'mindlessly' listen to the Pussycat Dolls. Now their sound isn't necessarily bad, thus they have a mass following. But how many people from this same 'mass following' actually listen to the damn lyrics?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it make many feminist's ears bleed? Unless they're a perverse sort, of course.
See my favourite song is still Drops of Jupiter. Literally everything about it is - GREAT - . The vocals are great, the instrumental is great, the lyrics are imaginatively great too. (:
that perverse nanny sure made my eyes bleed...
ReplyDeleteback on this, i've always been a pro-lyric person but i can definitely agree with the actual impact it makes on the listener.
take for example one of the greatest songs of all time, Queen's Bohemian Rapsody; the only sense/powerful lyrical impact it makes dies after the 2nd stanza, but then it picks up, *without* lyrical virtuoso with the awesome but non-sensical half (you know! Galileo! Galileo!...Bismilahh!) (aka. epic's definition). I'm getting convoluted here...but yeah! Bohemian Rapsody does show how a timeless song doesnt need particularly touching lyrics to sustain an audience, but it does argue against your view about substituting the actual words for same-syllable sounds, group renditions at parties would NEVER be the same, imagine doing the
"Scaramouche,scaramouche will you do the fandango-
Thunderbolt and lightning-very very frightening me"
part without the actual words! horrifying
and also, for foreign music, i find that alot of people enjoy the songs, BUT lyrics again come into their overall appreciation, as they then find translations for it, indication of the value and impact of lyrics?