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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Michael Bennett <mrhonorama@ameritech.net> |
| Subject | Re: Lyrics - an afterthought |
| Date | Thu, 19 May 2005 11:51:58 -0700 (PDT) |
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For a while, I was in a 'lyrics don't matter' phase,
but the longer I review music, the more I realize they
do. I don't mean from the standpoint that they must
be so good they could be published in a book. I mean
more that they music compliment the music. Often, bad
lyrics aren't so much cliched as they either scuttle
the music or the writer is so cognizant of avoiding
cliche that he or she writes overly wordy prose that
doesn't fit with the music, that the quality of the
words is negated (an example of a prolix writer who
manages to avoid this problem is Adam Marsland, to his
considerable credit). A hook often isn't just some
genius snatch of melody or guitar part -- it's the
combo of the melody or rhythm with a memorable lyric.
This is a really underrated aspect of creating a hook.
Power pop is far from the only type of music that can
be slammed for uninvolving lyrics. A recent example,
for me, is Interpol. While I enjoyed their fresh take
on the post-punk sound, their empty faux-meaningful
lyrics actually detract from their splendid sound. To
make big important sounding music and attach to it
nonsense pronouncements takes the air out of the
music.
Mike Bennett
--- Stacy Lynn <stacylists@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/19/05, Stewart Mason <craigtorso@verizon.net>
> wrote:
> > I disagree. There are tons of power pop records
> that I can't stand to
> > listen to because the lyrics are so frickin' dumb
> and repetitive that
> > I can't enjoy the music. I don't expect "great"
> lyrics, I just prefer
> > that they not be boring cliches.
>
> While lyrics can "make" the song for me, I've yet to
> hear a song that
> I otherwise would have liked, but the lyrics "broke"
> it for me.
>
> Stacy
> ps I WILL be at Cliff Hillis's show tonight! Yay!
> :)
>
>
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