Do lyrics have to make sense for the song to be a hit?

[rockinrobby]

To be a hit? "perhaps..." To be good? No way. And blue, you misspelled syphilis? And I don't think you can get it from a rock? But I don't see what that has to do with anything?

[SomeoneYouKnew]

It depends on who he's been with, Robby.

[blue2blue]

And blue, you misspelled syphilis? And I don't think you can get it from a rock? But I don't see what that has to do with anything?

[Visconti]

The lyrics make perfect sense to me. On two levels. They're repeated to the point of absurdity, but they definitely make sense.

Paul loses me when he says, "I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello"

Is it Paul doesn't understand why someone is leaving because of a personal reason that Paul is unaware of?

[SomeoneYouKnew]

Paul loses me when he says, "I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello" Is it Paul doesn't understand why someone is leaving because of a personal reason that Paul is unaware of?

Level 1: I don't know why you want to end the possibility of a relationship before we even try. I think we should give it a chance.

Level 2: You're contrary for no good reason. I'm optimistic. You're pessimistic. I don't know why you do that.

[~GOD~]

i still can't figure out if visconti's an unfunny colbert-wannabe or if he's mentally handicapped.

[BuildingCastles]

OP, you answered your own question in your first post. /end thread?

[gismo recording]

In and around the lake mountains come out of the sky and they stand there.

[blue2blue]

i still can't figure out if visconti's an unfunny colbert-wannabe or if he's mentally handicapped.

This forum has pretty much zero tolerance for insults.

 

Additionally, there are moderators on this site who will ban one outright for making fun, even indirectly, of those with additional burdens and challenges in life. (I know because I've often glanced over the reasons that people get banned, looking for guidance as to acceptable norms.)

 

 

 

EDIT: I'm not saying you've crossed any lines, at least as far as I'm concerned. But I do want folks to be aware that there are lines in this forum. (And also that there are mods onboard at HC who are even more sensitive to some issues than I am.)

[blue2blue]

In and around the lake mountains come out of the sky and they stand there.

This is what I always thought that line meant... it seems pretty straightforward to me.

 

[Dingoist]

I think there's a big gap between self-indulgent word salad as lyrics and something like "Loser." And the Lorca take-off from Cohen? My gosh, I wish my tech writing teacher in college had been half that coherent and on point.

I came into this thread approaching the OP's question "having to make sense" from a narrative perspective, which is not necessarily the case -- bringing of Beck, Cohen and Cobain was more of an example of lyrics not making sense from a narrative perspective seen in more popular or "hit" songs. There are so many ways for lyrics to make sense, even if it is in the evocation of mood via creative imagery (even if it just fun music without a deeper context).

But often enough, just as in those that write in a more traditional narrative style there is the distinction of those that do it, and those that do it well.

Now in Vienna, there's ten pretty women...

[blue2blue]

Yeah... I don't think there are really any right or wrongs in this thread... obviously what makes sense to one person may not to another. Communication, as always, is a two-sided proposition.

 

I was reading cummings and Ferlinghetti before I was trying to pry apart rock lyrics, so my perspective is probably a lot different from someone who, for instance, grew up listening to (the great, but generally pretty plain-spoken) Hank Williams.

 

 

PS... I've always hoped there were more than ten pretty women in Vienna.

[Matximus]

Words... yeah. Lotsa songwriters seem to get hung up on this crazy idea that need to mean something literal on their own. Words only need to make sense in the context of the song. That's it. Bird is the Word is babble if you're just saying it. But if you're sing-saying to a sticky melody and rockin beat - you're conveying a buncha meaning.

Words are just a small slice of how people communicate. They're that way in songs. They're that way in talking. You have to make sense of them looking at the whole way someone is using them.

[blue2blue]

Just between you and me, "The Bird," never, ever moved me, not even when I was a kid in junior high and it was on the radio all the time. Not in the slightest. I didn't like the dance, either. Stupid song, stupid dance.

 

But agreed on the basic notion that a song can be a universe unto itself and, as long as its got a compelling inner logic that appeals to its fans, that's probably enough.

 

Clearly, a lot of people did like that song. God love 'em.

 

And, fair enough, I've liked my share of equally stupid songs, I'm pretty sure.

[SomeoneYouKnew]

God love 'em

My sister moved to the south. Down there they bless your heart.

Amusingly, you can say some pretty awful things about a person, if you bless their heart.

[blue2blue]

As I understand it, "God love 'em" (him/her) is also an expression in common use in the American south and often used in parallel fashion.

 

I think of it as a way of pulling back to acknowledge the Big Picture, typically after saying something perhaps a bit pointed about someone from a narrowly personal point of view.

 

Kind of like a secular humanist adding, "... but, of course, it takes all kinds."

 

[blue2blue]

 

It's too bad I got so distracted by memories of "The Bird" my first time through this post because I think this bit above is a crucial thing to remember about all human communication.

 

When it happens, to the extent it happens, it's a miracle.

[Matximus]

Who said anything about liking it? I hate that song too. I'd venture that you read the meaning of the song loud and clear.

Bird is the Word means the same thing as a woodpecker drumming on a tree. It's a mating call for a lesser species: People with bad taste in music. Or teenagers.

And that's what all popular music is - one kind of mating call or another. It's all about doing it. People get high-minded and pretend it isn't.

[~GOD~]

This forum has pretty much zero tolerance for insults. Additionally, there are moderators on this site who will ban one outright for making fun, even indirectly, of those with additional burdens and challenges in life. (I know because I've often glanced over the reasons that people get banned, looking for guidance as to acceptable norms.) EDIT: I'm not saying you've crossed any lines, at least as far as I'm concerned. But I do want folks to be aware that there are lines in this forum. (And also that there are mods onboard at HC who are even more sensitive to some issues than I am.)

i didn't mean it to be insulting. i'm actually not sure. i have no idea how to respond to his posts. his existence baffles the {censored} out of me.

[SomeoneYouKnew]

his existence baffles the {censored} out of me.

Here again, you're on the verge of an ad-hominem attack. This can lead to trouble.

[Speedoman]

I think it all depends on the style of music. If it's a singer-songwriter a song should probably have some kind of imagery that the listener can relate to, even if the words themselves don't flow into a single narrative. If it's something where the music overpowers the words, like in rock or metal, the lyrics are just there. They don't have to be poignant or intellectual. A death metal band could scream "I'm a Little Teapot" and it wouldn't matter as long as they had brutal guitars and fast drums.

[blue2blue]

i didn't mean it to be insulting. i'm actually not sure. i have no idea how to respond to his posts. his existence baffles the {censored} out of me.

But now that you've stopped and thought about it, I'm sure, you can see how someone might take it that way.

 

There are forums at HC where there is much latitude for verbal combat, but this isn't one of them. If folks want to tussle, they should take it someplace where that sort of thing is tolerated.

 

[blue2blue]

A death metal band could scream "I'm a Little Teapot" and it wouldn't matter as long as they had brutal guitars and fast drums.

 

I think I saw the Dickies do a speed-punk version of "I'm a Little Teapot," complete with gestures.

 

It was probably the one time I really liked their schtick.

 

[Visconti]

How about these lyrics from Them Crooked Vultures. Josh Homme from QOTSA wrote and sung the song.

[YOUTUBE]52mtzNW4eZM[/YOUTUBE]

Mind Eraser, No Chaser

Now run along face lift
If it kills I got news it aint a side effect
Call it a full rejecter
Fuel injected time corrected teenage obstacle

All i wanna do is have my mind erased
I'm begging ya pleading ya stop coma teasing us all
Drug company where's a pill for me
I call it mind eraser, no chaser at all
I could really need one of everything
Law abiding dick riding fun police leave us alone
Dulling the edge of a razor blade
What does it mean when the knife and the hand are your own

Gimme the reason why the mind's a terrible thing to waste
Understanding is cruel the monkey said as it launched to space
Know that i'm gonna be your dangerous side effect.
Ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away

(Wooo, Shake It)

Robotic mom bought me
DIY kit lobotomy
It's a tuck taste dance craze movie of the week
Your buy the doll, kick up your bowl, then piss on the seats

All i wanna do is have my mind erased
I'm begging ya pleading ya stop coma teasing us all
Drug company, wheres a pill for me
It reads, Mind eraser, no chaser in bright lights
Im more in need than i've ever been
New-age goose-step on a karma collision
Dulling the edge of a razor blade
What does it mean when the knife and the hand are your own
(Your own, Your own, Your own)

Gimme the reason why the mind's a terrible thing to waste
Understanding is cruel the monkey said as it launched to space
Know that i'm gonna be your dangerous side effect
Ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away

Gimmie the reason why the mind's a terrible thing to waste
Now know that i am your dangerous side effect

Now know that i am your dangerous side effect

Let me tell you to save it, just really i dont give a {censored}

[EvilSoup]

are you sure dave grohl didn't write that?

 

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