Members Sammas Posted July 3, 2002 Members Share Posted July 3, 2002 I think the main job of lyrics is to further absorb the listen into the music. Successful lyrics manipulate the listen into the feel and mood of a song, a great song will do this with out the listener having any idea that he/she is being manipulated... Music will add to the feel greatly... anyone agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted July 3, 2002 Members Share Posted July 3, 2002 I'm not sure that I understand what you are saying - could you re-phrase the question? Personally I never really listen to lyrics, but I still like them to be there, and they should sound good - they just don't have to mean anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sammas Posted July 3, 2002 Author Members Share Posted July 3, 2002 Originally posted by moody I'm not sure that I understand what you are saying - could you re-phrase the question?Personally I never really listen to lyrics, but I still like them to be there, and they should sound good - they just don't have to mean anything. You've taken lyrics to the next step... you've been critical about them without even noticing it... let me give you an example: On TV adds say a beer add, they try to persuade you to do something... someone who is absorb by the add is persuaded to buy the beer. While someone who takes a critical view of it will see that they are trying to be persuaded to buy the beer... understand? Great Lyrics = people being "dragged" into the feel/mood of the song without knowing it, they will see and beleive your thoughts and views present in the song.while a poor song will just be met critically... and usually negatively I think this is the main point of lyrics. To "induce" a reaction upon people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DigitalGringo Posted July 3, 2002 Members Share Posted July 3, 2002 To me, lyrics are THE channel which the writer uses to convey emotion/feeling etc. The music alone can't put across the entire meaning - on it's own it can only create mood.It's not about manipulating or tricking the listener - the music is for scene-setting and mood creation. The lyrics are the method of conveying the meaning/message in the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheSandwich Posted July 4, 2002 Members Share Posted July 4, 2002 Originally posted by Sammas You've taken lyrics to the next step... you've been critical about them without even noticing it... let me give you an example: On TV adds say a beer add, they try to persuade you to do something... someone who is absorb by the add is persuaded to buy the beer. While someone who takes a critical view of it will see that they are trying to be persuaded to buy the beer...understand?Great Lyrics = people being "dragged" into the feel/mood of the song without knowing it, they will see and beleive your thoughts and views present in the song.while a poor song will just be met critically... and usually negativelyI think this is the main point of lyrics. To "induce" a reaction upon people. I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted July 4, 2002 Members Share Posted July 4, 2002 Most great and enduring songs are great lyrics set to music. Occaisionally there are great peices of music with lyrics as filler between solos, but it's pretty rare. The purpose of lyrics is to convey a point of view by the writer. One cannot be a great songwriter and be a crappy lyricist, IMO. One can perhaps be a decent composer, but not a great songwriter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sammas Posted July 5, 2002 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2002 Originally posted by BlueStrat Most great and enduring songs are great lyrics set to music. Occaisionally there are great peices of music with lyrics as filler between solos, but it's pretty rare. The purpose of lyrics is to convey a point of view by the writer. One cannot be a great songwriter and be a crappy lyricist, IMO. One can perhaps be a decent composer, but not a great songwriter. Nice point... I very much agree with you, i believe the more the listen has been affected by the song ( both lyrics and music) without really realising it, the more successful the song is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BassistSeth Posted July 5, 2002 Members Share Posted July 5, 2002 I dunno. It's always been my opinion that the music came second to the lyrics in a good song. That's what makes it a song. Otherwise it's just a composition - an instrumental where the vocals are just an instrument. The music is supposed to accentuate the feeling evoked in the poetry of the lyrics. Therefore, the purpose of lyrics can be whatever you want. The purpose of music (in a song) is to enhance the meaning and impact of the lyrics. My $.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted July 6, 2002 Members Share Posted July 6, 2002 To horribly misquote: Originally posted by BassistSeth Otherwise it's just a composition - an instrumental where the vocals are just an instrument. That's what I was trying to get at. Vocals as an instrument. The lyrics don't have to mean anything and can basically have any words substituted if they sound good (as in tuneful, not insiteful or anything) when sung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JD92 Posted July 6, 2002 Members Share Posted July 6, 2002 Mmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members misanthropy Posted July 12, 2002 Members Share Posted July 12, 2002 Originally posted by moody That's what I was trying to get at. Vocals as an instrument.The lyrics don't have to mean anything and can basically have any words substituted if they sound good (as in tuneful, not insiteful or anything) when sung. for the most part that's how i've always viewed lyrics too. i don't know all the words to even my favorite songs - but i know the beat of the voice - the intonations - everything you would notice about any other instrument. so in that way, to me, they've always been closer to compositions than songs i suppose. which could explain why i have such a hard time writing lyrics. from what you guys know, do people who don't "hear" lyrics naturally have a harder time writing them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members swingset Posted July 12, 2002 Members Share Posted July 12, 2002 Lyrics? I think they just say it all....and I quote Michael Stipe who said so eloquently, "I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush". That's when music really meant something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted July 13, 2002 Members Share Posted July 13, 2002 Originally posted by misanthropy for the most part that's how i've always viewed lyrics too. i don't know all the words to even my favorite songs - but i know the beat of the voice - the intonations - everything you would notice about any other instrument. so in that way, to me, they've always been closer to compositions than songs i suppose. which could explain why i have such a hard time writing lyrics. from what you guys know, do people who don't "hear" lyrics naturally have a harder time writing them ? In that respect I find that lyrics are easier to write - because It doesn't matter what I am saying. For example, this is the minijam I did a few months ago - the lyrics evolved naturally over about 2 weeks of listening to the melody line - but took about 2 minutes to actually write - they don't mean anything and just came naturally. (one way I write lyrics is to start a tape and record whatever I sing on the fly). http://www.apollo.spaceports.com/~bentvox/util/listen.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sammas Posted July 16, 2002 Author Members Share Posted July 16, 2002 on another note... i think lyrics help everyone understand the music... non musicians find it hard to enjoy an instrumental (with some exceptions of course). Lyrics i think help bridge the gap... so everyone can enjoy the peice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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