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Tom O'Brien
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12/28/2009 8:14:39 PM
Do lyrics really matter?
Being that I consider lyric writing an art form in its own right, I'd have to say they do. But I've been thinking about The Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man." Catchy as hell, and I love everything Beatles. But seriously, if you just read the lyrics, they are saying just about nothing:
I wanna be your lover baby
I wanna be your man
I wanna be your lover baby
I wanna be your man
Love you like no other baby
Like no other can
I wanna be your lover baby
I wanna be your man
And then the brilliant chorus:
I wanna be your man
I wanna be your man
I wanna be your man
I wanna be your man
And yet - mega hit! I respect and revere all that they did, but I challenge anyone to use the word "genius" in regards to these lyrics.
There are so many vapid lyrics to great songs. Maybe I try to hard to make my songs mean something.
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kurtkurtley
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12/29/2009 1:24:43 AM
Tom -
Seriously, you said it yourself! Mega-hit! And they only used about ten words. If that's not genius, what is? Plus, all their early stuff was just pop fluff, it wasn't until they gained a little control over their domain that they wrote what most of think of as lyrics. But as fluff, Wow! If I could have a mega hit for ten words, hell, I'd go crazy and use twelve or fifteen....why not?
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Jeff Allen Myers
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12/29/2009 2:09:32 AM
It's a Blues derivative, not dependent on the lyrics..but repetition.
It was a Beatle throw away...They Gave it to Ringo and The Stones :)
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Nadia Cripps
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12/29/2009 9:24:23 AM
I think it depends on the song, genre and so many other things. There are some songs I don't understand a single word of but they speak to me. When I compose music I always look for lyrics which are special to me but that's my outlook. People say lyrics are important, very important, not important at all. I find myself thinking that the song is happy and then stopping and listening to it and the lyrics are very sad and philosophical, it still works for the song. I suppose there is no one answer to it.
Nadia
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Kevin White
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12/29/2009 10:51:55 AM
goo goo goo joob
Don't you think the joker laughs at you?
Everyone knows what song that's from ...
... just from a snippet of lyric. They matter.
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Bryon Tosoff
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12/29/2009 4:20:37 PM
There is genius in simplicity
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Village Jammers
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1/5/2010 12:23:10 AM
Amen to that, Bryon. I've been contemplating a song that Joe Cocker did..."You are So Beautiful". There are really only three statements and a question in it and that's the whole thing. Said it all lyrically and musically, sweet and simple. To be sure, it isn't a story song like the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", but it expresses a sentiment that resonates with everyone and delivers. The "genius" medal goes to the person who thought to ask Joe to sing it. I don't think anyone else could have sung it more effectively.
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Tom O'Brien
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1/5/2010 9:38:39 PM
But that's just my point VJ, it wasn't that the lyrics in "You Are So Beautiful" were genius - it's how they were sung. If you had Joe Average sing it, it would sound idiotic. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. It's not what you sing, it's how you sing it. Another stupid Beatles' lyric: You say it's your birthday/ It's my birthday too, yeah. But the riff is unforgettable. I think a great artist can get away with singing just about any trash lyric.
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Tao Jones
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1/5/2010 11:13:04 PM
I disagree. I think you are underestimating how apt these simple lyrics are. Lyrics are important even to people who think they are not...
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Steve Ison
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1/6/2010 12:12:40 PM
Nice one Bob (Tao)...Totally agree..
I think lyrics obviously matter Tom-but not in the way you think they should is the answer..
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qelizabeth
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1/6/2010 12:21:19 PM
It's what Teo said, and also what you do with the lyrics. And the Stones did it a million times better.
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Auset
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1/6/2010 2:33:12 PM
i think it depends on the listener. some folks admittedly don't care about words... just connect with beats, or hooks, or the idea of something being cool cause its on the radio.
others live by lyrics, listening closely to the intimacy of each word, idea or visualization created.
no rules. music is a diverse and amazing therapy for souls everywhere... some times it only speaks to the body, sometimes to the heart, mind... sometimes pulls you out of the body... sometimes grounds you... no rules.
each songwriter gets to decide if lyrics matter... and even then, decide from song to song.
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1/6/2010 3:13:49 PM
Lyrics without music is poetry which doesn't interest me a whole lot. Great music and great lyrics is sheer greatness. Lyrics are pretty important to most of the music I love. That's not to say there aren't some good instrumentals and songs where the lyrics are mundade though.
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Dick Aven
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1/6/2010 3:53:14 PM
---- Updated 1/6/2010 3:56:41 PM
Hey, Tom. Happy New Year to you and everyone at IAC.
Yes! Lyrics are important. And those are great lyrics because they have a definite point while they carry (and don"t fuck up the melody or energy of) the song. Not to mention they must have gotten plenty of girls attention with it after shows and the guys who heard it could relate to it.
When I was at the height of my live playing in the singer-songwriter style and on the road I always sang some kind of funny weed song cuz inevitably someone in the audience would pass me a joint..... back when I was single singing a song like "I wanna be your man" might be all it took to hook up for the evening after the show....... Great lyrics, IMO.
Now let's all write something that will bring us exactly what we are looking for.
:)
Dick
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Slimdog Productions
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1/6/2010 7:24:49 PM
First, To everyone at IAC, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Nadia, I agree with you that lyrics are important depending on the genre. In Hip Hop, lyrics used to be important until the majors started pushing todays "mess" down our throats on commercial radio. Lately, fans of Hip Hop are starting to revolt somewhat and are starting to buy independent artists who are lyrically skilled. Hip Hop is the one genre that has taken the biggest hit in CD sales. Alot of these young artists and fans say, "Hip Hop is a young man's game". Well, we are seeing what these youngins have done to Hip Hop lately. There is a comeback on the horizon with Hip Hop and it shows with the biggest CD sales in 2009 by Jay-Z, Raekwon & The Clipse, artists who are all over 30, who bring lyrical content to the table...I hope the trend continues in 2010 and beyond.
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LyinDan
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1/6/2010 8:37:34 PM
I agree completely with Tom.
A great singer (...um...or even Ringo) can compellingly carry a song even with a trite or stupid lyric. Great conviction by the vocalist is prime. And I'm not talking about "fake" conviction, you can always tell that, and it makes a song a laughing stock.
A great lyric, however, is not enough to save a song with a convictionless singer. Think of any number of songs as sung by any number of local bar bands. Those songs just don't make it.
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Tao Jones
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1/6/2010 9:34:29 PM
Regarding hip hop, I always felt Chuck D. was somewhat of a lyrical genius. Bob Dylan thinks it, too.
Ice Cube definitely had a way with words as did Tupac, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul...Man , if you ain't gonna be singing, but rather talkin' in rhythm, you better have a way with words, or what the hell?
Diabolical Biz Markie. You guys hear his tune on that commercial lately? Girl, you got what I need, but you say he's just a friend, you say he's just a friend...
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