From Graham H Freeman Sent Tue, Jun 29th 1999, 13:37
From Graham H Freeman Sent Tue, Jun 29th 1999, 13:37
.: idm-digest, 29 Jun 99, 0:46 :. > From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx > lyrics are a great way to channel the emotion of your music into a > specific idea bringing a very personal embrace to your audience. I love > lyrics, have nothin' against em at all. But they are by no means a > necessesary component of music and the emotions of music are in their > purest form without lyrics. > > reason: > > because when you hear lyrics your mind has no choice but to be taken to > that idea. When you hear no lyrics you simply hear pure sound, pure > emotion, no specific ideas in mind.. Ah bollocks. If I'm listening passively (i.e. getting on with something else) and the singing is part of a larger arrangement then I probably won't pay attention to what the lyrics are explicitly saying. I'm not automatically going to do start doing what the music says. I don't "stand in the place on your left now face west" whenever I hear that song. I don't run out and start a doomsday cult whenever I hear death metal. I don't automatically hang out the washing when I hear Autechre. Obviously I'm more resistant to mind control than you are. Gotta remember too, that a lot of lyrics are ambiguious, whether deliberately or by accident, and sometimes words in lyrics are picked for the sound of the word to suit the tune, rather than the words meaning. It's a damned skilful bugger who can make both the meaning and the sound of the words in a song work. And as for sound necessarily communicating emotion, what a load of bollocks that is too. If I'm carrying a crate of apple tarts, and drop it, it'll make some sort of sound, but there isn't any emotion in it. However, a following sound, that emitted from my mouth, would probably contain quite a great deal of emotion. There are at least as many approaches to singing as there are with any other aspect of music. Take Dead Can Dance. Is Lisa Gerrard singing intelligible lyrics? As often as not no. (Though they're often more intelligible than interviews with her...) In fact, get out yer copy of Beaucoup Fish and dial up "Moaner". The music is repeated twice, with whatsisface's ranting over the second iteration. What does that mean? Does anyone care? It's just a stupid piece of duuf to most of you. Balg. > not that ideas (lyrics) are bad or anything. Who said purest=best > anyways. Geez.. Umm, I missed the point. Hold your flames. -- Graham Hubert Freeman. Graham the Happy Scum. WWGD. Your computer has been Alstoned. http://www.mpx.com.au/~gths mailto:xxxx@xxxx-xxxxx.xxx ... it's just one non-sequiter after another around here.