Words or music
Nov. 12th, 2006 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmithThe current 'play it over and over until I'm sick of it and don't listen to it again for two years' is "Dani California" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. As usual, I was attracted to the music, specifically, the chord progressions in the chorus, for no other reason I can think of but that my brain just liked it. I fixed on it every time I heard it on the radio--I still listen to FM radio, go figure--and finally got around to buying it this weekend.
Listening to a song over and over sometimes ruins it for me because I begin to tweeze out the words. Some lyrics can be so dumb--St Etienne has caused me to go "huh?" at the CD player more than any other band. Other times, I can find myself feeling guilty for liking the song in question. Frex, "Johnny Feelgood" by Liz Phair snagged my ear almost immediately, and I love the chord changes in the middle. But the song is about a woman who is roughed up by her boyfriend and finds that she likes it. I don't like the words, or the story they form. I now try to ignore the words as I listen to music, but I know what they are now, so it's impossible.
I assume Anthony Kiedis (sp?) is the lyricist for RHCP--someone correct me if I err. He writes well, imo. Vivid imagery, with stories told in few words. Haven't yet heard anything dumb. I don't own any RHCP albums, but some of their songs rate as my all time favorites.
[Poll #866295]
Listening to a song over and over sometimes ruins it for me because I begin to tweeze out the words. Some lyrics can be so dumb--St Etienne has caused me to go "huh?" at the CD player more than any other band. Other times, I can find myself feeling guilty for liking the song in question. Frex, "Johnny Feelgood" by Liz Phair snagged my ear almost immediately, and I love the chord changes in the middle. But the song is about a woman who is roughed up by her boyfriend and finds that she likes it. I don't like the words, or the story they form. I now try to ignore the words as I listen to music, but I know what they are now, so it's impossible.
I assume Anthony Kiedis (sp?) is the lyricist for RHCP--someone correct me if I err. He writes well, imo. Vivid imagery, with stories told in few words. Haven't yet heard anything dumb. I don't own any RHCP albums, but some of their songs rate as my all time favorites.
[Poll #866295]
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Date: 2006-11-13 05:20 am (UTC)Example of a song where I love the music but think the lyrics are really dumb: 'All I wanna do' by Sheryl Crow.
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Date: 2006-11-13 01:35 pm (UTC)Interestingly (to me, anyway), I find that I don't at all mind songs with nonsense lyrics...
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Date: 2006-11-13 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 05:21 pm (UTC)I will still listen to them if I enjoy the melody, or if it's background music, like St Etienne ("she thought she'd look good in purple jeans...from Santa Fe" from "Lose That Girl").