When it comes to music, are you a words person or a melody person? I'd say I'm a melody person. For example, I like the melody to the Beatles song "Come Together" even though the words blow my mind. Conversely, I do like the group Blues Traveler probably 'cause they have great melodies and great words. I don't really dig the harmonica...I don't really dig the blues...And I'm really not as needy are the wordsmiths on Blues Traveler.
It doesn't matter what I say So long as I sing with inflection That makes you feel I'll convey Some inner truth or vast reflection But I've said nothing so far And I can keep it up for as long as it takes And it don't matter who you are If I'm doing my job then it's your resolve that breaks Because the Hook brings you back I ain't tellin' you no lie The Hook brings you back On that you can rely The power of words to trigger the mind can't be denied, but the music certainly brings them to mind in a wonderful way. I can't choose one over the other in some cases, but sometimes the lyrics seem more about sound than meaning. In other words, it just all depends. (And I could live without the harmonica too. Not a hook for me.)
For me it’s neither: No matter what “kind” of music, if it doesn’t have a beat it’s lost on me. Growing up I could listen to Gene Krupa drive a band all day and never get enough. My parents were into “big band” so I grew up on it. The thing about big bands is it was all composed for dancing, it had a beat that moved you. I never got over it.
I might be going off topic a little bit but here's my take... You should mean what you say and say what you mean. Your word is your worth and your value. If people cannot depend on the things that you say, which is what your word is..... Your word is completely useless and without value. Slipknot has some pretty good drum solos.
Both words and melody, depending on the mood. I enjoy a number of flavors of music, some which don't have words/lyrics. Done right, they don't NEED words, the music is enough to convey the message.
The way Krupa fades in and out between the “Sing Sing Sing” solos is iconic. The soloists where the biggest names in music at the time. My favorite, from the first time I heard it, is Jess Stacy’s piano. This snip from a review sums it up best: “When Goodman finished his solo, he unexpectedly gave a solo to the pianist, Jess Stacy. "At the Carnegie Hall concert, after the usual theatrics, Jess Stacy was allowed to solo and, given the venue, what followed was appropriate," wrote David Rickert. "Used to just playing rhythm on the tune, he was unprepared for a turn in the spotlight, but what came out of his fingers was a graceful, impressionistic marvel with classical flourishes, yet still managed to swing. It was the best thing he ever did, and it's ironic that such a layered, nuanced performance came at the end of such a chaotic, bombastic tune."[9]”
When I first heard this song, it was a wow moment for me. Fixation on the darkness That engulfs this world Drain the life force, of our people, Change, Change Fixation on the darkness That engulfs this world Drain the life force, of our people Return to the womb (new life) Lay your head to rest (mercy) To give you, a peace of mind Lay your head to rest Come together, inside This body, is only, a shell Change, the only way we will survive Light, transfiguration of the soul Of the soul, of the mind Fixation on the darkness That engulfs this world Drain the life force, of our people Return to the womb (new life) Lay your head to rest (mercy) To give you, a peace of mind Lay your head to rest Tell them They will not hold us down It's time for change Change It's time for change Change It's time for change They will not hold us down (They will not hold us down) It's time for change (It's time for change)
Well there is no answer, for all songs. That is, in some cases-- John Lennon's Imagine, for example-- the song is really about the words. The same could be said of Eminem's "Lose Yourself," though the music adds a dimension to those lyrics. There are other songs, in which the words seem almost superfluous. Also, I personally often have trouble understanding what singers are saying, at first. Often, I may only catch a few lines. By the time I discover what they had been singing about, all along, I already have decided whether or not I like the song. This points to something else that is not considered in the OP: the sound of the human voice. It is an instrument which varies much more, on a subliminal level, than any other instrument, as employed through any given player. I can enjoy listening to song, even in a foreign language, & am even a fan of some Medieval music, sung in old, unused forms of languages, without needing to know a translation of the lyrics; I just get a feel, from them, of the emotion being expressed. Of course, the most powerful combination, is when both the music, and the meaning of the words, work in harmony, to augment one another. While I believe that poetry can certainly exist without music (other than its own rhythmic cadences) there was a troubadour from, I think, the 13th century, Folquet of Marseilles, who said, "A verse without music is a mill without water." There is much truth to this. On the other hand, if you have ever taken part in a Hindu worship ceremony, in which the only music comes from the acapella voices of the attendants, you understand how powerful this can be, on its own; like passionate devotion, expressed en masse, through 5,000 year old Hip Hop. In closing, I will offer this song, "Quant je voy yver," from 13th cent. northern France, I believe, since that is where the singers, called troubadours in the south (where this art arose, in 11th century Provence), were known as trouveres, as is this piece's author, Colin Muset. It begins with a gemshorn, that sounds something like a recorder. It is a very sweet, earnest sounding melody, which I originally took to be a love song. When I got around to checking the lyric translation, though, it was expressing the hopes of an itinerant musician, as winter approaches, and the road becomes too cold, for travelling; that he will be invited in by a cordial host, with a warm home, well-stocked with foodstuffs. Nearly the entire song is comprised of a listing of all the delectable things, he dreams of eating: roasted capons, legs of mutton and venison, and assorted, wrapped cheeses, "in fine wicker baskets." So even though I would never have guessed this hungry musician was singing about food, it was, nevertheless, a love song, of sorts. <iframe width="372" height="300" src="" title="The Courtly Art of the Trouveres" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> I seem to have succeeded, in cueing it up for everyone, from among all the short pieces (6 or 7), jammed in this 7 1/2 minute track. The one I'm talking about, and should be the first you hear, is the fourth one in the track, coming at around the 2:50 mark, and lasting for 1minute, 45 seconds.
I unfortunately can't do sound here at work, I'll check it out at home over the weekend. Meanwhile, this is one where the music is secondary to the words....
I really like the melody of some heavy metal songs but trying to decipher the lyrics to a heavy metal song can be more than daunting. Oh well, I don't like lyrics as much as the melody anyway
That would have to be your answer-- if Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground, are your favorite band. IMO, that is. (Hope you don't mind, a little, friendly teasing).
Thanks for thinking to share this with me. It leads me to remember a consideration that I'd not mentioned, in my last post: it is very interesting to me, the way people differ, in their beliefs, both as to what the actual lyrics are, in many songs, as well as-- since song lyrics are often left obscure, allowing listeners space, for interpretation-- what is the meaning of various lyrics, what a given song is trying to say. Sometimes this is a legitimately subjective question, though other times it is very much a matter of subjectively changing the lyrics, to hear what one wants to hear. For instance, I remember listening to a female acquaintance, singing STP's "Plush," but thinking not that it was not talking about a guy, who'd murdered a girl, but rather some sort of declaration of female freedom, singing, "She got time to wait for tomorrow, she'll find it... "
the first time i heard Iggy i was put off, then after a while it was just the FORCE of his presentation, off the wall lyrics and driving force
I had to look those lyrics up. I'll have to absorb them for a bit, but I don't 'feel' murder, I feel more of a state of mind.
That gènrè is not for all, unfortunately. But I have found that pretty much all have some deep meaning in their lyrics. It's decipering the message being conveyed that is the challenge.
