OFF: Lyrics (was Duran Duran)

[Keith A Henderson]

Alex sayz...
>
> Keith A. Henderson explains :
> >I suppose it's just that I really don't see why I would want to really care
> >about the feelings/inspirations/political leanings-whatever, of people I've
> >never met.
>
> Hmm... Do you ever read any novels ? I mean, it's the same.

Yep...occasionally.  And because they just happen to be the same novels that
are the basis for much of what Hawkwind writes lyrics about, it makes for an
easy comparison.  And no, it's not the same.  Although Bob Calvert's (or
Brock's) lyrics may represent the same basic ideas and may even tell a story to
a certain extent, I can't say I get very much out of reading the lyrics off the
liner notes (or the now-secret lyric database) vs. reading Moorcock's Dancers
at the End of Time.  Anything else about the lyrics is purely aural....the
(poetic) meter of it, and the delivery/expression of the vocalist.  The meaning
behind the lyrics is purely static, and as a music fan first and foremost,
pretty negligible compared to the dynamic 'aural' qualities.

> Lyrics don't just convey messages, but often tell *stories* as well. Look at
> BOC's lyrics, they most of the time tell stories. I'm listening to "Monsters"
> right now, for instance, which has some of the finest lyrics BOC has
> written, IMO, with a really funny story - not to mention "Imaginos", which
> is ENTIRELY based on the lyrics. If you don't listen to them, then you'll
> never understand what the whole fuss is about.

Musical lyrics are a bad way of telling a story it seems.  They're difficult to
understand often, and the metered nature of the tune limits one's abilities to
convey a sequence of ideas/events.  I suppose that should make it even more
satisfying/challenging to try to do it well, but I see it as far secondary to
the writing/arranging of the actual song.  The only way I've ever seen to
easily tell a story through music is to do it in a multi-media fashion - with
spoken bits and video/acting.  Queensryche did it well with Operation:
Mindcrime, Pink Floyd's The Wall also comes to mind, The Who has done it a
couple of times (not quite as well), and Hawkwind even attempted something like
it with the Chronicle of the Black Sword tour (Moorcock on board).  I didn't
feel like it (CotBS) added a single thing of interest beyond what I had gained
from reading the novels years before.  And Operation:  Mindcrime done live in a
rock opera kind of setting was really quite interesting, but when I go back and
listen to the studio album now, it doesn't matter to me that I now know what
the whole story is about - it still sounds exactly the same.  If they went and
made a movie of this story, I'd go and see it and enjoy it for what it was
worth.  But this is entirely separate from the practice of 'listening' to music
for me....I hear sound.  When I read or watch video, I imagine ideas/concepts.
I don't see that as a limitation on my enjoyment of music....rather I'm just
really intensely focussed on the dynamical & rhythmical character of music,
such that anything apart from that is diversionary.

And what is Imaginos anyway???  I quite like that album, but never realised
until reading the Goldmine article that it was supposed to be about something -
sorry, Albert.  I suppose musical artists *want* to try to be 'novelists'
through their own work, so I guess it's probably disappointing to them when
their audience just doesn't *get* it, or doesn't even really try.

> >> >> "My Antarctica"
> >> >
> >> >There's an oxymoron for you.....
> >>
> >> Hmm ? What do you mean ? I'm not familiar with that word, "oxymoron"...
> >
> >Simply speaking, it means 'Contradiction in terms'.....all I'm trying to say
> >is that Antarctica isn't "owned" by anyone, so it can't be "mine".
>
> Oh, okay. Well, if you listen to the lyrics :-) you'll find out that they
> don't really mean the "real" Antarctica. It's just a figure of speech. They
> imply a place difficult to reach, secret, deserted, etc... See, that's also
> why lyrics are important : they help you understand things which you might
> otherwise misunderstand.

Well, these days, Antarctica is pretty easy to get to compared to some other
places in the world (like Tibet, for instance).  And I didn't learn that from
listening to lyrics... :)

Keith H. (FAA)

ObCD:  Broth - The Love Cowboys