Prog often Plagued by Poor Lyrics? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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Alitare

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Posted: May 28 2012 at 17:26

No, I'm asking. I've been on an interesting music kick lately.

The Dark Elf View Drop Down

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Posted: May 28 2012 at 17:29

Alitare wrote:

No, I'm asking. I've been on an interesting music kick lately.

Well, for one, I think the dyed black hair when he was 80 was a little over the top.

Other than that, I see nothing wrong with Mr. Orbison. "Blue Bayou" and "Crying" are lovely songs. Not my cup of tea, but I would not deign to tell you what to listen to.

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to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...

Alitare

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Posted: May 28 2012 at 17:48

That's a frightening image by itself. I dunno. I believe I've become obsessive over time. My mind breaks it down this way:

I could read a book for six hours.

-Why do that when I can play a video game for four?

--Who do that when I can watch a film in two?

---Why do that when I can watch an episode of the Twilight Zone in half-an-hour?

----Why do that when I can listen to a 7 minute song?

-----Why do that when I can listen to a 2 minute song?

But that is something else. When it comes to lyrics, as with most anything, wasn't Theodore Sturgeon relatively close to the mark?

KingCrInuYasha View Drop Down

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 01:09

Alitare wrote:

What the hell is wrong with a solid Roy Orbison single?

Nothing. "Pretty Woman" is a classic, and no, I'm not talking about the Van Halen version. LOL

That reminds me: one of these days I need to get a decent Roy Orbison comp.

He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball!

coolerking View Drop Down

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 09:34

I remember Q magazine reviewing (I think) Big Generator and they said Jon Anderson's lyrics would struggle to get a pass in A level English.

He definitely comes up with certain phrases that fit beautifully to certain passages of the music but in general I find his lyrics incomprehensible.

areazione

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 10:32

prog058 wrote:

This could also be called the Fish appreciation thread.

Prog bands, while excelling musically, are often lackluster in the lyrical department.

Most prog musicians probably don't take an interest in language and literature, and this is probably the reason why.

What are your thoughts?

I usually don't pay attention to lyrics. When I'm willing to do so, I prefer opera or poetry. Playing the perfect music for the perfect words, and viceversa, is such a divine effort that only a few can achieve entirely.

As Churchill once claimed "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time". Stated in different words, "prog lyrics are the worst form of word composition, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time".

Umbra profunda sumus, ne nos vexetis, inepti; non vos, sed doctos tam grave quaerit opus

Mr. Maestro View Drop Down

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 11:36

For a very long time, I didn't pay much (if any) attention to lyrics - they just weren't a factor for me in enjoying prog. To a great extent, they still aren't, but I think I can now appreciate really good lyrics when I hear them. Discovering VdGG and Peter Hammill probably had a lot to do with that.

Anyway, I don't really think prog lyrics tend to be any worse than the lyrics of other genres - it's just much more jarring to hear awful lyrics combined with such sophisticated music as prog.

"I am the one who crossed through space...or stayed where I was...or didn't exist in the first place...."

colorofmoney91 View Drop Down

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 12:49

Progressive rock lyrics have never really gotten to me in an emotional way or whatever. But I don't think people listen to prog for the lyrics, so it barely matters anyway.

Hanashukketsu

JJLehto

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 13:09

Yup

Alitare

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 17:11

Oh give me your lips for just a moment and my imagination will make that moment live. Mmm, give me what you alone can give - a kiss to build a dream on.

JJLehto

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Posted: May 29 2012 at 18:08

colorofmoney91 wrote:

Progressive rock lyrics have never really gotten to me in an emotional way or whatever. But I don't think people listen to prog for the lyrics, so it barely matters anyway.

This manrobot speaks truth

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: May 30 2012 at 04:17

One shouldn't take Dy'er Mak'er seriously, it's a parody.

I've no problem with the less than great lyrics from other genres, as they normally don't advertise themselves as sporting fancy lyrics. Wink

ZeppelinTull View Drop Down

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 06:02

Have you ever listened to the album by Genesis called: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway? It has some of the greatest lyrics and music i've ever heard.

Find a queen without a king,
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings...

Stevo

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 07:35

coolerking wrote:

I remember Q magazine reviewing (I think) Big Generator and they said Jon Anderson's lyrics would struggle to get a pass in A level English.

He definitely comes up with certain phrases that fit beautifully to certain passages of the music but in general I find his lyrics incomprehensible.

That used to really bother me about YES, until I started to think of his lyrics like I would an impressionistic painting. They are very effective at creating a mood , or a suggestion of a scene.

Horizons

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 07:56

Stevo wrote:

coolerking wrote:

I remember Q magazine reviewing (I think) Big Generator and they said Jon Anderson's lyrics would struggle to get a pass in A level English.

He definitely comes up with certain phrases that fit beautifully to certain passages of the music but in general I find his lyrics incomprehensible.

That used to really bother me about YES, until I started to think of his lyrics like I would an impressionistic painting. They are very effective at creating a mood , or a suggestion of a scene.

That's how they're supposed to be interrupted. Not all lyrics have to be blatant stories, or have zero subtlety. They can be ambiguous, mysterious, abstract. Too me, lyrics are another instrument. They can just sound good to make me connect to them, not talk about losing a love one or whatever.

Edited by Horizons - June 01 2012 at 07:56

Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.

Alitare

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 09:31

What's wrong about writing about losing a loved one? That, in and of itself, can be ambiguous.

Take, for example, Cohen's 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. It is effectively a song about losing a loved one (two of them, possibly). The song isn't regarding losing a loved one in death, but in betral, secrecy, grief, jealousy, regret, and virulent acceptance. It is so ambiguous and vague, yet scathingly direct. It ain't prog, either. Of course, hardly anybody could beat L. Cohen at the lyrics game, prog or otherwise. When it comes to pure poetry, I'd take him over Dylan (although not musically, not ever).

I don't think I had a relevant point, though. I just had 'Famous Blue Raincoat' going on in my head - among others. And the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend. And all the rain fell down, amen, on the works of last year's man. So bitter, so deep, so striking and well-written. I wish he'd stop making music and just release beat poetry (which is kinda what he's doing now, too bad his voice is wrecked beyond repair).

Snow Dog

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 09:35

ZeppelinTull wrote:

Have you ever listened to the album by Genesis called: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway? It has some of the greatest lyrics and music i've ever heard.

No. We don't know that one.

Monadology View Drop Down

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 17:32

Horizons wrote:

That's how they're supposed to be interrupted.

So you're not supposed to sing with the song? Concerts must've been interesting. Wink

Dellinger

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 18:39

Horizons wrote:

Stevo wrote:

coolerking wrote:

I remember Q magazine reviewing (I think) Big Generator and they said Jon Anderson's lyrics would struggle to get a pass in A level English.

He definitely comes up with certain phrases that fit beautifully to certain passages of the music but in general I find his lyrics incomprehensible.

That used to really bother me about YES, until I started to think of his lyrics like I would an impressionistic painting. They are very effective at creating a mood , or a suggestion of a scene.

Indeed, that's what Jon Anderson himself has said. He sometimes chooses lyrics for how the words sound together, not necessarily for their meaning. For him lyrics (not only vocals) are another instrument. I think it's an interesting idea. I wouldn't like everyone doing that kind of stuff, though. Still, I think Anderson went over the top with his lyrics for Close to the Edge, talking about seasoned witches and rearanging livers.

Dellinger

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Posted: June 01 2012 at 18:43

ZeppelinTull wrote:

Have you ever listened to the album by Genesis called: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway? It has some of the greatest lyrics and music i've ever heard.

Yeah, I know that album and those lyrics. And they don't do anything to me but put me away from some of the songs. I don't really like those "funny-like" lyrics and so on, about slippermen with squeaky feet, and serpents with female faces and so on. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy and mythology, I just don't like the way Gabriel paints those fantasy images in my head. I would say the same things about songs like "Musical Box", "Return of the Giant Hogweed", "Fountain of Salmacis", and "All in a Mouses Night" (though that last one wasn't Gabriel's work).