Great Music/Horrible Lyrics and Vice-Versa
 

I was listening to Highwayman on the way into work today. It struck me that I really like the music, but that I find the lyrics to be quite silly. The move to dam builder and then spaceship captain and then drop of rain just does not really do it for me.

Then it stuck me that lots of songs probably have that flaw--either great music with poor lyrics or poor music covering up some pretty great lyrics.

What are some of your favorite examples?

We skipped the light fandango
turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
but the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
as the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
the waiter brought a tray


And so it was that later
as the miller told his tale
that her face, at first just ghostly,
turned a whiter shade of pale


She said, 'There is no reason
and the truth is plain to see.'
But I wandered through my playing cards
and would not let her be
one of sixteen vestal virgins
who were leaving for the coast
and although my eyes were open
they might have just as well've been closed

I'm sure there are a ton of pop songs that have catchy hooks but awful lyrics.

More in the spirit of what you're looking for, does anybody remember the "band" Enigma? It was basically a one-man studio creation that had a really cool debut album that was almost entirely instrumental -- it was really different and creative and was a surprise hit.

Then the guy decided to start doing adding lyrics, and he was just horrible at it. I mean, it was grade-nine-girl-poetry bad. Just awful, cringe-inducing stuff, layered over top of music that was still unique and interesting. So you'd get these creative beats with international chanting and other sounds you'd never heard before, but meanwhile this guy is singing stuff like "don't care what people say, just follow your own way". It was a very conflicting listening experience.

From the ice-age to the dole-age
There is but one concern
I have just discovered :

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

As anthony said to cleopatra
As he opened a crate of ale :

Oh, I say :
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

Send me the pillow ...
The one that you dream on ...
Send me the pillow ...
The one that you dream on ...
And Ill send you mine

Stop
Collaborate and listen
Ice is back
With a brand new invention

Return To Innocence? I liked that song. *ducks*

Is that the "no more I love yous."

this is a terrible example for so many reasons

That's the "Just believe in destiny, I don't care what people say, just follow your own way, Think about and reach the chance, its the return of innocence."

And that was from memory (I may have fucked up some of the lyrics). :D

This isn't quite an example for the OP's question, but the other night on the radio I heard a live version of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" and it struck me as very incongruous to hear people cheering the lyrics, especially the opening ones (about a young woman throwing her newborn baby in a dumpster).

All of which leads me to believe that most people doesn't actually listen to the lyrics.

I'll never forget the time I was driving home, and the song Cowgirl in the Sand came on the radio. They actually paused the song halfway through for a commercial break.

I did too. I would have liked it even more if the guy wasn't babbling his nonsense over top of it.

"Be yourself, don't hide, just believe in destiny..." what is that, a line of dialog from the cutscene before the final boss fight in a Final Fantasy game?

I agree. Its the same as people who use "Born in the USA" as a pro-war song. My favorite was the National Review's list of top 50 "conservative" songs, which included The Clash (Rock The Casbah), CCR (Who'll stop the Rain), and The Crickets (I fought the law). :D

Then again, this isn't a conservative liberal thing - I've heard people singing along to Brick, having absolutely no clue what that song is about.

Uh, that would be anything off of my cousin's album. He's a great guitarist, but please don't sing.

Coast to coast
LA to Chicago

LOL


whats bad is that isnt the worst lyrics in that song

That song, Butterfly, by Crazy Town will always dominate this category with me.

They come from the land of the ice and snow.

i normally dont know what songs are about.

I don't even know who Brick is.

The song that bothers me to this day is Another Brick in the Wall. On one hand, Waters seems sincere when he laments how badly kids were treated by the teachers. But then the chorus goes "We don't need no education". What does he mean? That really they do and are too stupid to realize it or that it's better to use your colloquial accent than let yourself be indoctrinated. And then he's up there at Global Warm Earth Day with a bunch of children singing this song. Roger, what the hell???

What, you're not into Zeppelin's Tolkein period?

Great music/horrible lyrics

imigrant song is not one of my favorites (especially after School of Rock), but at least it has a theme. Any song that actually has it's own identity is far better than songs built on cliches that rhyme baby with maybe.

We are your overlords
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Wait for it)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
On we sweep with threshing oar

Here's another:

I shot the sheriff. But I didn't shoot the deputy.

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair
Hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change
hey, hey
Since her return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June
hey, hey



And this song won a Grammy

That makes sense to me? He shot the sheriff, but not the sheriff's deputy...? I don't have the rest of the lyrics for the song memorized though.

Man, I wouldn't put Highwayman up there with horrible lyrics. If you know the entire meaning of the song, it all makes sense.

I would put the original NIN version of 'Hurt' in the great lyrics/bad music category. Johnny Cash really hit the remake out of the park.

I am not sure that anyone would guess what the song is about on their own.

I'm all ears for anything that will help me like this song better. I really love that music.

I completely disagree. I prefer the NIN version.

NIN version = whiny emo
Cash version = genuine sorrow & regret

I disqualify my post, thought we were talking horrible/horrible ;).

"

lol...how can you say that when reznor is the one who penned the lyrics.

People are so quick to call anything emo...

Doesn't matter who penned the lyrics. Cash makes that song his own.

It's just more approachable with Cash, more mainstreamed if you want to say that. Not necessarily on purpose, it goes with his style.

I prefer the NIN version, thought Cash's was alright but don't quite get how it became so popular. It's more or less a straight rip.

It became hip to love johnny cash around the time he died...

It is a song about reincarnation. This wikipedia explains it in more detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highwayman_%28song%29

The extra songs in Guitar Hero 1 and 2 are great examples which remind us that it's really damn hard to put together the three key ingredients in a song: good instruments, good lyrics, and a good singer.

Also, why I think a lot of independent band elitists miss the forest for the threes- they see one good element in a band and miss that there are some mediocre or downright bad ones. Oh, and there are a lot who are just music snobs.

SI

People who call the NIN version of "Hurt" emo don't know what that term means.

I can see liking the Cash version better, especially since you can't really seperate the performance from the fact that he died shortly after and the song works perfectly as a look back on his career. But the NIN version was great in its own right, and even better in the context of the album it was on.

I did like the "clean" version better, though. Exact same song, just with only the piano/guitar, none of the buzzing sound effects.

Well, considering we're talking about the actual lyrics, I don't see how they can be "whiny" when sung by the guy who actually wrote them but "genuine" when somebody else covers them. I mean, the lyrics are exactly the same between versions except for one word.

It's all about the delivery.

In a thread about lyrics?