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Unread 30 Dec 2006, 02:34   #49
Boogster
I dunno...
 
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Re: the power of music!

Quote:
Originally Posted by All Systems Go
All you seem to be saying is that you dislike bad poetry, which seems a rather obvious thing to say. I'm not sure what criteria you are using to seperate 'lyrics' and 'poetry' into different categories. What if a great poem was sung/read over a good piece of music. What's the difference? Also, what about rap?
I do dislike bad poetry, I suppose, but what I'm getting at is that bad poetry might nevertheless be an excellent lyric. The difference between lyrics and poetry is a fairly simple one; as I understand it, lyrics are intended to be accompanied by music and poetry is not*. So it follows that a lyric should not be subject to the same critical appraisal as a poem. I think that, strictly speaking, a lyricist writing properly should never write a poem in any case - because he/she must always write with the music in mind. If the lyric does not match the music sonically, rhythmically or emotionally it has failed. A poem, on the other hand, is intrinsically separate and internally defined block of language in which the music should be the language itself.
My 'point' (haha you say) is: if a great poem were sung or read over a great piece of music one would be able to fully appreciate neither. They would jar, having not been written with the same purpose in mind.
I'd say good rap would be a prefect example of what I'd call a lyric: words written with for and to complement piece of music, and not poetry for those very reasons.


*Having said all this, I am aware that this distinction is a fundamentally modern one. Historically speaking, the two were combined in the figure of the bard. It becomes even more difficult to justify what I'm saying if we remember the resolutely oral (and aural) nature of poetry. Probably a lot of people would disagree with me.



Quote:
So if you can apperciate lyrics when they're written down then they aren't good lyrics?

the effect of music on words can be far more effective than either on their own, e.g. dark lyrics sung over happy music.
Not exactly. Of course you might be able to appreciate a lyric without music. But there should feel as though there is something missing, or, once you've heard the lyric with its music, it should be obvious that the two fit together, that the meaning has been amplified in some way.
As for your point; the effect of music on words can be absolutely beautiful of course, but I'm not sure it supercedes the beauty of either individually. Mind you, who's to judge?
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