sounds, part I
"Yes, they're OK, but I'm more into lyrics."
I'm always being dragged into conversations/arguments of this ilk. The Supersucker's lyrics are quotidian at best...but this wasn't about them, and I couldn't let it stand without a fight.
"You don't like music?" I already knew the answer.
"I do, I just like it to...mean something, to make a statement..."
"Why?"
"Because people don't even think about what they're listening to, what it means."
I didn't see the issue. "Why should they?"
"It's just that lyrics can make a good song so much better."
"That's true...they can...but do they always?"
"Probably. It would be better to write something halfway meaningful than just, 'do-dee-doo' for the entirety of a song."
"It might be...it also might not be." I must have sounded like a dick.
He raised his voice now. "When the hell would it ever be preferable to write throwaway lyrics?"
"Lots of great songs have stupid lyrics," I contended. "For a long time, no one wrote about anything but cars and broads, and it was great."
"Maybe to you." Pfft...he would say that.
"OK, what about instrumentals?" I insisted. "What about classical and jazz? Music can have meaning without words."
"Sure, but if there are words, I would prefer that the songwriter strive for a more than just a rhyme."
"I don't really care."
"Words are your thing! How the fuck can you not care?"
"Well...I do...but it's not that important. The music will always always be more important than the words. If a song doesn't rock, why the hell would I bother looking at the lyric sheet?"
"To see if you're missing something?"
"I'm not missing anything. A song that doesn't pull me in musically is a bad song. You can write brilliant poetry to go with it, but if the musical hook isn't there, what's the point?"
"I just think words are important. I think it's part of the equation; you can't just write a catchy riff and expect it to compensate for horribly pedestrian lyrics."
I thought about this, and it made some sense.
"Well, I suppose some lyrics actually distract you with how bad they are..."
He ran with this. "And the words are so horrible, you just wonder, 'who the fuck thought it would be OK to write this shit?'"
"Yes, well...some lyrics are so godawful they ruin the whole song. But others...while they don't look good on paper, can come to life in the context of a good tune."
And this is where I stop and talk about "Louie Louie".
The Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" - frat house overplay notwithstanding - is basically the definitive trash rock single, a brilliantly unrefined pile of 60s pop and slop. It's a party song, one of the best ever written, not because of the painfully obvious three chord riff or the barely discernable lyrics, but because it manages to capture that classic combination of rebelliousness, rock n' roll energy, and naivete so perfectly. The song, originally written by Richard Berry in 1955 as a Jamaican ballad, is as well known for its garbled lyrics and amateurish recording techniques (supposedly done in 1-2 takes; the group thought they were still rehearsing) as for its content; the Kingsmen made the song their own, and their raucous romp became the version most people were familiar with.
Back in the 60s, the lyrics to this song were throught to be obscene, spurring an FBI investigation. It was thought that the Kingsmen had purposefully slurred the lyrics to hide graphic depictions of sex. The song was banned in some markets, and tapes were brought into court. They slowed down the tape speed. They sped it up. They did everything they could to prove that there was some degree of obscenity. But after an investigation that lasted over two years, the words were officially said to be "unintelligible at any speed."
No one really knew what the hell the Kingsmen were talking about (you can read the real words, as well as the supposed dirty ones here). Nonetheless, the song was embraced by millions. "Louie Louie" was primal, exciting, even dangerous, and no had to interpret or derive meaning from the nonsensensical lyrics to realize it.
Rock n' roll, done well, just sounds good.
I'm always being dragged into conversations/arguments of this ilk. The Supersucker's lyrics are quotidian at best...but this wasn't about them, and I couldn't let it stand without a fight.
"You don't like music?" I already knew the answer.
"I do, I just like it to...mean something, to make a statement..."
"Why?"
"Because people don't even think about what they're listening to, what it means."
I didn't see the issue. "Why should they?"
"It's just that lyrics can make a good song so much better."
"That's true...they can...but do they always?"
"Probably. It would be better to write something halfway meaningful than just, 'do-dee-doo' for the entirety of a song."
"It might be...it also might not be." I must have sounded like a dick.
He raised his voice now. "When the hell would it ever be preferable to write throwaway lyrics?"
"Lots of great songs have stupid lyrics," I contended. "For a long time, no one wrote about anything but cars and broads, and it was great."
"Maybe to you." Pfft...he would say that.
"OK, what about instrumentals?" I insisted. "What about classical and jazz? Music can have meaning without words."
"Sure, but if there are words, I would prefer that the songwriter strive for a more than just a rhyme."
"I don't really care."
"Words are your thing! How the fuck can you not care?"
"Well...I do...but it's not that important. The music will always always be more important than the words. If a song doesn't rock, why the hell would I bother looking at the lyric sheet?"
"To see if you're missing something?"
"I'm not missing anything. A song that doesn't pull me in musically is a bad song. You can write brilliant poetry to go with it, but if the musical hook isn't there, what's the point?"
"I just think words are important. I think it's part of the equation; you can't just write a catchy riff and expect it to compensate for horribly pedestrian lyrics."
I thought about this, and it made some sense.
"Well, I suppose some lyrics actually distract you with how bad they are..."
He ran with this. "And the words are so horrible, you just wonder, 'who the fuck thought it would be OK to write this shit?'"
"Yes, well...some lyrics are so godawful they ruin the whole song. But others...while they don't look good on paper, can come to life in the context of a good tune."
And this is where I stop and talk about "Louie Louie".
The Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" - frat house overplay notwithstanding - is basically the definitive trash rock single, a brilliantly unrefined pile of 60s pop and slop. It's a party song, one of the best ever written, not because of the painfully obvious three chord riff or the barely discernable lyrics, but because it manages to capture that classic combination of rebelliousness, rock n' roll energy, and naivete so perfectly. The song, originally written by Richard Berry in 1955 as a Jamaican ballad, is as well known for its garbled lyrics and amateurish recording techniques (supposedly done in 1-2 takes; the group thought they were still rehearsing) as for its content; the Kingsmen made the song their own, and their raucous romp became the version most people were familiar with.
Back in the 60s, the lyrics to this song were throught to be obscene, spurring an FBI investigation. It was thought that the Kingsmen had purposefully slurred the lyrics to hide graphic depictions of sex. The song was banned in some markets, and tapes were brought into court. They slowed down the tape speed. They sped it up. They did everything they could to prove that there was some degree of obscenity. But after an investigation that lasted over two years, the words were officially said to be "unintelligible at any speed."
No one really knew what the hell the Kingsmen were talking about (you can read the real words, as well as the supposed dirty ones here). Nonetheless, the song was embraced by millions. "Louie Louie" was primal, exciting, even dangerous, and no had to interpret or derive meaning from the nonsensensical lyrics to realize it.
Rock n' roll, done well, just sounds good.
posted by Pj at 2:05 PM
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