Music sucks these days, or is this what happens when you reach a certain age-you detest the current songs? Rosey Posey is having issues and saying "This is why I can't invite friends over!" because I am listening to More Than A Woman by Tavares. But there are no romantic songs anymore. Look at the lyrics:
Girl, I've known you very well
I've seen you growin' ev'ry day
I never really looked before
But now you take my breath away
Suddenly you're in my life
Part of ev'ry thing I do
You got me working day and night
Just tryin' to keep a hold on youHere in your arms I found my paradise
My only chance for happiness
And if I lose you now, I think I would die
Oh, say you'll always be my baby
We can make it shine
We can take forever just a minute at a time*More that a woman
More that a woman to me babay
More than a woman
More than a woman to me
More than a womanThere are stories old and true
Of people so in love like you and me
And I can see myself, let history repeat itself
Reflecting how I feel for you
Thinkin' 'bout those people then
I know that in a thousand years
I'd fall in love with you againThis is the only way that we should fly
This is the only way to go
And if I lose your love, I know I would die
Oh, say you'll always be my baby
We can make it shine
We can take forever just a minute at a time
I mean that's just a disco song and the lyrics are so much better than anything I have heard on the radio recently.What's up wit dat?
If I felt like thinking hard, I could say how our society has embraced simply using people of the opposite sex for sexual gratification rather than commitment...but I just wanna hear a decent song.
Catchy tunes are what get me first, and then I listen intently enough to actually take in the lyrics...and yes, you're right. A lot of the lyrics are lacking. The thing that bugs me is the trend to do a song of opposites. You know, "I'm sad, but I'm happy. I'm tall, but I'm short." That sort of thing pops up every now and again, and it seems to stem from a lack of anything worthwhile to say.
I was blasting Marvin Gaye and Van Morrison yesterday, and today I was listening to the Offspring and Loretta Lynn, so my tastes are varied. And those were all old songs, the exception being Offspring. I seem to have to search to find the radio versions of songs online as the uncut versions are way too raunchy most of the time (Especially Dre's Next Episode! Ooh boy!).
So let's cheell, til the next episode...
For the longest time as a child, I didn't hear the lyrics of songs at all- at least not "grown-up" songs. I still have difficulty making out lyrics oftentimes, and really have to have the liner notes before me in order to grasp the meaning.
That said, you are right. Go listen to U2 if you care for fascinating, enlightening lyrics.
Gabriel,
I was the same way with lyrics. The voice was like another instrument to me, and often times as a teen I would get in trouble because I would start singing a song with lude lyrics and never have any idea what I was singing. Many times I didn't know half the words anyway and hum most of it out. LOL. Funny thing is, much of the music I got in trouble for back then was nothing compared to what they have now.
I really love With or Without You, btw.
Aah...U2 was my favorite band growing up. I saw them twice in concert and they put on a great show. My absolute favorite of theirs was The Unforgettable Fire (and I like all of their pre-Unforgettable Fire stuff too). I think I wore out my cassette tape from listening to "Bad" so often. lol They lost me a bit with The Joshua Tree, although I really liked Bullet the Blue Sky on that one. I don't have their latest, but I do love the song Vertigo. And yes, I agree on their lyrics. :)
I'm a fan of U2 as well, and so is (gasp!) my 11 year old! Hey! I have a son with taste!
As for horrible songs,... I would have to say that it is more than likely that it is the radio stations (media) who CHOOSE to play the ones with horrible lyrics, and ignore the really good songs out there, but there are STILL good singers and songwriters, they just don't get the attention they deserve. Instead, the media prefers Britney Speares and her "twins". Beurk!
Oh, Patty I don't know if you were refering to Alanis Morissette and her "hand in my pocket" song, but I really liked that song... :) Actually I liked the whole album, whenever I felt a rebel streak come on that's the one I'd listen to... And speaking of good songs, another canadian, Avril Lavigne, has good songs... better than Britney anyway... There's even the one telling a guy off because he just wants to "get in her pants" but she's "not like that". Avril Lavigne was brought up by pentecostal (I think) parents who taught her to wait for marriage. (So I don't know if that means she'll wait for mariage or just for a serious relationship... but I liked the song's message.)
LOL Jeanne, no, I actually didn't even think of Alanis when I said that. There are plenty of other songs out there that do that opposite thing though. I think Alanis has proven through her songs that she doesn't lack any creativity in the lyric department. I also have a well-worn copy of Jagged Little Pill.
I just listened to that Avril song the other day, and I thought, Good girl! It's a catchy tune too. I actually told dh that I thought that it sounded Alanisish. I could do without the sk8ter boy stuff, but this one was pretty good, imo. :)
If you want good songs nowadays you have to listen to country. Even then, the batting average is pretty low, but at least folks like Alan Jackson and Patty Loveless are making some decent records. I keep hearing good lyrics out of Brasil and Mexico, too, but you need to speak Spanish or Portuguese for that to do you much good.
Pop music is dead. Short-sightedly killed by the record industry. Unfortunately pop music is for many people the gateway to more substantial music, so with that gateway zapped, the record industry posts annual figures that shrink each time. 12.5% off (all genres, including classical, where I don't think illegal downloads is too big a deal) was last year's lovely number, and that on 5 or so solid years of declines. Sure, piracy has something to do with it, but the main fact is that the industry keeps pumping out music that no one wants to hear.
But, alas, I could rant about this for hours (and sometimes I do). The issue is dear to my heart and is why I am out of the record business, even though I love that industry and would jump back in it in a second if it ever turned around again.
The decline of the industry machine is actually a good thing- less homogenization of culture & local bands can become a little bit more prominent.
The decline of the industry machine is actually a good thing- less homogenization of culture & local bands can become a little bit more prominent.
In theory, yes. However the reality is much more grim. Without a pop music base to get people into listening to music and caring about music, people are not venturing into regional music, folk music, jazz, classical, etc. they way they used to. Right now is a good time to be a record collector, because more great music is available now than at any other time. I remember having to dig and dig for out of print records of major jazz recordings, but now I can get almsot anything.
The drawback is that anyone who is ten years or more younger than me will probably not think of music as much more than background to a video game or movie. I have known many people who started listening to Cyndi Lauper and, as their tastes grew, delved deeper into music, even into the Baroque. Now, there are these major pop acts that are nothing more than hype and young people spend less time caring about any music.
I would also say that the live music scene is depressing these days. It used to be relatively easy for a band with some talent to actually make a living at it. Now, even musicians who have a good regional reputation have to hold down day jobs.