In love with the lyrics
August 5th, 2008 by Wade Tatangelo in News
I’m a big lyrics guy. If a track has vocals, I want to know each word being sung. Back in the pre-Internet era that constituted my youth, the artist either included lyrics with the CD/cassette tape (yeah, I’m that old), or you had to buy books like the one pictured, which I did as a teen. Geeky? Yes. But it’s the only way to properly appreciate songs like “Desolation Row,” “Idiot Wind” and “Jokerman.”
These days, all those classic Dylan lyrics can be found here on his official site. But not all artists are so open with their words. And it troubles me to learn that even less are including lyrics in the liner notes. Anyway, here’s the piece that prompted me to think of yet another way to work Dylan into a blog post.
From The Guardian:
In the old days it was easy: you bought your album, put it on your hi-fi and listened to it while reading the lyrics on the record sleeve. If you were being dumped, again, then knowing all the words to Toni Braxton’s Unbreak My Heart was important.
But a survey released yesterday shows that we are finding it harder to find accurate song lyrics – and we don’t like it.
The National Year of Reading campaign questioned 4,000 people to gauge the importance of lyrics and found that 90% felt that reading the words helped them gain a full appreciation of the music. But 50% said that lyrics are less accessible than they were five years ago, with fewer CDs now carrying the words.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:49 am
If you call yourself old one more time — even in the context of being “that old” to have purchased cassette tapes — I’m going to throttle you to a crimson hue. You’re lucky I’m on vacation, otherwise you’d see my open claws extending over the cubicle right about now.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Sal: My bad. Hope you’re having fun in the Bahamas clutching that umbrella drink.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Lyrics are much more available now than they ever were before. For the last 8 years, merely entering a phrase from the lyrics in question to Google will get you several sites, official or otherwise, with complete lyrics, usually completely accurate. This function of the modern intertubes is one of the things I love about living right now. I actually AM old, and the past really sucked, Mad Men’s portrayal notwithstanding.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:50 am
We just moved and found 4 crates of vinyl stuffed in the back of a closet. We have spent almost every night for the past week reading the lyrics to the most diverse collection of music I’ve ever encountered. I realize you can find it all on the internet but despite all the dust this is damn fine entertainment.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
It’s interesting to compare the lyrics to Gentlemen and Exile In Guyville. Take Be Sweet and Flower.
Be Sweet
Ladies, let me tell you about myself
I got a dick for a brain
And my brain is gonna sell my ass to you
Flower
You’re probably shy and introspective
That’s not part of my objective
I just want your fresh, young jimmy
Jamming, slamming, ramming in me
Both those albums came out the same year. Tracks like Divorce Song (from Exile) and When We Two Parted (from Gentlemen) are like the male and female versions of the same relationship. The albums play off of each other well.
Of course, the albums were written by two people that publicly brag about their sex lives. It would be wild to spend 15 minutes in Greg Dulli’s or Liz Phair’s head.