The trend of Modern Lyrics

thecolourbox

Dominic said:

thecolourbox said:

I've only glanced through this thread, so forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick - is the point made by this thread that rubbish modern lyrics are not as good as good old lyrics? But then also that there is good now and there was bad back then as well?

 There has always been some awful lyrics but it's more a comment on the strangeness of the Lyrics -as somebody above commented "like a rushed diary entry "
 The Ed Sheeran recent songs are a perfect example .
Strange Trend.
Yes ,I am a bit 'old ' but it's hard to argue with lyrics for songs like ;
 My Way
 It was a very good year (Sinatra also )
 and more modern ;You don't bring me Flowers -Streisand / Diamond
 Early Elton/Bowie/Beatles
 Living Years -Mike and Mechanics
 Alan Parsons Project -Old and Wise
Suede - Beautiful ones
Weller -You do Something to me 
etc etc..........There's been good lyrics in every Genre -not just old but this .." I went to the chippy and bought a sausage in batter and ate it before I went round to my mate and the leccy meter was empty..."type lyric is just shite
 

But isn't that like saying art isn't as good as it used to be because you've compared Da Vinci, Michaelangelo and Raphael to Matt the cartoonist from the Guardian?

professorben

randella said:

Dominic said:

Yes, but old bad was better than new bad 

Interesting thought - old bad was maybe backed up by better tuneage though? 

In in terms of modern (last decade or so) I like some modern lyrics that follow the everyday life observations thing. Arctic Monkeys' "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" springs to mind:

Ask if we can have six in

If not we'll have to have two
You're coming up our end aren't you
I'll get one with you
He wouldn't let us have six in
Especially not with the food
He could have just told us no though
He didn't have to be rude

See her with the green dress

She talked to me at the bar
How come it's already two pound fifty?
We've only gone about a yard
Couldn't you see she were gorgeous
She were beyond belief
There was this lad at her side drinking his Smirnoff Ice
Can I buy you a tropical reef?

I agree there's dross about, but wasn't it always the case that you had to filter out the painting-by-numbers tripe in commercial music?

this last bit is quite good. 

Cacofonix

randella said:

Thinking more about this, maybe what's happened is that commercial producers have spotted that the observational thing shifts units and have simply just overcooked the whimsy?

I think it's the fact that many modern lyrics are computer-assisted, so the theme is programmed.  The rest is an electronic thesaurus that fits the theme.

In the golden years of music, it was written by folks, who by definition would evolve in their ideas and abilities.

i somehow can't imagine that songs like the Ballad of Lucy Jordan or Little Wing would get written today.

Cacofonix

HAL9000 said:

Moss said:

It sure was better in the good old days

Tutti frutti, oh rutti,
Tutti frutti, oh rutti,
Tutti frutti, oh rutti,
Tutti frutti, oh rutti,
Tutti frutti, oh rutti,
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!

Got a girl named sue, she knows just what to do.  She knows how to love me, yes indeed, she's all the girl I could done need.  <expressions of euphoria><simulated drum roll - the first beat boxing in fact>

same with that Otis Redding guy, I mean, whistling.  Why couldn't he sing like everyone else does?

Reverend

The great truth is there isn't one 
And it only gets worse since that conclusion 
The irony of being an extension to nothing 
And the force of inertia is now a vital factor 

2015's Exercises in Futility part 1 by Mgla. 
And part 7...

As if you didn't know how it feels to lose.
As if you didn't know how it feels to lose at dice with fate.

At least have some dignity.

As if it wasn't a lifetime spent on connecting the dots,
there was no pattern.
As if the irony was more than a defense mechanism
and we could actually laugh for a change.
As if steel hooks in our backs were more than a nuisance
and we could actually feel something.

Self crucified - missed the right tree.
Tore the wrong eye out.
The hissing of hellfire.
Self crucified - missed the right tree.
For this I've gained a victory.
I burn as I ought to.

As if everything was to be made right one day,
dreams don't come true for people like us.
As if the gods were bored with peace in our hearts 
and their fingers are itchy.
As if we never broke people out of sheer boredom 
and slept calmly among the wastes.

And then, we see bright and clear.

As if we would be someone else,
while mindlessly wandering through the mountains.
As if we would be someone better,
spelling purgatory in Latin alphabet.

Self crucified - missed the right tree.
Tore the wrong eye out.
The hissing of hellfire.
Self crucified - missed the right tree.
For this I've gained a victory.
I burn as I ought to.

As if all this was something more 
than another footnote on a postcard from nowhere, 
another chapter in the handbook for exercises in futility...

Uplifting stuff.  v

english_bob

Here's the real lyrics:

"Castle On The Hill"
When I was six years old I broke my leg
I was running from my brother and his friends
And tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass as I rolled down
I was younger then
Take me back to when
I found my heart and broke it here
Made friends and lost them through the years
And I've not seen the roaring fields in so long
I know I've grown
I can't wait to go home
I'm on my way
Driving at 90 down those country lanes
Singing to "Tiny Dancer"
And I miss the way
You make me feel
And it's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Fifteen years old and smoking handrolled cigarettes
Running from the law through the backfields and getting drunk with my friends
Had my first kiss on a Friday night
I don't reckon I did it right
I was younger then,
Take me back to when
We found weekend jobs, when we got paid
We'd buy cheap spirits and drink them straight
Me and my friends have not thrown up in so long
Oh, how we've grown
But I can't wait to go home
I'm on my way
Driving at 90 down those country lanes
Singing to "Tiny Dancer"
And I miss the way
You make me feel
And it's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
One friend left to sell clothes
One works down by the coast
One had two kids but lives alone
One's brother overdosed
One's already on his second wife
One's just barely getting by
But these people raised me
And I can't wait to go home
And I'm on my way
I still remember these old country lanes
When we did not know the answers
And I miss the way
You make me feel
It's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill

Honestly, I don't get the hate. Sure, there are songs with shitty lyrics in the charts right now- 'twas ever thus, weren't it?- but this one isn't any more or less inane than any number of songs the old farts on here would defend with their dying breaths as rock classics. 

Sambostar

modern lyrics are rubbish.

Clarky

if it's words you're after… Hawkwind….
you get nowhere
you get no air
you get nowhere
you get no air
etc
etc
for ages and ages..

and for some reason I don't understand I love it..

Clarky

ah yeah… and I like One Minute's Silence lyrics..
really gritty and powerful..

PolarityMan

Clarky said:

ah yeah… and I like One Minute's Silence lyrics..
really gritty and powerful..

You should check out mammal.

BintyTwanger77

TTBZ said:

randella said:

Dominic said:

Yes, but old bad was better than new bad 

Interesting thought - old bad was maybe backed up by better tuneage though? 

In in terms of modern (last decade or so) I like some modern lyrics that follow the everyday life observations thing. Arctic Monkeys' "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" springs to mind:

Ask if we can have six in

If not we'll have to have two
You're coming up our end aren't you
I'll get one with you
He wouldn't let us have six in
Especially not with the food
He could have just told us no though
He didn't have to be rude

See her with the green dress

She talked to me at the bar
How come it's already two pound fifty?
We've only gone about a yard
Couldn't you see she were gorgeous
She were beyond belief
There was this lad at her side drinking his Smirnoff Ice
Can I buy you a tropical reef?

I agree there's dross about, but wasn't it always the case that you had to filter out the painting-by-numbers tripe in commercial music?

Love that first AM album, there's loads of great lyrics in it.

One of the great debut albums. Lyrically, Arctic Monkeys are absolutely superb.

BintyTwanger77

As well as Arctic Monkeys, other (more) recent examples of lyrically great bands/acts:

Vampire Weekend

Interpol

The Twilight Sad

PJ Harvey

olafgarten

I don't mind the Arctic Monkeys songs, but their lead singer just comes off as extremely pretentious. 

olafgarten

Another one with bad lyrics is Reignwolf, I though he was good after watching him play The Chain on an electric mandolin, but his original stuff is terrible. 

Fretwired

When I get mad
And I get pissed
I grab my pen
And I write out a list
Of all the arseholes
That won't be missed
You've made my shit list

Reverend

Not nearly enough satan going on

Reverend

Ia iak sakkakh iak sakkakth
Ia shaxul
Ia kingu ia cthulu ia azbul
Ia azabua

Proper lyrics

Clarky

PolarityMan said:

Clarky said:

ah yeah… and I like One Minute's Silence lyrics..
really gritty and powerful..

You should check out mammal.

just scoped some out… very similar vibe…

I think for really messed up lyrics, Hed PE
I love his vocals.. he sounds totally nuts..

Bucket

Y'all need to listen to the Dowling Poole.

From "Adam and Eve (A Secular Hymn)" - 2016:

"We have to raise the bar,
You're close but no cigar for you
Because you're only going to set yourself alight with it."

From "Vox Pops" - 2016:

"Risible beyond contempt,
The squawking of the malcontent.
The temperature will rise
With nothing more than hot air.
Whipped up to a minor storm,
The mewlings of the ill-informed
Will fill the thirty-second slot
And no-one who connects the dots
Or understands the central plot
Will make it any further
Than the cutting room floor."

From "Willing to Change" - 2016:

"But this life is badly scripted,
And riddled with cliches.
It's like looking for gold teeth in God's twisted smile."

Good lyrics are still out there people.

Moltisanti

The thing that annoys me more than the banal lyrics that are very en vogue at the moment, are the thousands of pop tunes that don't even bother and just have a "whoa-a-oh, wo-wo, whoa-a-oh, wo-wo" every 2 bars so that you don;t even need to learn the words to sing along, you just make the stupid noise along with the friendly melody.