WAYNESWORLD Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Before I start could I say the following is probably down to my inability to multitask. Something I have noticed over the years when listening to music and even reviewing some of my previous favourite bands is. I now appear to be picking not only the bass lines to hum to but dissecting the whole composition and doing the same at the detriment of the lyrics. On reflection I realised that this is something I have always done and only really learnt backing harmony lyrics as required. Occasionally the main lyrics stick but for me become secondary.It’s like everything is musical but the lyrical content washes over me,even when I make an effort to listen to them . When I was very young and was learning to playI worked in a record shop and used to be able to help parents that we’re trying to buy records for there kids based on a single line of the lyric scribbled on a bit of paper but didn’t know what the record was called. That ability to put the vocal first diminished as I concentrated more on learning to play.Anyone else have this problem. Apologies to all the great lyricist’s out there.Please be gentle concerning my inadequacies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I just posted something similar in the RHCP thread. I don’t think it’s a weakness at all, you’re free to enjoy whatever aspect of the music you like most and that’s that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I find it varies song to song. For some the lyrics are absolutely key but there are others where I still have no proper idea what they are after hearing a song hundreds of times but I just love the song so it doesn’t matter. And there are those where I thought I knew the lyrics then see them written down and clearly didn’t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Lyrics, schmyrics! I am often surprised when handed a chart for a song with lyrics what the actual words were.In many cases I hear the words being sung but don't actually internalise them, that space is taken by the bassline. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I think every musician has a tendency to focus on their chosen instrument. Isn't that normal? FWIW When I hear an interesting track for the first time I find myself analysing it, trying to figure out why it's making my foot tap, why it's drawing me in and moving me. My focus will flit from one instrument to another in an attempt to solve the riddle. Being a bass player it makes sense to give a little more of my attention to the bass elements of a given track. Some of this is done consciously, and some subconsciously. I usually find myself humming the bass line rather than the top line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I have the same issue. With most music that I really like, the lyrics are secondary. Usually, I think, because they're not particularly good. I wouldn't dismiss a song because the lyrics are rubbish. An example would be most Lenny Kravitz songs, where the lyrics are usually pretty banal but the tune can be really pretty good. I like many of his songs but couldn't tell what the hell he's singing about to save my life. Then there are other songwriters, that are all about the lyrics. Examples would be, David Bowie, Dylan, Tom Waits etc and although I wouldn't be able to write down the lyrics, of even my favourite songs that they'd written, I'd probably be able to sing along to them as they were playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Yes, I'm a licensed lyricsdeaf. Then again, when we decided to call it music, we did not decide to call it lyrics, now did we? That should answer all your questions. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boodang Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I've been listening to Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane etc for years and never encountered this problem. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Nothing to be ashamed of. It reminds me of my favourite Homer Simpson quote: every time I learn something new it pushes some old stuff out my brain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I have always been like that. I hear the sound of the lyrics, I hear the melody of the lyrics ,but I often don't know the actual words. Trying to learn them on the odd occasion I have taken the lead vocal in a band, has always been the hardest thing for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Some lyrics are the whole point of the song and the sound is just there to give them something to play against. Sometimes the words are just there to go across the music. Some the music is very full and it is up to you what bit you really pay attention to. I tend to do backing singing and some other singing, so I do listen to the words. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAYNESWORLD Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 Well I am feeling far happier to hear it’s not just me. Did think I was letting the side down a bit. I suppose as Ped says as long as we all enjoy what we do the reason is immaterial.Appreciate the input folks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) I usually ignore lyrics, am more into rhythm (hence playing Bass and being into Dub). When I actually pay attention to lyrics I find they are usually fairly inane - just a tool to put melody into words that rhyme rather than some sort of import artistic expression that a lot of singers will have people believe. Edited March 5, 2022 by SumOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony_m Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 If I'm listening to music, then I do tend to pay equal attention to the words and the music, but if I'm playing then normally I'm just following the rhythm of the vocal (treating it as another instrument, I guess) and listening out for the occasional stand-out phrase which signifies something's about to happen / change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I'm the exact opposite to most of the commenters on here. For me, lyrics are what really sets a song apart. Anybody can write and play a foot tapper, but without good lyrics, any song is totally meaningless. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) I am just the same - I've long come to accept that I don't know what some of my favourite songs are really about. You just need to know how to focus this skill and use it to your advantage rather than thinking of it as an inadequacy To be honest, it was such a light bulb moment for me when I realised that deep down, before I could play bass, I would be a bassist - if anyone ever asked me to hum a song, it would always be the bass line first! Edited March 5, 2022 by Dood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) I'm not quite the opposite as I still do the thing of mentally breaking down the instrumentation down into it's component parts, but lyrics really stick with me. Generally if a song has any kind of rotation on the radio I'll pretty much know the lyrics off by heart before long, without making any conscious effort to do so. Although as I listen mainly to mainstream pop on Radio 1 it's not like I'm memorising Shakespeare speeches. Edited March 5, 2022 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 45 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said: I'm the exact opposite to most of the commenters on here. For me, lyrics are what really sets a song apart. Anybody can write and play a foot tapper, but without good lyrics, any song is totally meaningless. Most perple must agree with you as most popular music has lyrics... But, to counter that, most tribal music is rhythm - which entertained humans for 1000s of years, and then classical, jazz, brass bands, dub, most electronic music, etc. I look at it as the equivalent of paintings that looks like what they are ( or sometimes slightly abstract, if lyrics are more poetic) vs instrumental being an abstract painting - conveying a mood rather than a specific story. So I don't think music without good lyrics is meaningless, usually it seems more meaningful to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 La bamba, didn't top the hit parade because the record buying public suddenly spoke fluent Spanish. Lyrics don't matter, this is what The Chicken Song proved. Greatest lyric ever "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah". YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 There's a small boat made in China Going nowhere on the mantle piece It's the same room but everything's dif'rent You can blah the blah but not the ( rhymes with piece) ChOrUs!!!!! Blah de blah de throwaway blah De bla DeBlah de Blah...yada yada.. ChORuS!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 9 hours ago, Downunderwonder said: There's a small boat made in China Going nowhere on the mantle piece It's the same room but everything's dif'rent You can blah the blah but not the ( rhymes with piece) ChOrUs!!!!! Blah de blah de throwaway blah De bla DeBlah de Blah...yada yada.. ChORuS!!!! Funnily enough that's one of the few lines I do recognise ,and it's made OF China, not IN China. The rest is still Blah de blah de blah though!. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robscott Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 22 hours ago, Boodang said: I've been listening to Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane etc for years and never encountered this problem. So What? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 I'll go along with what some others have said..... some music is lyric-centric and some isn't. I do like a lot of music where a lot of the enjoyment comes from the lyrics. For example The Fall.... Mark E Smith is a great wordsmith. Take the Sex Pistols for example.... it was the lyrics which raised them up a level, even though they were already good musically. However I am often guilty of lyric-blindness..... for example at a folk show (where you are supposed to listen to words more than anywhere else) I'll often find myself focusing on the musical layers rather than the lyrical narrative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 I think what I find amazing is that singers often miss out on what the lyrics mean. I love a clever lyric especially in a pop song. How can you tell a story or sing an emotion if you don't know what it is you are singing about. I love little moments like the Nina Simone version of Feeling good where she changes one word (from you to I) and turns a song from a musical into a civil rights anthem. Stars when you shine, you know how I feel Scent of the pine, you know how I feel Oh, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 I like lyrics. Help me to know where I am in a (repetitive) song... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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