Lyrix

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I've always thought of the Kinks as being founding fathers of a lyrical strain in British pop - wit, "character songs", satire gentle and vicious, etc etc.

I wonder if this is just received wisdom though - not that the Kinks didn't do it and weren't good at it but their peers often did it too, so maybe it's the way they delivered the lyrics vocally or the melodies they set them to that give me that impression.

Anyway, I'd like to know what you think about lyrics - when you notice them, how highly you value them, and so on.

Or actually, let's make this more concrete: what recent records do you think have good lyrics?

Comments

[celentari.livejournal.com]

I'd rather listen to something uninteresting musically with great lyrics than the other way around. I'd rather dance to the opposite.

Best of all are acts like Fiery Furnaces and Luke Haines, who have tunes which score high on both sides.

Some rap etc which has really misogynistic lyrics requiring that I grind/take/off clothes/etc etc i can't dance to even if the tune is good, because it would feel like an endorsement of the sentiment.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The "endorsing of the sentiment" thing is what puts me off Luke Haines actually - I feel like by advocating him I'm advocating his curdled misanthropy, which even though I feel curdled and misanthropic sometimes concerns me. Maybe I worry about it because I feel I agree with bits of it.

[celentari.livejournal.com]

Ah, but he's all ironical and stuff. Cough. Actually I think it's more that I feel like his misanthropy is at least a facet of my personality, and therefore it's ok. It's more when I disagree with something totally it turns me off.