Cleverness In Pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Do you appreciate what I'm going to call 'cleverness' - wordplay, allusion, non-standard structures, etc. - in pop music? Is it something you look for? Who does it well?

Do you think there's an opposition between cleverness and directness (in emotional or physical impact)? Should pop be cleverer?

(Qn arising from today's Popular entry)

Comments

[koganbot]

Sings: "You can stand your non-standard structures under my umbrella."

Quick answer, Yes I appreciate it, No I don't look for it but then I don't look for anything in particular in all songs, No it doesn't have to get in the way of either emotional or physical impact, in fact can be a means to it, all those times Dylan inserted extra lines into verses for mesmerizing rhythmic and emotional effect, e.g. that example I gave in my book from "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll":

Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level

As for allusions, if you know the references this hits like a delirious but dead-accurate karate kick (Dylan again):

I may look like Robert Ford but I feel just like Jesse James