Hey,
So, in this week's installment of my series on lyrics, I will be breaking down repetition. Repetition is a commonly used literary technique and a fantastic one, at that. However, like everything else in music/literature, a little goes a long ways. Unfortunately for us, most mainstream musicians have yet discover this. On the other hand, alternative musicians utilize repetition as a tool, wielding it to accomplish something, whereas mainstream musicians' songs are 80% repetition.
Here are some examples:
First, let's compare "Scream and Shout" by Will.I.AM ft. Britney Spears with one of Noel Gallgher's High Flying Birds' songs.
"When you hear this in the club
You gotta turn the sh*t up
You gotta turn the sh*t up
You gotta turn the sh*t up
When we up in the club
All eyes on us
All eyes on us
All eyes on us
See the boys in the club
They watching us
They watching us
They watching us
Everybody in the club
All eyes on us
All eyes on us
All eyes on us
I wanna scream and shout, and let it all out
And scream and shout, and let it out
We saying, oh wee oh wee oh wee oh wee oh
We saying, oh wee oh wee oh wee oh wee oh
I wanna scream and shout, and let it all out
And scream and shout, and let it out
We saying, oh wee oh wee oh wee oh wee oh
You are now rocking with Will.i.am and Britney, b-tch
[beat break]
Oh yeah....
Bring the action
Rock and roll, everybody let's lose control
All the bottom we let it go
Going fast, we aint going slow, no
Hear the beat, now let's hit the floor
Drink it up, and then drink some more
Light it up, and let's let it blow
Hey yo, rock it out, rock it now
If you know what we talking 'bout
Turn it up, and burn down the house, hooouse
Hey yo, turn it up, and don't turn it down
Here we go, we gon shake the ground
Cause everywhere that we go we BRING THE ACTION."
I didn't finish copying the rest of the lyrics because they just repeat that turning the music up an oh-we-oh crap (what even is "oh we oh?). Wanna guess how many writers came up with that? If you guessed three, then you win 100 blog points (which are totally useless). Yes, three writers actually wrote this. This song pretty much 100% repetition. They rarely, until they get to that dumb verse about drinking up, say any idea just once. How many times is it necessary to remind the listener that your music must be turned up?
Okay, so that sucks. Now, let's look at a good example of repetition with (Stranded On) the Wrong Beach" by Noel Gallgher's High Flying Birds {one of my favorite bands}.
"Falling, I see you on the way down
I'll meet you on the rebound somewhere in between
Calling out across the airwaves
Faces that you can't say are calling out for me
And oh me, oh my, say so long baby, bye-bye
Pour me one for the road, it's a long journey baby
Where it's gonna take me just depends on the weight of my load
Oh no, depends on the weight of my load
So long, I'll see you in the next one
Cause everybody's been and gone, there's no one here but me
And oh me, oh my, say so long baby, bye-bye
Pour me one for the road, it's a long journey baby
Where it's gonna take me just depends on the weight of my load
Oh no, depends on the weight of my load
And oh me, oh my, say so long baby, bye-bye
Pour me one for the road, it's a long journey baby
Where it's gonna take me just depends on the weight of my load
Oh no, depends on the weight of my load
Oh no, depends on the weight of my load
Oh no, depends on the weight of my load
Dry land sinking in the quicksand
Stranded on the wrong beach, come and rescue me."
Here, the repetition accomplishes something. It is not mindless, like Will.I.Am's song. In that other song, the repetition is filler. It feels like the three writers ran out of material and just decided to repeat everything they had already written. In Noel's song, in which he is the only writer, the more he repeats the "....depends on the weight of my load" you can feel the load getting heavier, referencing a long journey that he is about to undertake, whilst carrying something. Good use. :)
Finally, let's look at another use of poor repetition in One Direction's "Rock Me," a silly stab at sexual lyrics.
"Do you remember summer ‘09
Wanna go back there every night
Just can't lie it was the best time of my life
Lying on the beach as the sun blew out
Playing this guitar by the fire too loud
Oh my my they could never shut us down
I used to think that I was better alone
Why did I ever want to let you go
Under the moonlight as we stared at the sea
The words you whispered I will always believe
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me, yeahh
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
I want you to hit the pedal heavy metal show me you care
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
Yeah we were together summer ‘09
Wanna roll back like press and rewind
You were mine and we never said goodbye i-i-i
I used to think that I was better alone
Why did I ever want to let you go?
Under the moonlight as we stared to the sea
The words you whispered I will always believe
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me, yeahh
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
I want you to hit the pedal heavy metal show me you care
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
R-O-C-K me again
R-O-C-K me again
R-O-C-K me again yeah
I want you to
R-O-C-K me again
R-O-C-K me again
R-O-C-K me again yeah
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me, yeahh
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
I want you to hit the pedal heavy metal show me you care
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me, yeahh
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah
I want you to hit the pedal heavy metal show me you care
I want you to rock me, mmm, rock me, mmm, rock me yeah."
Let's play the "guess the number of songwriters game." Ready? 5 writers, yet none of the actual group members. Now, I will admit I see what they did here. :) "Rock me" obviously is referring to sex. I'm not dumb and the repetition is like a rocking motion, happening over and over. However, it's overkill here. You really can have too much of a good thing. They say the phrase "rock me" 23 times. Yeesh. Too much repetition. Cut out a few of them and take out that awful auto-tune and it could be a half decent song. (I said half!)
Next week, I'll wrap up the lyrics series with a topic TBD. Then, I'll get back to highlighting new music and artists.
Until then,
Bella
Showing posts with label Britney Spears. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britney Spears. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Lyrics Part Deux
Hey,
Welcome back to second installment of the new series I'm starting on lyrics! Last week, I compared Mutemath and Katy Perry and the depth of their lyrics and this week, I am going to explore the songwriting phenomenon of good songwriting versus good line writing.
Now, what exactly do I mean by that?
In essence, some songs are well written while others have one stand-out line with a bunch of meaningless lines. I do not, by any means, expect all artists to make every single line of every single song the most amazing things ever. I'm being realistic.
Do you remember a couple of years ago when "Airplanes" by B.O.B ft. Hayley Williams came out? Every single thirteen year old drama queen and her best friend would change their facebook status to "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky/are like shooting stars/I could really use a wish right now." Yes, I admit that is a pretty creative line; I'm impressed. However, the rest of the song is just about B.O.B whining about trying to be discovered and gain notoriety and blah-blah-blah. It's crap. Especially compared to that one line.
That is a prime example of good line writing.
Next, let's look at an example of good songwriting, "But It's Better If You Do" By Panic! At The Disco. This band is known partially for the fact that all of their songs are freaking amazing and partially because their lyrics kick some major butt. Ryan Ross, who wrote this song and eventually left the band, is a relative lyric genius, maybe one of the great songwriters of the 2000's. Still, Brendon Urie filled his role after he left and is doing a brilliant job. I digress.
"Now I'm of consenting age to be forgetting you in a cabaret
Somewhere downtown where a burlesque queen may even ask my name
As she sheds her skin on stage
I'm seated and sweating to a dance song on the club's P.A.
The strip joint veteran sits two away
Smirking between dignified sips of his dignified peach and lime daiquiri
And isn't this exactly where you'd like me
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, and isn't this exactly where you'd like me
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, but I'm afraid that I
Well, I may of faked it
And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place."
Well, it may not take a genius to figure out that this song is about a guy trying to forget about a girl and looks for pleasure in a strip club. It's one of Panic's more risque songs and I was hesitant to use it on here, but it's one of my favorite songs in a lyrical sense. In this song, all of the lines pack a punch of some kind. It's narrative, telling a story of a guy's experience, not just physically and emotionally and mentally. All of lines contribute to the overall tone--regret, remorse, and contemplation. Where B.O.B's track switches between Hayley's wishful tone and his bragging, swaggering, tone, it just does not flow. It's one great line smushed in between the other bad lines. With Panic's, it's a bunch of fantastic lines all put together, so that the song flows, without any unnecessary dissonance. Dissonance is a strong literary device, but B.O.B's song just contradicts.
Another example of fine line-writing is the chorus of Britney Spears' "Gasoline."
"Spark and it's like gasoline
I start burning like a machine
My heart only runs on supreme
So hot, give me your gasoline"
Terribly sexual in nature, it's honestly just another example of someone being crafty with euphemisms. Anyways, I still see it as "good" because it's rather creative. Not to say if Panic! came out with this song I'd call it good; I'd be pretty disappointed because I know they're better that that. But, this is Britney, the woman who sings about how toxic some dude is and how she's in love with criminals (my butt, you are). So, considering this is Britney (and I don't actually think she wrote this :D), it's passable.
So, this guy is making her cray-cray and she wants his "gasoline." Hmm, whatever could that be? :)
Well, that wraps it up for this week. Next week, I will talk about the use of repetition in lyrics and try to pick some less disturbing songs.
Until then,
Bella
Welcome back to second installment of the new series I'm starting on lyrics! Last week, I compared Mutemath and Katy Perry and the depth of their lyrics and this week, I am going to explore the songwriting phenomenon of good songwriting versus good line writing.
Now, what exactly do I mean by that?
In essence, some songs are well written while others have one stand-out line with a bunch of meaningless lines. I do not, by any means, expect all artists to make every single line of every single song the most amazing things ever. I'm being realistic.
Do you remember a couple of years ago when "Airplanes" by B.O.B ft. Hayley Williams came out? Every single thirteen year old drama queen and her best friend would change their facebook status to "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky/are like shooting stars/I could really use a wish right now." Yes, I admit that is a pretty creative line; I'm impressed. However, the rest of the song is just about B.O.B whining about trying to be discovered and gain notoriety and blah-blah-blah. It's crap. Especially compared to that one line.
That is a prime example of good line writing.
Next, let's look at an example of good songwriting, "But It's Better If You Do" By Panic! At The Disco. This band is known partially for the fact that all of their songs are freaking amazing and partially because their lyrics kick some major butt. Ryan Ross, who wrote this song and eventually left the band, is a relative lyric genius, maybe one of the great songwriters of the 2000's. Still, Brendon Urie filled his role after he left and is doing a brilliant job. I digress.
"Now I'm of consenting age to be forgetting you in a cabaret
Somewhere downtown where a burlesque queen may even ask my name
As she sheds her skin on stage
I'm seated and sweating to a dance song on the club's P.A.
The strip joint veteran sits two away
Smirking between dignified sips of his dignified peach and lime daiquiri
And isn't this exactly where you'd like me
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, and isn't this exactly where you'd like me
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, but I'm afraid that I
Well, I may of faked it
And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place."
Well, it may not take a genius to figure out that this song is about a guy trying to forget about a girl and looks for pleasure in a strip club. It's one of Panic's more risque songs and I was hesitant to use it on here, but it's one of my favorite songs in a lyrical sense. In this song, all of the lines pack a punch of some kind. It's narrative, telling a story of a guy's experience, not just physically and emotionally and mentally. All of lines contribute to the overall tone--regret, remorse, and contemplation. Where B.O.B's track switches between Hayley's wishful tone and his bragging, swaggering, tone, it just does not flow. It's one great line smushed in between the other bad lines. With Panic's, it's a bunch of fantastic lines all put together, so that the song flows, without any unnecessary dissonance. Dissonance is a strong literary device, but B.O.B's song just contradicts.
Another example of fine line-writing is the chorus of Britney Spears' "Gasoline."
"Spark and it's like gasoline
I start burning like a machine
My heart only runs on supreme
So hot, give me your gasoline"
Terribly sexual in nature, it's honestly just another example of someone being crafty with euphemisms. Anyways, I still see it as "good" because it's rather creative. Not to say if Panic! came out with this song I'd call it good; I'd be pretty disappointed because I know they're better that that. But, this is Britney, the woman who sings about how toxic some dude is and how she's in love with criminals (my butt, you are). So, considering this is Britney (and I don't actually think she wrote this :D), it's passable.
So, this guy is making her cray-cray and she wants his "gasoline." Hmm, whatever could that be? :)
Well, that wraps it up for this week. Next week, I will talk about the use of repetition in lyrics and try to pick some less disturbing songs.
Until then,
Bella
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
