Music and Lyrics
I often think about this exchange between the two leads of Marc Lawrence’s 2007 romantic comedy Music and Lyrics:
Alex: Lyrics are important. They’re just not as important as melody.
Sophie: I really don’t think you get it. A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. Sex.
Alex: (Laughs.) I so get that.
Sophie: But then, as you get to know the person, that’s the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. And it’s the combination of the two that makes it magic.
Alex, a songwriter played by Hugh Grant, believes that the melody is the most important part of a song. Sophie, a lyricist played by Drew Barrymore, sees the importance of lyrics. More importantly, she understands that the magic of songwriting occurs when the two work together.
There’s a moment in Tori Amos’ “Silent All These Years” when the dust settles, and something has changed. The outsized emotion of the bridge—years go by, will I choke on my tears ‘till finally there’s nothing left—fades away, and we’re left in a slightly different emotional space for the final verse.
Well I love the way we communicate
Your eyes focus on my funny lip shape
Let's hear what you think of me now
But baby don't look up
The sky is falling
I’ve always thought this verse represented a change in circumstance. The narrator has found someone new, someone deserving of her compassion. Here, take hold of my hand.
After I published my episode of Strong Songs about “Silent All These Years,” I heard from a number of people who wanted to share their own interpretations. One compelling reading: The only thing that changed during the bridge was the narrator’s perspective, re-formed by the passage of time. In that final verse, she’s still speaking with her difficult interlocutor from the opening verses (Yes I know what you think of me, you never shut up) but time has changed her, and changed their relationship. It’s your turn now to stand where I stand.
Hearing this, from listeners, changed my own view of the song, at least for now. People change, relationships evolve; a person can be silent all these years, and then finally speak. As the years go by, I’m sure my relationship with Tori’s lyrics will change again, and again.
Help me
I think I'm falling
In love too fast
It's got me hoping for the future
And worrying about the past
'Cause I've seen some hot, hot blazes
Come down to smoke and ash
We love our lovin'
But not like we love our freedom
In Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me,” music and lyrics criss-cross in beguiling ways. Sophie would love this song. The contours of Joni’s melodies move with the emotional arcs of her sentences.
It’s got me hoping for the future — up, up, soaring hope, lingering in the ledger lines — and worrying about the past — a dipping dive, down, to the depths of worry. We love our lovin’ — a floating phrase, a slow-bent apostrophe — but not like we love our freedom — one word, “freedom,” stretched across an odd-meter bar, bottoming out and then leaping upward, a full octave within a single syllable.
In my episode about the song, I had a great time recreating each of the parts from the recording. At the time, I was enamored of Larry Carlton’s bejeweled guitar ornamentations, mostly because I was impressed with myself for being able to play them. But upon further reflection, the most rewarding act of mimicry was also impossible to properly pull off—Joni’s vocals. In poorly attempting to copy Joni’s vocal phrasing, I gained a new appreciation for how effortlessly she could use melody to knit meaning into the lines of her lyrics.
Our love
Our love
Our love is all we haveOur love
Our love is all of God's money
Everyone is a burning sun
Jeff Tweedy closes Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” with one of his most inimitable and interpretable lyrics. In analyzing the song, I tried to avoid interpreting anything at all, opting instead to embrace Tweedy’s belief that his songs’ meanings occur spontaneously as he sings them and then shift over time.
I’ve heard from several listeners who offered their own interpretations of those final, powerful lyrics. Our love is all of God’s money. Everyone is a burning sun. It would defeat the point to share them here, but it seems safe to say that this song has had a profound effect on many, many people. I don’t think it means the same thing to any two of them.
So, Sophie is right: the combination of music and lyrics is what makes a song magic. In hearing from listeners after those three recent, lyrics-focused episodes of Strong Songs, I’ve been reminded of a third, equally vital ingredient: the listener.
The moment a song leaves a singer’s mind, it meets its audience. The magic finds new meaning, and begins to multiply.
Music Recommendations
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy - I’ve gotten an unusual number of requests for a Warren Zevon episode lately. It’ll happen at some point, and it’ll probably be something from this album, which is great.
Wet Leg - Wet Leg - An enjoyably affected rock album that sounds straight out of 2006. I mean that in the best possible way. I can see why these two are blowing up.
Jamison Ross - Jamo - I knew Jamison Ross as a jazz drummer, and had heard him playing with groups like Snarky Puppy. I had no idea he was also a brilliant singer and songwriter. Beautiful stuff on this record.
Juana Molina - Wed 21 - This one came via the Strong Songs Discord listening club, like a few others on this list. I’m always so impressed with people who can use looping in the studio to really build out their songs. Molina’s approach to texture and layering is endlessly creative.
Julian Lage - View with a Room - I’ve been aware of Julian Lage since he was this hotshot Bay Area kid who could play guitar like you wouldn’t believe. The better I get at guitar, the more I can believe, but Lage is still better than I can believe.
Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate - I heard this album’s opening track, “Cold Little Heart,” at the start of every episode of Big Little Lies back when I was watching that show. The extended instrumental soundscape at the start of the full recording makes for a perfect buildup, and really rounds out the song. The sound design on this album is otherworldly.
Tower of Power - Back to Oakland - Back in the day, my buddies Russ Kleiner (drums) and Tommy Harron (bass) helped me understand the mastery of TOP’s Dave Garibaldi and Rocco Prestia. Russ guested on the most recent funk-focused episode of Strong Songs, and whenever I finally do an episode on Tower of Power, I’ll have to have him back. Maybe Tommy’ll be down to come on, too. I cannot believe the rhythm section in this band.
Budgie - Squawk - My pal Tom told me about this band, known I’m sure to anyone familiar with 70s British heavy metal. They’re really cool, and the more I listen, the more I can hear their influence in other groups with which I was more familiar.
Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze - I can’t remember exactly what got me listening to “Summer Breeze” the song, but I went ahead and downloaded the full record to hear what else this group was doing at that time. This is some advanced stuff!
Maya De Vitry - Violet Light - A recommendation via my friend Ruth, who always knows the best new singers to check out. This is a beautiful record full of beautiful songs, with a little more jazz in it than I was expecting. Just the right amount.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - I had heard this band via placement in various ads and TV shows, but had never sat and listened to the album. Cool band, good tunes.
Lettuce - Unify - There are loads of bands out there doing the throwback nu-jazz-funk thing, but Lettuce has been at it longer. You can hear their influences, but they always maintain their own identity. One of the best horn sections going.
Onward
That’ll do it for now. Thanks for reading, and if you’ve been listening to Strong Songs, thanks for listening!
I’ve recently been using Instagram as a way to work up little guitar pieces for an audience, so if you want to see occasional musical performances, follow me over there.
I’ll leave you with this photo Emily took of Appa. I know you can’t actually reach through your screen and touch her nose, and I know that you want to. Sometimes we must accept the things we cannot have.
Take care and keep listening -
~KH
9/30/2022