Saturday, May 26, 2007

Music and (bad) Lyrics

Recently, more than ever, it has become extremely apparent that song writers are running low on creative fuel. Take, for instance, the popular song belted out by Toby Keith with the chorus "High maintenance woman don't want no maintenance man." I realize that grammatical correctness has fallen by the wayside, but is too much to ask for lyrics that are not so corny that they require their own side of butter? Or, perhaps you've heard the song "Fergalicious". This one is even better than "My humps". If anyone can figure out how the Black Eyed Peas have managed to hang on despite atrocious vocals and lyrics that can only be described (and I'm being generous here) as juvenile, please fill me in. And while we're on the subject of the Black Eyed Peas, has anyone heard the folk rendition of their "junk in the trunk" song by Cheryl Crow? I'm really hoping that Cheryl recorded it as a parody because there is no other explanation for the lack of judgement that this particular choice represented. It is embarrassing to watch artists passionately perform these songs. Today's artists would do well to take lessons from such lyrical greats as U2 or Johnny Cash.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this post. It is so true about the lyrics as well as the music itself. What is this world coming to?

Joe Disch said...

Some of the most painfully awful lyrics I've ever heard are from Helloween's "Dr. Stein. Here are a few samples. You'll have to look up the rest:

Once they killed his monster when it went into a trap
Now he's making better ones on a higher step

On a warm summer day the doctor went away
To a place where he could make it real
His assistant's hips were nice
So he cloned her once or twice
Now his hips are aching what a deal

Dr. Stein grows funny creatures
Lets them run into the night
They become great rock musicians
And their time is right

--------------------
Joe Disch