In Which I am Validated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Last Friday night, Friend #3 and I were in my car.

"Oh! Oh!" I said, "You have to hear this song. I was all into this song a few months ago and for some reason I heard it again and I've listened to nothing else for two days now."

I jumped back to the beginning of Closing Time on the Essential Leonard Cohen CD.

"Oh my," she said eventually. "Well."

"What?"

"I don't know. I don't like it that much."

"You haven't even heard it!"

"Well, yes, I'm listening to it right now!"

"No, you aren't, you're talking. You have to listen to the words," I argued. "Seriously, shut up and listen to this part," I demanded, just as ...

I missed you since the place got wrecked / By the winds of change and the weeds of sex

... came up. How can a person be over forty and not love that? Friend #3 is over forty. I crumpled under the dashboard cooing at that line, and the next one...

looks like freedom but it feels like death / it's something in between, I guess

"I dunno," she said. "I listen to songs for the music. I hear the lyrics eventually, but if I don't like the music then I won't listen to the lyrics."

Then I popped open the door and Friend #3 is now a bloody stain on Highway 170. IN MY MIND.

I don't get this point of view. Gary has the same point of view, sadly. He thinks that the music in a song counts for almost everything and if the lyrics are crap, well, who listens to the lyrics? If he was to weight them, he would say that music counts for 90% and lyrics count for 10%.

It's this viewpoint that nominates the "Um brella -ella -ella - uh -uh" song for a Grammy.

What is with people? In my world, Music = 50% Lyrics = 50%. Please, use both hemispheres of your brain! Plus, if your music happens to contain poetry you can listen to it and it never becomes stale.  I'll listen to Closing Time again when I'm 100 and I'll appreciate other lines, no doubt ...

she's a hundred but she's wearing  something tight.

Just so you know, this year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Madonna, the Dave Clark Five, the Ventures,  John Mellencamp and Leonard Cohen.

Comments

[Friend #3]

That is a very creative and, um, haloperidol-worthy interpretation of that conversation.

1. I liked the words - I like Leonard Cohen's words. (Who sent you a snippet of Leonard Cohen words I love in the first place?)

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

That's Leonard Cohen from memory, dear. I memorized these words.

B. Leonard Cohen CAN'T SING. His voice sounds like Bob Dylan in a corset three sizes too small.

3. SUCKMAHBALLZ

[TheQueen]

Friend #3 - The conversation I reported is "nature to advantage dressed." Yeah, look that up, I had to look up haloperidol. AND if I recall, you had to email your friend who used those words as his signature line. And you are just rubbing it in, aren't you, that you have a good memory and I've only memorized an extra phrase to the Hanukkah prayer this year. AND Leonard Cohen sang quite nicely in his youth, when he was a folk singer. Around the time "Hallelujah" came out, I concede his voice might have declined. AND, in summary, eatmahcurlies.

[TheQueen]

Friend #3 - I still wuv ooo.

[Jammies]

Is it safe to venture into the middle of the catfight to say that I actually rate lyrics as more important than the music? Probably 60/40.

*ducks out of the line of fire*

[TheQueen]

Jammies - I wuv ooooooo tooo.. And Friend #3 is right. About all points, but I can't let her get away with thinking that.

Let's get everyone catfighting! I say 50/50, but I'll come for the lyrics, and I'll stay for the lyrics. The music is just there as a bonus. Even if Steven Page actually sang the phone book, I'd listen to it once, but I wouldn't put it on my iPod.

[Kathy]

Generally, I place lyrics above music (sometimes I think I *read* music rather than listen to it)....but, and this is a pretty big one, it has to be a pretty special songwriter for me to get past a pretty terrible voice. (Granted, my definition of terrible is probably much different than others. I actually like Leonard Cohen's monotone.)

The *low* singers (Cohen, Tom Waits, Nick Cave et al.) are fine in my book. It's guys with high, thin, tinny warbles that leave me wanting to plug my ears with cotton. (Think Bright Eyes, or any of the emo boys du jour.)

[Sherri]

I've a long history as a singer, and thus words are very important to me. However, being in tune is more important. Tune It Or Die is my motto. I can forgive sloppy diction (otherwise Tori Amos would be my idea of hell instead of the goddess she is), but you'd better be working that chord.

I also find myself mentally correcting grammatically questionable song lyrics. Some songs bother me because of questionable grammar. Thus, I love Toby Twinning because he makes up nonsense words for his songs and there is no grammar to bother me.

60% music, 40$ lyrics, unless there are grammatical errors. I don't count punctuation.

Mine is a painful and frustrating world.

[Amy in StL]

I usually don't listen to the lyrics, I'm all about the music. The dumber and easier they are to remember the better. Of course I didn't listen to anything but Classical music until I was in high school. So the only lyrics I knew were in Italian. So it's like a 10%lyrics/90% music split for me. Which probably explains my hatred for all folk and country music.

[pageycooks]

Leonard Cohen is a Zen Buddhist. I read a very interesting article about him last month. I've never heard him sing, though.

[Jacolyn]

my husband feels the same way as gary. I just don't get it!!! The words are the song! Anyway, I love your blog and have been following it for a while.

[TheQueen]

Kathy - Uh-oh - I bought my nephew tickets to a Bright Eyes concert about three years ago. I probably should have listened to them first. Then again, his response was "I can totally get a date to this."
Sherri - Only good grammar. Oh, so no country music for you ever.
Amy in StL - This is beginning to explain why country music is my least favorite.
pageycooks - I think Zen Buddhism is a noble reaction to having someone embezzle 5 million dollars of material attachments from you.
Jacolyn - (Hi! My brother-in-law is a triplet. You have all my respect and admiration) I know. I might go a little overboard - the lyrics need to have progression and character development. AND be grammatically correct. AND be punctuated correctly. To be honest, Gary doesn't even care if the music is that good - he only hears the rhythm anyway.

[KC]

80% lyrics/ 20% music. My hubby thinks that's insane. He says lyrics can be ignored. I totally disagree. It's all about the words!

[TheQueen]

KC - Hmm - now we need to think about lyrics/music in the marriage equation. Are 75% lyrics 25% music lovers only happy with 25% lyrics 75% music fans? Do they always combine to make 100% music, 100% lyrics? This might be a new on-line dating service.