Many of us post or lurk here because we know of Todd from his music. I’d like to introduce a songwriting topic that seeks to combine music and philosophy; or at least the philosophy of songwriting. Allow me to elaborate. First, please accept that I have zero songwriting ability. As such, I marvel at those who have this ability. All that follows is offered from merely a music fan, rather than from someone with musical talent, with formal training or even a modest education regarding songwriting. The theory is that over time, inevitably, songwriters will include more and more words in each song as compared to his or her early work. It might even be possible to statically test this theory by measuring the number of words, or syllables even, per minute or bar for a relevant sample of artists. Seems like a good dissertation topic for music majors or a statistics major who loves music. Ah, to attend college again and enjoy such pursuits. Alas, I digress. Allow me to get back on track. Counting words is not good indicator of a quality song. There will be no causal link between the number of words and a song’s appeal, I assert. A good song can possess either volumes of lyrics or very few. The theory that a songwriter will over his or her career become increasing lyrical is merely something I believe based upon unscientific observation. Nevertheless I find this theory worthy of exploration. If there is truly an evolution toward increasingly lyrical-laced songs over one’s songwriting career, it could be fueled by some general themes or influenced by diverse topics including; - Aging, or the wisdom that comes with it, motivating one to say more via lyrics.
- An artist may over time develop stronger preferences (as we seem to do with age I suppose) making him or her write from an increasingly didactical position that merely requires more lyrics and words to make the point.
- Over time a songwriting’s sense of creative freedom might increase and the artist may have a preference to write more lyrics and have less open spaces for melody.
- The influence of rap or hip hop on other genres such as folk, pop, blues, contemporary pop or alternative contemporary pop, given that much of rap or hip hop would be the most lyrically dense music around.
- Songwriters tend to be ‘the vocalist’ as well. Is it possible that the creative process becomes increasingly focused on the singer’s voice as an instrument as compared to the band?
- Perhaps lyrics are more coveted by radio-friendly pop? As a result, there is pressure on an artist to compress songs to a ‘singles’ format thereby sacrificing some of the bars that contain only instrumentation. We all know from ‘70’s FM radio that the only time we heard a song over five minutes was late at night when the DJ was alone needed to micturate. Moreover, the American Idol judges are not going to think a contestant has chosen well his or her music if instead of singing he or she is toe tapping for 45 seconds waiting for the next point to come in.
The most salient example of this theory is, when looking over my personal CD collection, Pink Floyd and Neil Young. If one charts Pink Floyd from inception, through the period when Roger Waters increases his creative influence in the band, it seems obvious that lyrics became increasingly pervasive. Compare Wish You Where Here to The Final Cut. Then, after The Final Cut, when the songwriting falls to David Gilmour, one finds a return to melody and open spaces within the music. U2 might be another good example as Bono seems to be singing before the music even starts and after it ends these days. Again, a good song is not made or lost on the number of lyrics. Further, I’m not offering commentary on Todd’s work as I’m not sure the theory fits his impressive body of work. I do tend to like music where the lyrics are a bit subtle (that does not mean abstract or overly abstract, by the way) and the musical melody compliments the song’s mood. Sometimes a song with an economy of lyrics can speak volumes. It is to me like when an actor can communicate rage with only a motionless facial expression. Eastwood is not a good actor per se, but think of his sneering face in just about any of his moves. Compare this to Pulp Fiction when “Butch” was tearing the hotel room apart over losing his father’s watch. Both philosophies regarding emoting rage are effective, and yet each has a style on to itself. It would be wonderful to explore this further and to read the thoughts of this group. Bless you all. Hawkeye Mike |
