Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (06/23/89)
Really-From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> This might sound a little strange, but I'm curious about how people listen to a record for the first time. This is a very interesting question which has, in my mind, particular relevance to Kate. In general, I think I would agree with you that when I listen to music for the first time and try to follow along the lyric sheet, I cannot pay as much attention to the music as I would otherwise. Still, it is a good idea because it acquaints you with the true lyrics the first time through. Even if a lyric sheet is not present, often I will listen to a new album for the first time without paying too much attention to it. I find this is often just as good as paying alot of attention since I rarely pick up all the subtleties, nuances, and flavours the first time anyways. Then the second or third times, sometimes certain songs sound kind of familiar in a haunting way (as if I had heard them many times before) -- these are usually the most "accessible" songs or the ones with the real hooks. With music by the likes of Kate, however, I have found that it takes alot longer to get the full impact of the *music* alone (no lyrics). Although some may disagree, what I have always found the most delectable part of Kate's music is not the lyrics, but the music. As an example, the copy of Never for Ever which I have has no lyrics enclosed. For months I had been listening to NfE without understanding 90% of what Kate was saying. Recently, I began to *really* love NfE (I go in cycles among all her albums, oscillating between current faves). The other day, I lifted the lyrics off the lyric-server, and WOW was I off on some of those songs. I suppose now it's nice to know what she is talking about (e.g. in Blow Away, which I think is a superb song, esp. when she says "blow away, blow away, ...," and lists all the dead rock stars), but I honestly think I appreciated the song more when I "imagined" my own lyrics and listened more to the SOUNDS than to the WORDS. When she is saying "vicious" I had thought she was saying "let it shine". That's how far off I was! Of course, it can also go the other way. The Whole Story was the first KB album I bought. Since no lyrics were enclosed, I could only guess at the content of most of the songs. I found Dreamtime to be particularly annoying... until I attained The Dreaming and realized they were saying DRE-A-M-T-I-ME -- sounding out the letters! It was a revelation. Similarly, I had no idea *why* Wuthering Heights was called "Wuthering Heights" until I saw TKI's lyric sheet. In those cases in particular, the lyrics helped alot. But I doubt the experience would have been nearly as exciting if I had seen the lyrics *first*. Upon discovering the true lyrics of songs like these, it is as if I am listening to a whole different Kate song. What a great deal! Double the value and twice as much Kate! +----------------+----------------------+------------------+----------------+ | Mike Mendelson | mendel@m.cs.uiuc.edu | Computer Science | 2414 Beckman | | -mjm | uiucdcs!mendel | U. of Illinois | (217) 244-1372 | +----------------+----------------------+------------------+----------------+
bloch%mandrill@UCSD.EDU (Steve Bloch) (06/24/89)
Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> writes: >Even if a lyric sheet is not present, often I will listen to a new >album for the first time without paying too much attention to it. I >find this is often just as good as paying alot of attention since I >rarely pick up all the subtleties, nuances, and flavours the first time >anyways. Then the second or third times, sometimes certain songs sound >kind of familiar in a haunting way (as if I had heard them many times >before) -- these are usually the most "accessible" songs or the ones >with the real hooks. > >With music by the likes of Kate, however, I have found that it takes >alot longer to get the full impact of the *music* alone (no lyrics). When my ObsKuriTies I tape arrived, I put it on as background music as I worked at the computer. And then I put it on again as background music as I worked at the computer. And again. And only last night, the fourth hearing, did I actually LISTEN to it (so now I know the titles of the songs that have been floating through my head for a week!) This seems to work best for me: I let my subconscious work on it for a week or so, figuring out the words and becoming familiar with the music, before I apply much conscious thought to it, think about what the lyrics mean, and analyze the musical structures. Incidentally, familiarity seems to make a LOT of difference in lyrics comprehension. There are many songs (mostly Kate, Laurie Anderson, and Jane Siberry) for which I've never seen printed lyrics, and friends to whom I play the music can't make out a word, yet almost every word is crystal clear to me simply because I've listened to them so many times. "Imagine, if you will, four hundred million blind, desperate sperm whales leaving the California coast, swimming at fifteen thousand miles per hour, and arriving in Japanese coastal waters in a little under forty-five minutes. How would they be received?" "The above opinions are my own. But that's just my opinion." Stephen Bloch