Please god NO!
Please god NO!
Instrumental music for me too.
As long as the music is the star of the show then I can get past bad lyrics, even insipid lyrics.
Please don't ask questions, just use google.
Never let good music get in the way of making a profit.
I'm only here to reglaze my bathtub.
Ditto on that! I'll tend to forgive any silly lyrics, and there's plenty in prog, as long as the music shines way above!Originally Posted by Hobo Chang Ba
Instrumental music for me too.
As long as the music is the star of the show then I can get past bad lyrics, even insipid lyrics.
Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.
I think Andy Tillison has something meaningful to offer most people lyrically on his efforts. I always enjoy a deep listen to The Tangent to see what's crawling through his mind. I really enjoy any music with meaningful lyrics and it knocks the ball out of the park for me if the music happens to be progressive in nature.
Music first, second & third - lyrics are not important, and some voices can be so annoying that I never get into it.
If the lyrics are really interesting or the vocalist is so good that I get to notice the lyrics (in a language I understand), then maybe.
e.g. Jack Bruce, Jim Morrison, Nico, etc.
My approach, like so many others here, is the exact opposite of the OP's. Some musical artists are also poets, and can manage some interesting lyrics. But its quite rare. I mean in all genres, not just prog. Most rock lyrics are rather silly, but, who cares, its all about the beat, the groove, the kick ass power chords, gettin' laid, etc. Prog suffers more than most from daft lyrics promoting ridiculously pompous conceptual themes which all too often amount to mind candy for adolescents, when they manage to make any sense at all. They are often best when just avant garde, and aren't even trying to make senseSometimes the lyrics are well written and thought-provoking, but even then I don't give a damn if the music isn't interesting. So, music comes first, second, and third to me, then maybe the lyrics.
Nice thread!
If the ideas and lyrics are actually thought provoking and well thought out, I consider that a bonus.
Actually scratch that idea, thats more like finding a gorgeous pearl after shucking a few million oysters, or maybe winning the lottery?
Seems to me there are just so many tons of crap I can actually manage to sift through in my limited time on Earth, so much empty-headed dreck, so much sentimental fluff, that after awhile I'm tuning most of it out.
Bad lyrics that are sung well and delivered with powerful progressive rock music is about what I've come to expect and accept.
Good lyrics or concepts that are paired with shaky prog tunes don't have a chance with me anyways.
Great concepts and great music are that rare combo that make a band like Rush the rare jewel that they are.
QFT A rare combination of truth and hilarity. Well played sir...
“Where words fail, music speaks.” - Hans Christian Anderson
In a nutshell: prog is looking at this picture and only being able to complain that the dress is too short and needs more segments.
untitled.jpg
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
Too short? Now, if the dress would be a song, you might be onto something.
So, by the time I joined PE in the mid-00s, the "what is.." question had already been banned. My question is, how bad did those threads get?
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
What is bad?
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
If going in circles and never finding an answer is bad then I guess they were!
Generally, I’m like most in this thread who are attracted to prog for the music, not so much the lyrics. But I would say that in some cases, gaining an understanding of the lyrics has enhanced my appreciation of the piece, and often times has helped put the music into a context that helps me enjoy it more.
Two examples of this are Supper’s Ready and A Passion Play. In my first listens to these pieces, many of the musical changes seemed really arbitrary, and often jarring. But as I got deeper with the lyrics, I could see that the musical changes happened at completely logical times and really underscored twists of the plot in these songs very effectively. This made me appreciate the music even more, plus I get more out of the song knowing what is going on.
I also think there is often more to some of the Prog lyrics than many give credit for, particularly the classic 70s stuff. The lyrics are often dreadfully convoluted, and it often takes an external interpretation for me to really understand what is going on. But with a little guidance, you can figure some of this stuff out, and I think some of it stands up really well and raises some really interesting themes. I get much more from Close to the Edge and Tarkus for having read Macan’s exposition on these works in Rocking the Classics, and I think the themes in these and other Prog works stand up quite well to those in other artistic spheres.
Bill
So prog is life?
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
In a way....
Life is Prog!
WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.
Wasn't the Prog Mind captured by aliens to run their planet or something, until it was recaptured? All this Prog shit is hard to keep straight.
The spice is the life. Prog is the mind killer.
One thing about lyrics that seems to set prog apart from other styles for me, and I'm sure many of you will find examples that refute my generalization here: it's always seemed to me that the lyrics in prog serve the music, whereas in pop music it's more likely that the music is there mainly to serve the lyrics. Maybe that's why there've been so many opinions in this thread discounting the importance of the lyrics in prog. I'll agree that 90-95% of prog lyrics are mediocre at best, but that can be said for the lyrics in all types of music. It would be interesting to find out whether, in many of those so-called prog classics, the music was written before the lyrics, or vice versa.
The prog bands that I favor have interesting lyric content for the most part. I pretty much know what to expect from the bands music content, and I strive to expect lyrics that are suitable to what hits my comfort zone. I like Shineback's latest album, but the storyline about"Dora" doesn't trip my trigger, so it will take a bit of effort to keep it in the mix. The Tangent's new album relates to all folks and I'm good with that. If one is to consider that pop lyrics, love this, screw that, rub me where I like it, is interesting, so be it. Country has a lot of wholesome lyrics, let's go drink a 6 pack and if my gal hasn't left me yet, maybe we can..... I think prog is for the thinking mind and for folks that prefer a sound and a story a bit off the beating path. Us prog listeners are different animals that prefer a challenging result. Not to mention that prog is the best music in the universe.
While I readily admit that I appreciate good sounding (to my ears, anyway) playing and singing more than well-crafted lyrics, many of my all-time favorite albums are concept pieces. I also like to have the lyric sheet in front of me (if one's included) while listening to a segmented epic-especially the first time-so I can better assess the individual tracks (or 'parts' within said track) as well as the piece as a whole.
'The smell of strange colours are heard everywhere'- Threshold
Prefer mostly instrumental here also, in fact if the musical quality has no appeal, I can't imagine trying to dissect anything remotely profound, beautiful or relevant, contrarily, if the lyrics are inane, incomprehensible, or just plain ridiculous, and the music is great, no problem here, I'd rather enjoy the musicians contributions. If I want to read, there are books for that.
Kobaian is like speaking in tongues. It's not about meaning as much as feeling.
In order to get deep into prog, I've had to handwave a lot of poor lyrics and mediocre vocals. However, when the whole package works together, there's nothing like it. Good lyrics that work hand-and-glove with good music elevate the whole experience, at least to my ears.
Lyrics and vocals can occasionally be a deal breaker for me. Khan's Space Shanty is an example. Ugh. I just haven't been able to get past them. It's a shame because a lot of people with very good taste sing the album's praises.
Also, misogyny is a real big turn off to me. I can't listen to King Crimson's "Ladies of the Road" or Hawklord's "Flying Doctor" because of it. I just don't need to fill my brain with that crap. They mar really enjoyable albums otherwise.
Last edited by notallwhowander; 08-24-2013 at 08:37 PM.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.
Note: for me "prog" is the Big 5/6/7 ca. 1969-1975-ish, Marillion, Geoff Mann Twelfth Night and IQ, that's what I'm referencing below.
What first attracted to me to prog is the rhythm sections. I wanted to be a drummer thanks to Ginger Baker in Cream but the parents weren't having THAT noise in their house, so I went the Jack Bruce route and got an EB-3 knockoff, an amp and a set of headphones.
But I also loved lyrics, even as a 15-16 year old in 1975-76, I was way in to Bob Dylan's classic 60's stuff and I remember many a night with my older sisters sitting listening to his classic albums and discussing the lyrics and what they meant. So after stuff like
You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal
prog lyrics didn't phase me. Yes, there's some poor lyrics in ELP (and not just Are You Ready Eddy?, which I actually like) and I never responded much to Jon Anderson's stuff except for straightforward lyrics like Perpetual Change and The Gates of Delirium, but I absolutely love the lyrics of Ian Anderson, Peter Hammill, Peter Sinfield, Fish & Hogarth (and his various collaborators) and especially Geoff Mann's (RIP) stuff for Twelfth Night. Sure, the music has to be compelling, but I also love good lyrics, it's definitely an art to do it right.
...or you could love
"Prog" for me is stuff which sounds like a combination of Dalbello, Darkthrone and The Shaggs - and only that. And:
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
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