Comments on: NO LANGUAGE, JUST SOUND - Looking Well Beyond the Lyric Sheet http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/ Lollards in the high church of low culture Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:30:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Ned Raggett Ponders It All A song of the year and its importance — part 1 « http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/#comment-302445 Ned Raggett Ponders It All A song of the year and its importance — part 1 « Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:45:11 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/#comment-302445 [...] who know me well enough will wonder at the fact that I’ve quoted the lyrics in full — an old essay on Freaky Trigger is still my definitive statement on how I feel about lyrics in general.  But I had my various [...] [...] who know me well enough will wonder at the fact that I’ve quoted the lyrics in full — an old essay on Freaky Trigger is still my definitive statement on how I feel about lyrics in general.  But I had my various [...]

]]> By: Andri http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/#comment-109837 Andri Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:59:30 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/#comment-109837 Hey Ned I agree with you on many points. I sometimes too wonder if music and 'culture' are two separate things. When listening to a song just by its pure sonic quality, I can appreciate it as it is. Even genre then is irrelevant, because when I think of music as pure sound (and in the context of 2006), genre becomes something that is defined more by my subjectivity rather than how the music actually sounds. Let's say when you point out in a song, that a guy is playing a repetitive melody line on his guitar, then it's a fact I won't argue. But whether it sounds country or rock....quite subjective... especially there's a lot of evidence of genre hopping and appropriation these days. I agree that lyrics are abstracting the actual music. Image of the artists and what society says are also form of abstraction, they are 'culture' stopping me from getting to the pure sonic. But I guess that what makes music so meaningful and rich, that it exists as more than just a beautiful (or not) composition of sounds to the ears. With layers of meaning added, I can have a personal relationship with music. It can remind me of happy moments in life or it can make me feel guilty listening to it (eg. because it's by britney). I keep wondering if music by itsef (i don't mean instrumental), by how it sounds, can elicit any emotional response. Is it even scientific or is it because we attach our own meaning and cultural value to the music we hear. Hey Ned I agree with you on many points. I sometimes too wonder if music and ‘culture’ are two separate things. When listening to a song just by its pure sonic quality, I can appreciate it as it is. Even genre then is irrelevant, because when I think of music as pure sound (and in the context of 2006), genre becomes something that is defined more by my subjectivity rather than how the music actually sounds. Let’s say when you point out in a song, that a guy is playing a repetitive melody line on his guitar, then it’s a fact I won’t argue. But whether it sounds country or rock….quite subjective… especially there’s a lot of evidence of genre hopping and appropriation these days.

I agree that lyrics are abstracting the actual music. Image of the artists and what society says are also form of abstraction, they are ‘culture’ stopping me from getting to the pure sonic. But I guess that what makes music so meaningful and rich, that it exists as more than just a beautiful (or not) composition of sounds to the ears. With layers of meaning added, I can have a personal relationship with music. It can remind me of happy moments in life or it can make me feel guilty listening to it (eg. because it’s by britney). I keep wondering if music by itsef (i don’t mean instrumental), by how it sounds, can elicit any emotional response. Is it even scientific or is it because we attach our own meaning and cultural value to the music we hear.

]]> By: Admin http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/#comment-32113 Admin Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:39:42 +0000 http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/2001/10/nolanguage/#comment-32113 Hey metafilter-ers, why not comment here :-) Hey metafilter-ers, why not comment here :-)

]]>