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| synthdude |
 Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:22 pm Post subject: Choose song titles carefully! |
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Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 910
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We don't mean to upset or offend anyone with these instructive comments, but we feel that errors and vague phrases in the titles of songs should be pointed out so that all you talented indies don't appear too shabby to discerning listeners.
Random selection from the latest songs uploaded:
<B><i>Death Shall Bring An Ends</i></b> : Surely, you guys mean 'Death Shall Bring An End'? In any case, it's a given that death IS the end!
<b><i>Extinction Of The Existance</i></b> : 'Existance' should be spelled 'existence', and the title would sound more correct if you drop the definite article -- 'Extinction of Existence' -- though that would imply the end of all living creatures!
<b><i>The Translucence Of Grey</i></b> : Sounds impressive but grey (or gray) is so dull a colour that it's hard to imagine how it can transmit light (that's what 'translucence' implies).
<b><i>Cute Without The 'E'</b></i> : Pardon me, but wouldn't that make 'cute' 'cut'? I'm still scratching my head over this one...
<b><i>My College Bitches</b></i> : Nothing really wrong with the title, but it's gonna make lotsa college girls angry! In other words, you're not gonna be popular with the chicks... A life without babes? Bad dude, really BAD!
<b><i>A Large Scale Amphibian Assault</b></i> : Sounds like an action movie featuring ferocious encounters at sea, though we're not sure that's what the song's about.
<b><i>A Piece Of Heart Conspiracy</b></i> : Is this about some gang hijacking a heart meant for a patient in need of a heart transplant? If it is, it's truly a unique song! |
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| Jeff |
| Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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Mod Squad
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 551
Location: Land of the Head Hunters
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| hahaha .. i got quite a kick out of your interpretations of song meanings. Jahat siot...hehe. |
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| IZZI |
| Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 3447
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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To me it is not jahat la.. honestly, this is good. I believe Synthdude is helping not insulting anyone. I learn a lot from him.. thanks bro!
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Gelanggang guitar : http://guitarden.starahead.com |
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| totziens |
| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:20 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 1210
Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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Yeah, I agree that sometimes mistakes in the lyric, & song title i.e. grammar, spelling mistake, etc should be avoided. It's annoying to hear an excellent song filled with grammar mistakes.
Occasionally there are bands who purposely do mistakes. I don't really mind that. I still remember asking my teacher the meaning of "Take On Me, Take Me On" from A-Ha's Take On Me when I was a teenager. I could only get half of the answer.
I have pointed out mistakes done by a local band I love. Just because I love the band I wish to help them. If I don't like the band, I don't even care. I think they're happy that someone points out their mistakes. It should not be considered as an insult. Everyone makes a mistake once in a while. We just have to learn from our mistakes. |
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| Jeff |
| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 551
Location: Land of the Head Hunters
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Yeah uncle siang, theres taht grey area between whats considered bad grammar or their brand of artism...hard to say really at times. I had this discussion once with a friend and his opinion was that he was critical in what he considered 'pretencious music' for ppl who sang in languages which they had no command over, saying that he'd rather listen to songs sung in a 'less glamouress language' rather than listening to unintelligable vocals in what they percieve as 'the superior language'.
| izuanhafez wrote: | | To me it is not jahat la.. honestly, this is good. I believe Synthdude is helping not insulting anyone. I learn a lot from him.. thanks bro! |
dude, u got me wrong, i wasnt bashing synthdude saying dia jahat. Its called HUMOR. i was J O K I N G. Got it? good. |
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| Ridzi |
| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2198
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Daniel and I actually love 'A Large Scale Amphibian Assault'
Classic!!!  |
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| kalium |
| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:40 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 218
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| Jeff wrote: | I had this discussion once with a friend and his opinion was that he was critical in what he considered 'pretencious music' for ppl who sang in languages which they had no command over, saying that he'd rather listen to songs sung in a 'less glamouress language' rather than listening to unintelligable vocals in what they percieve as 'the superior language'.
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I find this a rather interesting point.
There are many international artists who's native tongues are not English, write grammatically incorrect songs, can't enunciate or pronounce the words yet have gained mainstream (and underground) popularity. For example:
a) The entire Reggae genre.
b) The entire Europop phenomena. Even moreso that the Eastern Europeans are in the fray.
c) Scorpions
d) Sugarcubes/Bjork - some of the Sugarcubes early work made absolutely no sense and appeared to be some sort of random poetry. Actually, it still does.
Even though their accents are different and writing skills may be sub par when they write in English, their concepts are still able to come through. Most importantly, the CONTEXT of the song and the way it's written somehow seems to fit.
I can think of one local band that manages to do this, Ben's Bitches.
They write, often in Manglish. Grammar out the window. No fake Yank, Brit, Oz accents. They sound like they were born in SJMC then proceeded to live their lives around a 10 km radius from there.
Similar to what the Kopi Kat Klub ("Why you so like dat?) was doing back in the early/mid 90's. They've captured the local flavor, singing in English, Manglish, Mandrin, Tamil and Malay. And they deploy it well.
With their new song Kim Jong Il from the same titled EP, I can see how some of this can start spilling to a more international audience.
The problem lies when the artist tries to get "serious" without having the tools - either the writing style or writing technique. That's when you come off sounding pretentious or contrived. |
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| Jeff |
| Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 3:20 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 551
Location: Land of the Head Hunters
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good point kalium!
Byorks English is much better now compared to her first album, which without the lyric sheet you'd have problems trying to make out..but her lilting melodic voice with a slight ofbeat tone to it made that all unimportant ...the power of her music came through despite the phonetic flaws in her singing. My opinion is that her accent added that bit of exoticness, which in turn added more depth to her music.
I think the bottom line is..sing the words from your heart, and write the songs from your soul. Dont over-reach and dont over-simplify. Know your limits and capabilities, and most importantly..know what you want.
'mistakes ..you must make, for mistakes..learn from it..you will."
-Master Yoda, Degobah System.
"IF YOU THINK IT SOUNDS CRAPPY, THEN IT IS CRAPPY".
-Synthdude, I-bands |
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| xaph |
| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:54 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 32
Location: Kuala Lumpur
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As long as the grammatical/spelling mistakes are not intentional, and so long as you make an effort to check the accuracy of your song titles, then that should be fine. After all, we can't expect everyone to have perfect English 
Writing song names properly lends credibility to a tune. People would feel more inclined to listen to them. Well, at least, me, |
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| totziens |
| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 1210
Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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well...talking about grammar mistakes, here's a cool Rock N' Roll song called Louie, Louie which sounds really cool. It was made famous by a garage band called the Kingsmen way back in the 60s. Here's the lyric (I am sure u'll spot the grammar mistakes...could be intentionally done):
Fine little girl she waits for me
Me catch the ship for cross the sea
Me sail the ship all alone
Me never think me make it home
Louie, Louie, me gotta go
Louie, Louie, me gotta go
Three nights and days me sail the sea
Me think of girl constantly
On the ship I dream she there
I smell the rose in her hair
Louie, Louie, me gotta go
Louie, Louie, me gotta go
Me see Jamaica moon above
It won't be long, me see my love,
I take her in my arms and then
Me tell her I never leave again
Louie, Louie, me gotta go
Louie, Louie, me gotta go |
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| hazatsu |
| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:25 am Post subject: it all depends to |
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Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 9
Location: Sheffield, UK
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well, in respond to the original msg by synthdude, i think he made quite a point. Spelling error(s) in titles or lyrics, if not intentional, should be avoided. And yes, make an effort to check everything before pressing the "submit" button.
But be careful, never draw a difinite line in Art.
Through art, and art alone can one roam freely expressing his feelings, emotion and creativity.
Grammatically correct in poems? Rubbish! The same goes to lyrics. There is no such rule.
there is NO right or wrong in Art, and therefore, NO idea is a bad idea. |
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