Re: Lyrics the First Time or "Twice the Kate!"

[bloch%mandrill@ucsd.edu (Steve Bloch)]

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