I have never understood how my wife could not LOVE really good folk music. After all, the good stuff is terrific poetry set to great music. And in an epiphany it came to me yesterday. Her brain shuts out the words—she’s lyric-blind, or, more appropriately lyric-deaf! "Too much work" she says. Of course that explains everything. For me, music without words is like watching a silent movie—boring and lifeless. Or, like looking at paintings in only 1 color. Perhaps wordless music is good for background noise when your brain really has to fully concentrate. Or, it can be used as background to a good massage, when your brain likes to shut down anyway. That’s about it for me.
My brain soaks up lyrics. To me, the best folk music—e.g. Bob Dylan, Stan Rogers, Steve Goodman, John Gorka, Peter Yarrow and Beth Nielsen Chapman—is poetry set to hauntingly beautiful melodies and harmonies. Can you imagine “Puff the Magic Dragon” without Puff? Or, “Forever Young”, “Where Have all the flowers Gone” or “Give Yourself to Love” with no words? Unimaginable! The poetry in such songs moves me powerfully; it makes me think and question things. It hits me in the face with ponderings about the basics: love, hate, death, life, sorrow, joy, fear, etc. Yet, I appreciate and am moved by this poetry so much more when it’s set to music than when it’s just spoken. My wife, however, likes her poetry without the music and her music without the poetry.
My wife likes classical music – in no small part because it’s just music and no words. I OTOH fall asleep in any classical music concert within 5 minutes. My brain is not engaged; it’s not asked to think or ponder life’s mysteries. I think this is one reason that classical music has such a miniscule audience these days. It’s BORING for most of us who like our music with words.
But, I’m still a little mystified. How come she likes the Beatles or the oldie music in the movie, “Big Chill”? Last time I looked, there were lyrics. Guess I haven’t totally solved this mystery.
Anyway, I just discovered this next amazing and wonderful music. But, please get and listen to the actual song with the beautiful music. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
“Sand and Water”, by Beth Nielsen Chapman. Do yourself a favor and check out her music.
All alone I didn’t like the feeling
All alone I sat and cried
All alone I had to find some meaning
In the center of the pain I felt inside.
All alone I came into this world
All alone I will someday die
Solid stone is just sand and water, baby
Sand and water, and a million years gone by
CHORUS:
I will see you in the light of a thousand suns
I will hear you in the sound of the waves
I will know you when I come, as we all will come
Through the doors beyond the grave
All alone I heal this heart of sorrow
All alone I raise this child
Flesh and bone, he’s just
Bursting toward tomorrow
And his laughter fills my world and wears your smile
CHORUS
All alone I came into this world
All alone I will someday die
Solid stone is just sand and water, baby
Sand and water, and a million years gone by
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5 comments:
I never thought about it this way, but I do have a couple of ideas. First of all, I really do like the words when I know them. I just don't like to have to make the effort to understand the words when I don't know them. Secondly, music often serves as a catalyst for my mind -- sort of a jumping off point -- and the words just get in the way when I really want to think about something else. I can easily imagine good poetry and background music -- without words, of course. BRAVO to you for posting again!
xx,
B
I'm gonna have to agree with your wife here; It's too much work. Music is the sountrack for whatever I'm thinking about while it's playing. (And for what it's worth, I'm a musician.) Paying attention to the lyrics only distracts me. Do you think the difference is a male/female thing?
I didn't used to think it was a male/female thing, but now you've got me thinking. There are quite a few women songwriters - e.g Joni Mitchell and Beth Nielsen Chapman whose song lyrics I featured in my post.
Are you a classical musician? That may be the correlation. Maybe some other females will weigh in here.
Not a huge fan of folk music myself, but I could listen to Gordon Lightfoot all day long. I have a weakness for Canadians...
Then, you should definitely check out Leonard Cohen (if you haven't already). He's in the same rarified league as Dylan and is a better poet.
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