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relating to songs is so HARD


bombomdoce

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On 1/13/2021 at 12:03 PM, an~imperial~votress said:

I'm not entirely sure what the genre would be called, but some artists I've been listening to a lot lately are Björk, Kate Bush, Loreena McKennitt, Florence And The Machine, and Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac. I've already recommended Kate Bush on this thread for songs with more going on besides love songs, more about observations about the world at large. Some songs of hers discussing some aspect of romantic love are more from the perspective of an observer or don't take it so seriously and are somewhat poking fun at it. Some of these artists do have a lot of love song-type songs, but at least their approach is more unusual and beautiful, in my own opinion. The Loreena McKennit CD I've been listening to lately, The Mask And Mirror, explores ideas of belief, truth, illusion, and wonder more than any other subject. (Björk and Kate Bush in particular come across as a bit much to some people, but I don't know how much of an acquired taste they actually are, you tell me 🤷‍♀️)

 

Also Grimes, I literally (re)discovered her music the very day I wrote this! Hah! (and possibly the 'weirdest' of the three, but close call there)

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I feel the same! Growing up, I always liked music, but we didn’t really listen to it at home and I never really liked the lyrics of the songs I did hear on the radio, so I had maybe one or two songs that I liked. When I got older and learned how to use the internet better, I made a playlist for non-romantic songs and managed to find a lot more songs in English, although I know there’s a lot more, since I only found about a 100 of the type of songs I like listening to. If you’re okay with listening to songs in other languages (I’ve found a lot of k-pop songs that have lyrics and backing music I like more than English songs, for some reason), Stray Kids’ discography is my favorite; I love their lyrics, and from what I remember, they only have like 3-4 songs that can be related to romance. They have a lot of variety in their style, and a good amount of their songs are pretty energetic, like God’s Menu and Back Door. Off the top of my head (and still kpop), ATEEZ, BTS, MCND, and P1Harmony also have a good amount of songs not about romance.  

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SorryNotSorry
On 1/4/2021 at 11:04 AM, bombomdoce said:

I love listening to music, discovering new artists and songs. However, it's so frustrating not being able to relate to almost every single song people around me listen to because they all are about sex and/or romantic relationships. Actually, it's hard to relate even to the songs I usually listen to 😥

 

I like energetic songs and instrumentals but, recently, I started to enjoy A LOT emocore because the songs are about mental health too and not only romantic relationships.

 

How do you guys feel about this? (And if you want to recommend some songs, I would be very happy!)

Well, it took me until adulthood to figure out the 1970s dance hit Do the Hustle was actually exhorting listeners to go out and have sex.

 

Things go the other way as well. I've known people who'll hear a song playing, or someone will be talking about that song, and the person will get mildly upset and say something like "you know, I never was able to understand what that song is about".

 

I can see how someone might feel that way about some of Steely Dan's songs—some of their lyrics come across as deliberately obscure Easter eggs written to keep listeners guessing—but I used to work with one guy who told me he never did "get" America's A Horse With No Name. Come on, what's not to get??? The singer describes riding a horse through the desert and appreciating the ecosystem. I was able to understand that, even when I was in elementary school, the song was only a couple of years old, and they'd play it on the radio.

 

Personally, I just try to appreciate the melodies and not bother trying to find the Easter eggs, because the songwriters might not have hidden any to begin with.

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@an~imperial~votress@LesMeufs18

 

Perhaps I can introduce you to some new music based on commonalities and overlapping styles from what I know and like of the musicians you both mentioned.  My personal tastes tend to be quite broad and eccentric, so I hope something fits your tastes.  

I am recommending Sigur Ros to compliment your interest in Bjork.  They are from Iceland too, however, sing in Icelandic (most of the time).  Take a look at their earlier albums and the videos for those songs.  Svefn-g-englar still gives my chills when I give myself to the music.  This is but one example of a very rich and deep catalog.  

 

Flogging Molly, Beta Band and Eels are fun bands in their own ways.  Flogging Molly are an Irish pub band that play traditional Irish folk style music, a hard drinkin' party band for sure.  Beta Band, honestly their lyrics are too indistinguishable and repetitive to make much sense, however, sampling the theme music from the 1979 Disney film The Black Hole.  Pure gold.  Eels tend to be more Slice-of-life and introspective.  Susan's House, Saturday Morning and I Need Some Sleep (from a Skrek movie) are again only a few gems demonstrating E's range.  

 

I would be amiss if I didn't recommend The Tragically Hip; albums Day for Night, Trouble at the Hen House, Up to Here, Fully Completely, Phantom Power...  Rattling off a short list of of Hip albums hardly ever ends in a short list.  

 

Right now I listen to Better Oblivion Community Center, Phoebe Bridgers (yeah, that's her in BOCC) and Messages to Bears amongst random old school Pearl Jam, Massive Attack, Tom Petty and covers by Gabriella Quevedo and Josh Cohen for a little familiar but different.  

 

As for relating to more romantic or sexually explicit music, most I don't get.  Other songs become icons of an ideal that sometimes I cannot deny.  Blue Rodeo's Five Days in May is such a fairy tale, but I bought in.  Perhaps these exceptions hold a history with me beyond just the music.  I remember Blue Rodeo concerts, places were I was, the people around me and times in my life when that song seemed to highlight the making of any number of memories.  I do not fuss over a song that does not resonate.  There are so many more that do. 

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Pink Floyd is surprisingly Ace in their themes and lyrics.

Like seriously, they discuss, war, power, conformity, childhood, and the the break up of the band, but I'm not sure I can think of a single sexual track (there's probably one or two, but it really isn't a focus)

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@Auld_Mulk, these look really interesting! Thank you for the recommendation!

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On 1/21/2021 at 9:39 AM, Woodworker1968 said:

Personally, I just try to appreciate the melodies and not bother trying to find the Easter eggs, because the songwriters might not have hidden any to begin with.

Whenever I myself write songs I mostly write strings of complete nonsense with little intentional meaning. So I doubt there were any. Then again they maybe were talking about a specific experience unique to their own lives, coded by their own personal symbolism. And in that case you can't expect to work out the meaning even if you know a little about them and their lives.

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Simple Plan, Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Metalica, Queen, Weird Al Yankovich, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Skillet are all ones I can think of off the top of my head that have alot of songs that aren't about relationships. And even some songs that can sound like they're about love, can be interpeted as a different type of love. For example the song 'You Are My Sunshine', I see as something similar to a parents love for their child, or a song call 'Monsters' by Katie Sky sounds like it could be close friends.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For Me by Dearlie is about asexuality

Spoiler

 

 

 

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