So it’s 1:15am right now and I should be sleeping, but I don’t feel like it so I won’t, yet. (Eat that, life.)
One of my favorite songs is a song by John Mayer called “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.” Now normally I don’t listen to lyrics, so I can say that I primarily like this song because of the melody, the ambience, and simply the feeling I get when I listen to it. Tonight I decided to finally look up these mysterious words he sings, and here is a section:
It’s not a silly little moment
It’s not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dyin breath of
this love we’ve been workin on
Can’t seem to hold you like I want to
so I can feel you in my arms
Nobody’s gonna come and save you
we pulled too many false alarms
We’re goin down
and you can see it too
We’re goin down
and you know that we’re doomed
my dear
we’re slow dancing in a burnin room
don’t you think we oughta know by now
don’t you think we shoulda learned somehow …
See, now that you know that I listen to this song frequently, would you say that I’m emo-ish and that I am a glum, mellow fellow who does a lot of thinking? I hope not, because none of that is true. I simply listen to the song because it sounds good. Sure, the lyrics are cool, but simply because it fills up the space of a melody nicely.
I’d say that many musicians will agree with me that most of the meaning of a song is in the music, not the lyrics (I could be wrong, and maybe it’s just me.) A talented musician will be able to convey the message he wants with the mere musical presence of the song. Notes, chords, and the sequences are so much more effective than words will ever be.
Man, there’s something just so great about a band that grooves just right, when everything clicks together and you know you’re sharing a moment with people who can appreciate it too. In that moment, you don’t need words to be like “Hey, man that was AWESOME!” Forget that. Don’t wreck it trying to capture what is too fleeting with clumsy English words. Just enjoy it.
Lyrics are so wannabe cool because they make you feel intelligent when you can take a piece of it and “apply” it to yourself.
like this:
don’t you think we oughta know by now?
*hate hate hate* psh.
also, happy birthday to becca tang. Everyone wish her a good one because she deserves it.
that’s right, groove is where it’s at!
but lyrics matter! or else everything is feeling and nothing is knowing.
unless your listening just to feel, which is okay. but not for worship…
HUH
Yeah, I know what you mean that sometimes listening is just listening to the music and I would agree that music is sometimes more relevant than the lyrics. Imagine, putting the two together in a glorious way such that both of them are used to their ultimate capabilities, that’d be pretty cool. I like your blog, haha.
dude i am a big jm fan. the man has talent.
oh but dang i dont know any other performer that loooks as unattractive as he does when singin.
hi richard. “slow dancing in a burning room” is one of my favorite songs too. i know what you mean about those lyrics… but the song has such a cool groove…