The Challenge of "Culture"

[Ghoulish Delight]

Another one here for whom lyrics are so much noise. Although bad lyrics can destroy an otherwise good song, and good lyrics can occasionally make a great song, I'm more about the overall sound.

[Kevy Baby]

The lyrics to "Tequila" are positively mesmerizing!

[lindyhop]

I often wonder how I ended up with the interests I have because it's almost like I went after exactly the opposite of what I was exposed to growing up.

I was turned on to reading very early by my mother who read Golden Books to me every night. But there were really no adult books in the house. Still I ended up a comparative literature major who was obsessed with Proust and Dante.

My first exposure to Shakespeare was because I was a huge Beatles fan. Paul McCartney's giflfriend, Jane Asher, was playing Juliet in a Bristol Old Vic production that came to the Music Center. My friends and I went to see Jane (and of course hoped that Paul would just happen by) but managed to absorb a little culture at the same time.

My first exposure to classical music was through the soundtracks for "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Slaughterhouse Five." Then much later I bought season tickets to the Long Beach Symphony, mostly to have something to do on a few Saturday nights, but I kept them for more than ten years because I really enjoyed the music even if I didn't know that much about it. I dozed through a few concerts but I found there's nothing like live music.

I still remember a PBS broadcast of Wagner's Ring Cycle that blew me away. And I enjoyed "Swan Lake" when I decided to go to the ballet just because I'd never been before. I went to all the member evenings when MOCA first opened and enjoyed learning about contemporary art. I moved on to other things that I found I preferred (I'm a word person, not so much visual) but I never considered anything too highbrow or exclusive. Challenging, yes, but that's what I like. Show me something I haven't seen before, make me think.

[Alex]

Lyrics for me are just so much noise, but then so is the music.

[€uroMeinke]

Tonight we saw a dance performance, afterwhich the choreographer appeared for a Q&A session with the audeince. He was asked about his background, He was never a dancer. He was pressed to mention his influences, Bhuto perhaps? His response after a moment, "Mile Davis - becasue he is always evolving and I hope to always be evolving."

Brilliant moment - Brilliant performance

[alphabassettgrrl]

I like art I can understand.

Painting- I understand some of the "rules" for composition, and I can appreciate some of it. Or a pretty scene of some kind.

Dance- I understand the technical end of it. I danced on pointe when I was tiny, and I know how difficult some of those moves are, and can appreciate when well done. The stories of ballet are often lost on me; I don't always "get" it. Modern dance, don't get it at all.

Music- lyrics have always been a serious focus for me. I need to know what you're saying, and it had better be worth my time. Lately I have found myself able to focus on a drum line, or a guitar line, and appreciate that for itself. Oddly enough I have rarely found myself moved by poetry; I guess the music is more important than I thought.

I liked the experiential nature of the MOCA exhibit- they tell you the white room is disorienting, so you go stand in it. Huh, it does kind of trip. I get it. It's not just looking at something, but you go stand in it and it messes with your head. I like that.

Never cared if what I liked was "highbrow" or not- I like what I like. I think some people get pretty hung up on "needing" to like a particular piece or style of art, in order to impress other people. I've never had that gene.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I think one of the reasons so many people avoid "highbrow" is that it's difficult to simply enjoy it without studying it. Much of what is considered "highbrow" is stuff that's been around for a long, long time, it's been studied, analyzed, written about over and over again. So even if you enjoy, say, Mozart's music, if you aren't familiar with a certain amount of the "culture", you can't really just say, "Yeah, Mozart rocks," when you meet someone else who appreciates it. And since most people want to just listen to music, not enroll in a 10 week course, it's just easier to pass it up.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I find it interesting how many people that have posted here seem to find lyrics a distraction. I find myself in the same camp. As a musician, my attention always lies with the instruments and how they are interacting with each other. While there are many lyrics that I do enjoy when I actually take the time to listen, there are countless songs that I have not only listened to, but played for years that if you asked me what the song is about, I would have no clue. The melody that they are singing is forever in my memory, but the message, not so much.

I've had many a discussion with people who are exactly the opposite though, who find the lyrics to be the magical part of the song and the instruments just a distraction. It is interesting to ponder the fact that we can be listening to the same exact pieces of music and yet, in entirely different ways.

It's probably why I am so in love with instrumental jazz. I don't have the distraction of a lyrical message and can just focus on where my interest is. It is probably also one of the reasons that so many don't like instrumental music. There is nothing for them to latch on to.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm on the "lyrics are so much noise" side of the fence...but in the same breath, I love a good voice. Whether I understand a word of the lyrics or not, if the musical quality of the vocals grab me, I love it.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I'm on the "lyrics are so much noise" side of the fence...but in the same breath, I love a good voice. Whether I understand a word of the lyrics or not, if the musical quality of the vocals grab me, I love it.

Couldn't agree more. There are number of vocalists that I adore but I've probably only understood a tenth of the lyrics they have sung.