The Melody Lingers On: From Daft To Dazzling
Tony Thornton compares the drivel written by today's so-called songwriters to the sensationally clever word play of of great writers such as Irving Berlin aand Oscar Hammerstein, whose words and music seem to get better the more times you hear them.
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The time before last, I remarked on the poor quality of today’s popular song lyrics. Coincidentally, the following week a letter appeared in the Daily Mail highlighting some ridiculous lines. Such as:
Marc Bolan (Tyrannosaurus Rex):
I drive a Rolls Royce
Cos it’s good for my voice
Des’ree (Life):
I don’t wanna see a ghost
It’s the sight I fear the most
I’d rather have a piece of toast
From Red Hot Chilli Peppers:
Can I smell your gasoline?
Can I pet your wolverine?
On the day my best friend died
I could not get my copper clean
The writers of this kind of drivel will tell you how proud they are to be ‘songwriters’.
Contrast them with:
Irving Berlin (Cheek To Cheek):
The cares that hang around me through the week
Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak
Sammy Cahn (Come Fly With Me)
Come fly with me, let’s fly down to Peru
In Llama land there’s a one-man band
Who will toot his flute for you
So why is there such disparity between the two styles? Simple. The great songwriters were gifted wordsmiths who recognised that theirs was a craft to be practiced and honed during many years. Today’s scribblers are mere teenagers with no talent and scant command of the English language.
The worst example of bad grammar came from Elvis Presley (One Night With You):
I ain’t never did no wrong
The most meaningless from the Beatles (I Am The Walrus):
Semolina pilchards climbing up the Eiffel tower
However, one reader cited this from Burt Bacharac and Hal David:
What do you get when you kiss a guy
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia
After you do he’ll never phone ya
I’ll never fall in love again
This isn’t the least bit ridiculous. It makes sense and it’s clever. I’m sure Lorenz Hart (who rhymed ‘court you gal’ with ‘Portugal’) would have approved.
But for sheer magic:
Oscar Hammerstein (Hello Young Lovers)
You know how it feels to have wings on your heels
And to fly down the street in a trance
You fly down the street on the chance that you’ll meet
And you meet - not really by chance
Apart from the sensational word play, the hidden sentiment in these words is overpowering.
Thank goodness for these songwriters, whose words and music seem to get better the more times we hear them.
