What is in a word, a lyric, a poem?
We are bombarded by words, phrases and catchy soundbites
wherever we go, it is totally relentless, and for us to escape somewhere devoid
of words is now very difficult. However for our ancestors solitude was easy to
find and therefore words were recognised as having far more power than they do
today. Because of the abundance words they seem to have been devalued, or have
they?
When you realise that your pocket is being picked continuously
by what you have been told which always seems to come from some authority
somewhere, some scientist, some politician, some expert, one begins to see that
words have not lost any of their power to influence. However we have been
taught that power does not reside in words per se because that would be too
ridiculous too unscientific but I believe they do. They are hypnotic state
changing bundles of power.
As a musician I continuously see the power of the great pop
song which seems to have its own life force about it. It seems never to die,
some going on for hundreds of years if we classify great choral music as pop
songs of their time.
The composers of hymns knew very well the power of words
setting quotes from spiritual books to music but something that great works
such as these and great poetry have in common is that they allude to something
and are not literal. If the words are just what they say literally there is no
power in any of the above. Maybe it is our involvement with words in the
literal sense that has blinded us to what they can really do however this is
not been missed by either the mass media or politicians so why have we lost
faith in the power of words?
Maybe our loss of faith comes from the realisation that we
cannot easily make change by logical argument on the face of it this seems to
fly in the face of what we been taught but the reality is that reasoned debate
does not have the power of the words behind them because they are the wrong
words in the wrong setting.
Over the past year we have seen that both the UK and in
America where one side will play the emotional card against the other sides
logical argument and in both cases the emotional card won. The emotional card
creates a power that manifests itself in the soundbite just in the same way
that a good piece of poetry can eloquently draw to it and emotional response of
the listener. Logical arguments not do this unless you are somebody skilled in
rhetoric, of which many politicians today clearly are not.
There is power in the poetic then there must be more to
words than what they mean consciously, think of the power of a great song lyric
to conjure up a memory or a sense of being part of something bigger, great pop
songs excel at this, particularly the ones that transcend time.
So how do we get back into the power of the words? Maybe we
should put the scientific rational aspect to one side and feel out what the
words mean to you as you start to craft the lyrics. Do not tell a listener what
it is but paint a picture with words in their mind. Again suspending your
belief in what you’ve been taught about the logic of word is a good exercise
and obviously reading poetry and lyrics of people who inspire you will help
greatly. Take chances with words, express something deep think of it as a courtship
with your own language.
Maybe this is what we can take into the New Year; writing great
songs. What would you do with this great skill? Dreaming about this might help
in putting them down on paper in the most picturesque way.
Vic
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