The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #36064 Message #496565
Posted By: Abby Sale
02-Jul-01 - 10:43 AM
Thread Name: What makes a good bawdy lyric ?
Subject: RE: BS: What makes a good bawdy lyric ?
Referring back to the Master, Ed Cray, have a look at THE LEHIGH VALLEY. There are, as suggested above, many songs in which the language is clearly integral, not an end in itself. Obviously, a simple receital of taboo words is not art but this is a careful & exact use of them. Cray makes the point that the song just couldn't be euphemized, so it was rarely sung or printed. But it's a good song.
BTW, I shouldn't pan Brand as hard as I tend to -- he did record partial versions of many good songs and, most importantly, recorded the tunes of many that had never had their tunes recorded or even printed. Gotta give him that.