Only a song can express??

Subject: RE: Only a song can express??
From: CapriUni
Date: 23 Jan 04 - 03:15 PM

From mack/misophist: To me, the interplay of consonant and vowel sounds is a part of the over all musicality, on a par with the quality of the singer's voice or the instrument's timbre.

Indeed. As a long time student of English literature, I know this to be true. "Ordinary" spoken language, if crafted well, can be as musical as any cantata by Bach. Shakespeare was certainly a musical writer, as were more modern folks like Emily Dickinson and W.B. Yeats.

I think I first found this article on another Mudcat thread last summer, about how the twelve tone scale itself may be hard wired into our brains -- that the jumps from note to note match the tones we naturally produce when speaking. So maybe singing is what naturally happens when we put more physical and emotional energy into our expressions.

As far as your specific question goes, the answer is undoubtedly yes. The real question is 'How do you tell?'.

Ah, yes. Hence the question that I thought might spark some interesting Mudcat discussion. ;-)

Subject: RE: Only a song can express??
From: mack/misophist
Date: 23 Jan 04 - 12:41 PM

CapriUni:

I was too brief. The specific songs I was referring to are the 'sentimental' variety. To me, the interplay of consonant and vowel sounds is a part of the over all musicality, on a par with the quality of the singer's voice or the instrument's timbre.

As far as your specific question goes, the answer is undoubtedly yes. The real question is 'How do you tell?'.

Lullibies are, I think, a special category; bound up in the hard wired reactions babies have to human faces, voices, and so on.

Subject: RE: Only a song can express??
From: CapriUni
Date: 23 Jan 04 - 11:33 AM

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread... But I have been thinking on it.

*daylia* -- thanks for those two links. I'll trace both of them, and perhaps add to them, as inspiration strikes.

mack/misophist -- actually, I'm just the opposite. When I listen to a song, my brain latches on to the lyrics most strongly, even when they're in a language I don't understand. I'm attracted to interplay between consonants and vowels and other sounds. And when the lyrics are in English, I often decide whether I like the song based on the stories or ideas expressed in the lyrics.

But the song can be so much more than the sum of its lyrics and melody. And that "greater whole" often comes, I think, from the counterpoint between the mood of the melody and the meaning of the words. A bouncy tune with lyrics that are sad or lonely, for example, creates a sense of irony that would be missing from either the words or melody alone.

And then, there's the lullaby -- that's a form of expression that can really only be a song, rather than an essay, or a letter, or symphony or ballet. Babies seem to be soothed more by sung words than spoken words or wordless tunes.

And that's what I'm asking, really: Are there some ideas or messages or stories that are so unique or emotional that they can only be shared through the blend of word and music?

Subject: RE: Only a song can express??
From: *daylia*
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 10:46 AM

Capri, you might find some of the Catter's insights posted on these two recent threads helpful ...

In praise of music

Music is 'The Word'?

All the best, daylia

Subject: RE: Only a song can express??
From: mack/misophist
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 11:26 PM

Music. Mostly, perhaps only, music. Although there are many great songs, the ones in a language I don't understand are always the best. A lovely sentiment to one person may be mawkish tripe to another. That other always seems to be me.

Subject: Only a song can express??
From: CapriUni
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 12:56 PM

As 2003 was growing old, and 2004 was kicking away in the womb of Time, I found myself making the following wish for the coming year:

May the year ahead give me many inspirations for song.

Whether joyous, or heartbreaking, or meditative, or silly, it didn't seem to matter -- not in that deep part of my mind that opens up in the quiet time between waking and sleeping -- just that I want my life full of moments that so move me I need to express them in song (I know, I know -- be careful what you wish for).

But that raised a question which I thought might spark some good Mudcat Discussion: Are there certain ideas or feelings or messages that can only be expressed in song, and not an essay, or letter, or painting (or internet post)?

And if so, what is it about song that sets it apart from other forms of expression?