Like Harry Morgan as Col. Potter said on MASH,"He who sits on fence gets a
perforated carcass!! :D LOL!

One last thing I want to add; it seems these days that people like (for some reason) to pick things apart. People don't seem to able to just sit and enjoy entertainment anymore.

When they watdch movies they're looking for editing mistakes or factual errors. Same when they watch TV. Are we going to do this to the music we listen too also? :rolleyes:

It's one thing for people to have differing tastes,that's natural...but dividing up the elements of music makes about as much sense as taking apart a car that hs nothing wrong with it.

In that grand old phrase,if it ain't broke don't try to fix it. ..or,don't try to over analyze why something good is,just accept it that way. :)

Later!

LSH - Well put. I getcha :)

Borderstone - Amen. Couldn't agree more

geo steve

Well there is great quality in those replies to a thread that asks an unfair and unrealistic question, and it was handled with aplomb and insight. Congrats to the contributors who took to the "Mission Impossible" task in great spirit. It wasn’t meant to be realistic or fair though.. More of an esoteric exercise…
Of course nobody seriously argues that a song can be divided up like a mandarin , but the notion is an interesting one because like say Janice I would have said I was a wordy type.(So would the poor souls who waded through this post lol)

While it is not absolutely cast iron if I was to try to categorise the unifying feature of my say top 20 of Gord’s songs it would probably be that they fell into geo. Steve’s rule of thumb …the hummability / whistleability thang.
Certainly it is true though that a subtly constructed melody might creep up on people after a few listens rather than the instant appeal of a great tune in the chorus with a big hook .This would explain a few that are not so obviously whistlers creeping into that group .

In closing here and slightly away from the Gord’s work but illustrative of the point as proof that I am less concerned with words is that I am just as happy to hum away as Richard Harris /Donna Summer bemoan how they “ left their cake out it in the rain and they’ll never have that recipe again (Oh NO!) :rolleyes: ” ,-the infamous (“Macarthur Park”) , or rock away as Mark Bolan from T.Rex offers “Well she ain’t no witch and I love the way she twitch aaa-ha” (“Hot Love”)….
I am sure many people here can relate to the fact that they love certain songs despite the fact that the lyrics are lousy - but they just can’t help themselves tapping that foot.
And that just scratches the surface of songs with great melodies with rubbish lyrics… but that discussion is , I think , appropriate to the Small Talk section.. :)

I enjoy humming a tune that I don't know words to, so I'd have to say melody is boss and lyrics are bonus.

I enjoy humming a tune that I don't know words to, so I'd have to say melody is boss and lyrics are bonus.

I've actually come back to this thread a few times to comment but just as I am poised to give my confident response I've ended up shaking my head and furrowing my brow... boy, this question is a toughie. LOL.

I will have to go with melody. One of the biggest influences on me musically as a kid was my fathers classical album collection. I recall listening to Mussorgsky - "Night on Bald Mountain" over and over and just being in awe. It evoked a lot of strong images without a single word. Later in life I because a big fan of atmospheric instrumental artists like Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Patrick O'Hearn. "Northwest Passage" (O'Hearn) is so intensely haunting and evocative of the cold and forboding arctic, if you close your eyes but you can't help but feel as if you're there.

I've always enjoyed instrumental music, and instrumental interludes within songs, because I feel like it's a universal language that everyone understands.

I think what makes Lightfoot so extraordinary is his ability to communicate lyrically in such a poetic way, and also across that universal medium we call melody. i.e. the lyrics of Minstrel of the Dawn are breathtaking but what really takes it to another level is the brief guitar interlude. If I could do just one little thing to make that song different, that guitar would last a bit longer. It is nothing short of stellar.

Melody for me.