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!)
” ,-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..
- Borderstone
