Round 4: LyricsAnother really great round, possibly the best one yet even. The top few songs I had to keep listening to while following the lyrics to try and decide how to rank them, it was really tough! A running theme in this round was bands and artists that I’ve heard of or meant to check out but never got round to or only heard a small amount of before (5 of the 8 songs - nugget?) and all of those I liked enough to want to listen to more of! Anyway, on with the write-ups…
5 points - sonatafanica
Joanna Newsom -
Does Not Suffice (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Does+Not+Suffice/2PLe9x)
This is such a beautiful song! I don’t know what the inspiration was for the lyrics, but it’s clearly about some kind of heartbreak. The language itself is very simple, but the imagery is wonderful and moving, and the last verse/section in particular is just heart-wrenching, probably for anyone who has ever experienced an unwanted breakup. The music itself is really lovely as well, it complements the lyrics perfectly, her voice is gorgeous, and the section at the end is a great way to wrap the song up. As with many of the bands and artists I’ve been sent over the course of this Roulette, I’ve heard about Newsom and I think heard one or two songs here and there, but never sat down and given her a proper listen, which I’m now regretting.
4 points - orcus116
Thrice -
Beggars (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Beggars/2r4Crx)
I really can’t say enough good things about this song, it just has everything. The music is really good, pretty straightforward I guess, but the way it builds up throughout the song is great, and the whole thing has a very strong and compelling atmosphere. And this is enhanced immeasurably by the lyrics, which are just fantastic! What I really like is the fact that stylistically the lyrics are very personal and emotional, particularly in the repeated asking of very direct questions, but the subject matter is far more broad and philosophical/sociological. This juxtaposition works really well and gives the overall song a very powerful feel. I’ve heard Thrice mentioned so many times but never bothered to check them out; time to change that I think.
4 points - antigoon
Ben Folds -
Fred Jones part 2 (live) (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Fred+Jones+Part+2/2Vhgfb)
This is definitely the kind of thing I was looking for in this round, where the lyrics really add immensely to the song. The music is really nice, but nothing massively special in itself. But with such emotional and well-written lyrics that somehow perfectly complement the pleasant and almost bouncy music, the combination is an incredibly sad sounding song. This is an effect that is very hard to achieve, successfully combining music of one mood with lyrics of another, but the result here is brilliant. Yet another artist I need to check out (I’m so glad that Spotify and Grooveshark exist, or you guys would be bankrupting me!)
3 points - DTVT
Enchant -
What to Say (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/What+To+Say/1S8OgS)
I have oddly mixed feelings about the lyrics to this song.
On one hand, they are very emotional, the concept is very moving and there are some great moments, but there are just a couple of lines that strike me as slightly awkward. On the whole I do like the lyrics though, but what I really like is the music. I’m not sure how well it complements the words (possibly a DT-esque situation of writing music first and adding lyrics later) but in itself the music is really good, there are some excellent melodies and the performance is very slick. Enchant are another band I’ve heard of a number of times but never listened to, so I’m definitely going to give at least this album a listen, and probably some others as well (they all seem to be on Spotify!)
3 points - Portrucci
Crippled Black Phoenix -
Fantastic Justice (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Fantastic+Justice/3awMI0)
I really like this song a lot, this is definitely an album I need to check out. The music is just great throughout, and I love the instrumentation (I can’t work out if those are real brass instruments being used in the bigger sounding sections or just a synthesiser, but the effect is great). The lyrics are interesting, quite dark and surreal and full of strange references and metaphors, although the only downside of this is that it makes the lyrics very dense and hard to get much from, if that makes sense. What I do like a lot about the lyrics, though, is the phrasing, which is very unusual and almost uncomfortable in places, but the effect they create within the overall sound is fantastic! You’ve probably never listened to a Brit-pop band called Ocean Colour Scene, but their lyrics often have similar kinds of unusual phrasing as well, and so some parts of this remind me of a darker version of them. Good stuff anyway, I’m definitely going to give the album a listen!
2 points - zxlkho
A Perfect Circle -
Weak and Powerless (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Weak+And+Powerless/1SbrFD)
It’s such a shame that I can’t give this song more points this round; it was just weaker than some of the others. The lyrics are really good, maybe not something I can relate to personally but despite that they really portray how weak drug addicts can feel, and as is usually the case with Maynard there are some really wonderful lines (like “Digging to the rhythm and the echo of a solitary siren”). The music is good too, I’ve only heard APC’s first album before and I wasn’t a huge fan, but that was a long time ago and obviously they’ve done more stuff since then, so as happened with Portrucci sending me Agalloch in the first round, I’ve definitely been inspired to check APC out again!
2 points - TheVoxyn
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy -
I See A Darkness (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/I+See+A+Darkness/J6OHF)
This is a really lovely mellow song. The lyrics are pretty straightforward, but this works well because they are obviously very personal and so they give a very sad and relatable feel to the song. The music itself is very simple as well, which complements the lyrics nicely. The only reason this song has only managed 2 points is that it doesn’t really feel like it goes anywhere, and while this is certainly not a major issue at all for an individual song, the quality of the songs this round was so high that it was enough to make the difference. I’ll give the album a listen at some point though, as this song has intrigued me.
1 point - Ultimetalhead
Big D and the Kids Table -
Shining On (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Shining+On/2BfEXJ)
This song is only getting 1 point, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still like it quite a lot. I don’t own many ska albums but it’s a genre I enjoy plenty, especially live (a friend of mine at uni used to play trumpet in a band and I went to their gigs every chance I got). The chorus is incredibly infectious; each time I’ve listened to the song it’s been stuck in my head for ages afterwards! There are two reasons this song came bottom of the round though: 1) the verses are kind of annoying vocally. Nothing against rap at all, but that kind of lazy semi-talking just sounds slightly awkward to me when not done right. And 2) the lyrics are definitely good fun and nicely upbeat, but I just don’t see them as a focal point of the song at all. Other than that, it’s very enjoyable.
Rankings:antigoon – 16
orcus116 - 14
Ultimetalhead - 12
sonatafanica - 12
zxlkho - 11
TheVoxyn - 11
DTVT - 10
Portrucci - 10
Next:Round 5: Recent – anything from 2009 or 2010 (or even 2011 if you have any!). I've enjoyed a lot of new music that has been released in the last 2 years but I know there must be a ton more. Style/genre etc is completely open, it just has to be an original song first released since the start of 2009.