Drowned in Sound

Search

Drowned in Sound Event sponsored tours and events.

Home > Community > Music forum

"Why make fun of a well-written song?"

no votes
? by JonathanD
"Yeah, why make fun of a well-written song unless you're an insecure person that needs to use music almost like insecure middle-age people use fine wine. You're using music as a badge. And simultaneously I think what you do is drain the actual joy out of it, and it becomes somewhat of a calcified exoskeleton of your pathetic and, I guess, not fully defined ego." - John McCrea, Cake

Thoughts? For me, part of the enjoyment of art - be it Kahlo or Emin, Hendrix or Buckley, Kafka or Palahnuik - is the analysis of it, otherwise we just become vegetables absorbing media with no thought as to what it means.
JonathanD | 20 Aug '05, 22:06 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Although having said that, when watching the film Sideways, I did draw comparisons between my attitude to music and the wine-nerd's attitude to vino...
JonathanD | 20 Aug '05, 22:08 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

*doesn't understand*
thunder_cat | 20 Aug '05, 22:37 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Too right.

Most music's quaffable, but hardly transcendent.
dave_rio | 21 Aug '05, 04:47 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Depends really.

I have grown to hate the kind of joyless attitude some people have towards music (or any medium) - partly because I can recognise that trait in myself to an extent.

But on the other hand, it's important to analyse. Intellectual impact = as important as emotional or aesthetic impact. Making an example of brainless dreck surely doesn't equate to "using music as a badge"?

Interesting question though.
Smileadelic | 20 Aug '05, 22:45 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

I think calling music "well-written" is almost an insult in itself. Or sucks the life out of it. It's like commenting on it in a workman like style. Praise for competence should be reserved for practical matters not music. Or maybe I'm proving his point by reading too much into his choice of words.

silence-r | 20 Aug '05, 22:50 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

No, I agree..."well-written" is such a muso thing to say. Like "definitely worth a listen". *shudder*
JonathanD | 20 Aug '05, 22:53 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Hang on, "muso" isn't what I meant...just bland, non-music fan, buy-one-CD-a-year type terminology; the sort that often appears in gig reviews in my local paper when Status Quo come to town.
JonathanD | 20 Aug '05, 22:55 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

I have been guilty of this kind of thing before. I remember someone asking me why I liked a certain band they considered to be shit (I won't name names as it will make any responses too loaded and this is an abstract point, I think). I answered something like they are good guitarists. Which they accepted as an answer. But really it's pretty superficial isn't it? Not a reason enough alone. Music isn't a meritocracy, which is a good thing. I prefer understated rough edges, with meaning and the promise of more to come. Rather than 'the definitive sound'. But that's hardly a controversial point.
silence-r | 20 Aug '05, 23:01 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Maybe I speak here with the inevitable bias of a classically-trained musician, but I think there's a difference between technical proficiency and effective use of technique. The former obviously has no bearing on anything; the latter is instrumental in shaping any thoughts and feelings the listener develops.

I'm fully aware of how uncool it is to bring anything, y'know, "musicianly" into a musical discussion, but I think it can actually be really helpful in understanding what makes us respond to music the way we do. As long as we don't see it as an end in itself, then surely it shouldn't be ignored?
Smileadelic | 20 Aug '05, 23:15 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

I think that it is fine to analyse a piece of music to whatever depth one is able, but to analyse why one likes a piece of music is never a good idea.
JDTraynor | 21 Aug '05, 01:54 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Of course we're allowed to critique music. Duh.
oceanRain | 21 Aug '05, 06:50 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

For me, music ( and all art ) is about the feelings it's give you.
Analysis is good, if you aren't swallowed in it.
lyle | 21 Aug '05, 07:51 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

who judges what a well-written song is?

this guy is a tool.
i-deserve-to-be-in-your-band | 21 Aug '05, 10:00 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Re: "Why make fun of a well-written song?"

Ah, bless. The standard fall back of an insecure artist.

Why make fun of a well-written song? Presumably because the person making fun doesn't think the song's well-written.

Enjoying art in a basic, intinctive sense is one thing. Analysing it is another level. All you have in the first instance is "I like this." That might be enough for some people, but it would be very odd if any of them were here.
lanky | 21 Aug '05, 12:13 | Send note | Report this | Reply