Indecipherable

I listen to an awful lot of music. I have seen an awful lot of music over the last 30 + years, performed live. Much of that music has vocals. Lyrics sung by some great singers and songwriters.
I know I'm getting old but I can't always understand what they are singing. The words are
slurred, mumbled, screamed. I was in the car the other day listening to this track and had an epiphany.

Even Flow by Pearl Jam is a great track don't get me wrong. I just can't understand what he's singing about? That however wasn't the epiphany. It was that the singing reminded me of a character in the TV series Fast Show. Rowley Birkin was an older distinguished gentleman who you could only work out the odd word of what he was saying. You got the gist by his body language but the words were hilariously indecipherable.

It came to me that my listening experience often equated to that of only recognising the odd word of a song. Now I do admit to often listening to the music and hearing the vocals as part of the music. The words are often missed because I didn't pay them enough attention. Some bands I've adored (not too strong a statement) over the decades are perfectly understandable. XTC, possibly my top band of all time are great at singing clear lyrics. Some very profound, challenging, often amusing tracks but generally clear. Very rare to find a Birkin moment.

'Mayor of Simpleton' is not only a brilliant track but you can hear the lyrics. The song is a love song, a self deprecating one expressing the notion that love matters more than any accumulation of knowledge or skill. Now you may think I understand the lyrics because I've heard the track loads but its not about understanding always. My other great obsession is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick's lyrics are often dark, harrowing and completely baffling but as a rule you can hear what he's singing. The track Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow is another brilliant track which is poetic, a bit confusing but with perfectly delivered vocals. I can't pretend to decipher meaning in some of his work but love the way he does it! 

I'm beginning to sound like an old duffer. I will be complaining about the length of their hair next. It's hard though when you see an act live and are unable to sing along because you can't work out what they are singing about. Should I read the lyrics, yes. I should learn them all true but the truth is I listen to music not read it. Music is an audio experience and the words have to be clear for me to remember them. I could listen to some of music of The Fall and be none the wiser. Well a little wiser as its great by and large. I've seen many videos or live performances of the band and Mark E Smith often descends into total Rowley Birkin mode. The music has energy and edge but I don't often hear anything that makes sense! I will probably be drummed out of the BBC 6 Music club for admitting this.

Now I'm not saying a song with indecipherable vocals is bad. I can't remember lyrics generally and mouth embarrassingly along to songs at a gig. I should know what words follow but I don't. I can recognise a melody or tune very well, often ahead of any words. Maybe the words don't matter as much? 

I'm a writer though so you would have thought the opposite would be true. I do love bob Dylan and can often remember memorable phrases of tracks. Some deep meaningful pieces. I just can't remember them all. Bob can slur and become incoherent at times with only the odd phrase or line coming out clearly. That doesn't diminish his work. Just makes it a bloody site harder to imprint on my mind. Bob is a good example of someone that even if you can hear them, you don't always have a clue as to what he is singing about. Trust me, as a long time Yes fan, lyrics can make absolutely no sense at all. Jon Anderson exists on a higher plain than mere mortals. 

I have a friend who dislikes T Rex mainly because Marc Bolan's words are at times non sensical to him. I write poetry which means something to me but will not necessarily to you. I get that. Please lead singers of the world. Try and make it at least relatively easy to hear what you're saying. Even if is weird. Some artists start off clear and get dirty. 

One of my heroes, the late great John Martyn was very easy to hear at the beginning. He gradually became more blurred in his delivery. The music was still wonderful but it was just that the vocals   became less decipherable. Not indecipherable, just less.

I will leave you with a great track, clearly sung and beautifully thought out. 

James Taylor recorded his first album at Abbey Road studios in 1968. This song inspired George Harrison to write Something. In fact, he used the title of Taylor's song as the first line of his. James Taylor was the first non Brit to sign for Apple Records.