Lyrics
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| + | "[[Word]]s: Can't say what they mean don't [[meaning|mean]] what they say" --[[Tom Tom Club]], see [[Can't say what they mean don't mean what they say|[...]]] | ||
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| - | '''Lyrics''' (in singular form '''lyric''') are a set of words that make up a [[song]]. The writer of lyrics is a [[lyricist]] or [[lyrist]]. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes [[Musical form|form]], [[Articulation (music)|articulation]], [[meter (poetry)|meter]], and [[symmetry]] of expression. The lyricist of traditional musical forms such as [[Opera]] is known as a [[libretto|librettist]]. | ||
| - | ''Lyric'' derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word λυρικος ''lyrikos'', meaning "singing to the lyre". A [[Lyric poetry|lyric poem]] is one that expresses a subjective, personal point of view. | + | '''Lyrics''' are [[word]]s that make up a [[song]], usually consisting of [[Verse (poetry)|verses]] and [[Refrain|choruses]]. The writer of lyrics is a [[lyricist]]. The words to an extended musical composition such as an [[opera]] are, however, usually known as a "[[libretto]]" and their writer, as a "[[librettist]]". The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes [[Musical form|form]], [[Articulation (music)|articulation]], [[meter (poetry)|meter]], and [[symmetry]] of expression. Rappers can also create lyrics (often with a variation of rhyming words) that are meant to be [[rapping|spoken rhythmically]] rather than sung. |
| - | The word ''lyric'' came to be used for the "words of a song"; this meaning was recorded in 1876. The common plural (perhaps because of the association between the plurals ''lyrics'' and ''words''), predominates contemporary usage. Use of the singular form ''lyric'' to refer to a song's complete set of words is grammatically acceptable. However it's not considered acceptable to refer to a singular word in a song as a ''lyric.'' | ||
| - | ==Poems as Lyrics== | ||
| - | The differences between '''[[poem]] and [[song]]''' may become less meaningful where verse is set to [[music]], to the point that any distinction becomes untenable. This is perhaps recognised in the way popular songs have ''lyrics''. | ||
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| - | However, the verse may pre-date its [[tune]] (in the way that "[[Rule Britannia]]" was set to music, and "[[And did those feet in ancient time]]" has become the hymn "Jerusalem"), or the tune may be lost over time but the words survive, matched by a number of different tunes (this is particularly common with [[hymn]]s and [[ballad]]s). | ||
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| - | Possible classifications proliferate (under [[anthem]], [[ballad]], [[blues]], [[Carol (music)|carol]], [[folk song]], [[hymn]], [[libretto]], [[lied]], [[lullaby]], [[March (music)|march]], [[praise song]], [[round (music)|round]], [[spiritual (music)|spiritual]]). [[Nursery rhymes]] may be songs, or [[doggerel]]: the term doesn't imply a distinction. The [[ghazal]] is a sung form that is considered primarily poetic. See also [[rapping]], [[roots of hip hop music]]. | ||
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| - | Analogously, verse [[drama]] might normally be judged (at its best) as [[poetry]], but not consisting of poems (see [[dramatic verse]]). | ||
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| - | ==Copyright and royalties== | ||
| - | : ''See [[Royalties#Music_royalties|Royalties]]'' | ||
| - | Currently, there are many websites featuring song lyrics (e.g. www.lyrics.com). This offering, however, is controversial, since some sites include copyrighted lyrics offered without the holder's permission. The U.S. [[Music Publishers' Association]] (MPA), which represents sheet music companies, launched a legal campaign against such websites in December 2005, the MPA's president, Lauren Keiser, said the free lyrics web sites are "completely illegal" and wanted some website operators jailed. | ||
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| - | Lyrics licenses could be obtained in North America through one of the two aggregators; [[Gracenote]] Inc. and LyricFind. The first company to provide legal lyrics was [[Yahoo]], quickly followed by [[MetroLyrics]]. metrolyrics.com is the first lyrics dedicated web site that converted to legal database, and has become the largest lyrics database in the world based on number of unique users reaching over 40 million unique monthly users in the summer of 2010. | ||
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| - | Many competing lyrics web sites are still offering unlicensed content, causing challenges around the legality and accuracy of lyrics. In the latest attempt to crack down illegal lyrics web sites a federal court has ordered LiveUniverse, a network of websites run by MySpace co-founder Brad Greenspan, to cease operating four sites offering unlicensed song lyrics | ||
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| - | ==Academic study== | ||
| - | * Lyrics can be studied from an academic perspective. For example, some lyrics can be considered a form of [[social commentary]]. Lyrics often contain political, social and economic themes as well as aesthetic elements, and so can connote messages which are culturally significant. These messages can either be explicit or implied through metaphor or symbolism. Lyrics can also be analyzed with respect to the sense of unity (or lack of unity) it has with its supporting music. Analysis based on [[tonality]] and [[contrast (vision)|contrast]] are particular examples. Former [[Oxford Professor of Poetry]] [[Christopher Ricks]] famously published ''Dylan's Visions of Sin'', an in-depth and characteristically Ricksian analysis of the lyrics of [[Bob Dylan]]; Ricks gives the caveat that to have studied the poetry of the lyrics in tandem with the music would have made for a much more complicated critical feat. | ||
| - | * [[Ci (poetry)|Chinese lyrics]] (詞) are [[Chinese poetry|Chinese poems]] written in the set [[meter (poetry)|metrical]] and [[Tonal language|tonal]] pattern of a particular song. | ||
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| - | ==Riskiest Search== | ||
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| - | McAfee claims searches for phrases containing "lyrics" and "free" are the most likely to have risky results from search engines. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Lyricist]], a lyrics writer | + | * [[Lyricist]], a writer of lyrics |
| - | * [[Instrumental]], music without voice | + | * [[Libretto]], the "little book" of an extended musical piece, written by a librettist |
| - | * [[Libretto]], the name used for the text of traditional music forms like opera | + | * "[[Singing in the Spirit]]", vocal improvisation in a [[glossolalia|spiritual context]] |
| - | * [[Musixmatch]] | + | * [[Scat singing]] & [[Vocalese]], vocal improvisation in [[jazz]] |
| + | * ''[[Bol (music)|bol]]'', ''[[kouji]]'', [[beatbox]], forms of [[vocal mimicry (disambiguation)|vocal mimicry]] or [[vocal percussion|percussion]] | ||
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"Words: Can't say what they mean don't mean what they say" --Tom Tom Club, see [...] |
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Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, as a "librettist". The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. Rappers can also create lyrics (often with a variation of rhyming words) that are meant to be spoken rhythmically rather than sung.
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See also
- Lyricist, a writer of lyrics
- Libretto, the "little book" of an extended musical piece, written by a librettist
- "Singing in the Spirit", vocal improvisation in a spiritual context
- Scat singing & Vocalese, vocal improvisation in jazz
- bol, kouji, beatbox, forms of vocal mimicry or percussion
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Lyrics" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
