Pop Music - Lyrics

POPULAR MUSIC - LYRICS

Early rock 'n roll lyrics were illiterate, or at least critics claimed. Teenagers themselves didn't worry too much about the words. The most important thing was the beat. Music was for dancing. So, the lyrics became chants to convey a mood.
Play "Steve Allen" - he reads rock lyrics as if they were a poem

America's first rock poet was Chuck Berry who wrote about girls, cars and music in sheer simplicity. He composed what many consider to be the national anthem of rock.
Play "Rock and Roll Music"

Most songs are written by teenagers for teenagers.
Play tape 3

Until 1965 a lot of songs followed a simple rhyming pattern:
Stanza 1
Chorus
Stanza 2
Break (guitar or saxaphone solo)
Stanza 3 of repeat Stanza 1
Play "Mother-in-Law"

Neil Sedaka used another pattern in his songs
Play tape 5

The Drifters had a succession of hits with teenage appeal written by Cynthia Wiel and Barry Mann.
Play "On Broadway"

Rock and Roll was getting stagnant around 1960. 1959-1962 were the years of the dance songs thanks to Dick Clark's bandstand TV show. Teens would tune in to watch the and learn the latest dances. The feeling was that RnR had been a fad and was ready to die. Many easily believed it because in 1962 folk music began to take hold with the likes of The Highway men, Burl Ives, the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary. Out of that came Bob Dylan and he became the spokesman of the generation. For the first time words took on more importance than the music.
Play "It's a Hard Rain" and "She Belongs to Me"

It was Dylan leading the way into folk rock around 1965. He opened the door to a new freedom of style. His lyrics may look artificial on paper, but they blend perfectly with his music to creat a total impact on the listener. Paul Simon wrote beautiful lyrics and coupled them to simple instrumentation.
Play Simon and Garfunkle tape

When it became apparent that the writers had people listening, message songs developed, the majority being protest songs.
Play "We Shall Overcome"

Throughout the whole era there has been another type of protest song. Teenagers protesting against the generation gap.
Play "Almost Grown" and "My Generation"

Probably the most meaningful lyrics to come out of New Zealand in the past few years would be this song:
Play "Big Norm"