So, there is some interesting studies on the effect that sadness and depression have on music taste and ability to listen to the lyrics.
Quite literally it breaks down to people who are happy tend to just want to hear music and don’t comprehend or want lyrically complicated songs. People who are depressed or at high risk for it tend to be more seeking more complex story telling and will be more aware of the lyrics.
Now why that is would probably win you science grant if you could quantify it. I think it comes back around a bit to “ignorance is bliss” a pretty accurate statement of the world that people that just don’t know don’t and don’t care they don’t know are already pretty happy or content with how they know existence to be and don’t seek out more. While people more depressed are searching for kindred souls and the feeling of belonging and so listen for more of that empathetic response.
Now one of the other really interesting things of these studies is that heavy death metal music is in the same level as like alternative indie prog-rock for depression listeners, which I think really goes back to that desire to feel emotion and joined experience even if it’s just rage or anger.
So, all that to say if you went from just hearing the rhythm to really digging the lyrics check in with your mental health cause it might be that you are seeking out more complex emotions and could be at risk for more serious emotional states.
Me personally I’ve always listened to the lyrics since I was a child.
It’s a bit reductive to say the only emotion in death metal is anger. Death, the band so influential on the genre that it may or may not be named after them depending on who you ask, covers lyrical themes ranging from introspection on the difference between who you are and who you perceive yourself to be, to the existential dread of the Fermi paradox, on the same album.
Yeah I understand that it’s reductive and heavy metal tends to have some of the most impressive technical work I have ever seen in music.
But I do mean anger in the sense of the dislike of how things are. While there seems to be a tone of sadness, it’s really often angry at the fact that death is inevitable, anger at horrors of war, at capitalism, whatever and then played with all the emotional effort of someone trying to live fast and scream all the way to their hole in the ground.
So yes, to say metal is angry is reductive I feel it’s a simple way to say “aware and unable to do much but scream.”
It’s music for catharsis if you find that in being loud, appearance, performance, metaphorically, whatever.Yeah I understand that it’s reductive and heavy metal tends to have some of the most impressive technical work I have ever seen in music.
But I do mean anger in the sense of the dislike of how things are.
I’m kinda with you, but keep in mind I was replying to comments specifically about death metal.
Fair enough. That’s probably from me not really knowing the difference and using a lot of these terms interchangeably from only casually listening to a lot of bands. So forgive me for any mistakes I make in that regard
It’s cool. I know a lot of people tend to use the phrase “death metal” casually to refer to all metal, but it’s actually a specific subgenre of a larger, much more diverse genre (which actually as a much larger variety of lyrical themes than people might assume.)
Most death metal I’ve heard seems horror-themed anyway. I’m not aware of many death metal bands who’s lyrics are primarily anger-themed.
Also, I‘m not sure anyone listens to death metal specifically for the lyrics.
Anyway, that whole “depressed peolle care about lyrics and happy people don’t” seems like a huge oversimplification overall anyway.
Source: I’ve been depressed my whole life, and I usually don’t care about lyrics, although sometimes I do. And it’s not necessarily when I’m more depressed, but rather if the lyrics noticeably good or bad I might notice, if I can even understand them.)
Horror and anger definitely have crossover. Look at the people who are “punished” by the monsters of horror films and you will quickly realize it’s just catharsism in the form of gross justified violence against those that are deemed as either corrupt to deserve it or pure innocent that iS being wrongly punished by the sins of the society. (look to toxic avenger for a super on the nose representation)
But metal music is often in search of that same catharsism of feeling alive, yelling back against the things that make you angry or scared and loud and hard enough to hear that you can’t think or focus on the merits of the song.
I understand it’s a large oversimplification and it’s not really my research while I have a distinct interest in it. But metal music can not be compressed into a repeatable chorus like clean happy pop music can be, and if you look into the topics and lyrics of popular heavy metal music you will often find them to be secretly about some polarizing topics.
And honestly you kinda stated my point on you take notice of lyrics that give you a strong emotional response. You don’t have to necessarily fit the curve because it’s more about averages than catch all statements.
I’m also horror fan and I don’t relate to horror being about wanting to watch people get punished
Edit: Also, I apologize if I missed your point, but I didn’t really see that as the point when you said:
Quite literally it breaks down to people who are happy tend to just want to hear music and don’t comprehend or want lyrically complicated songs. People who are depressed or at high risk for it tend to be more seeking more complex story telling and will be more aware of the lyrics.
That explains why The Doors and Pink Floyd often exhibit lyrical mastery.
“When you’re happy you enjoy the music. When you’re sad you understand the lyrics.” - Frank Ocean.
Just happened to me with “I Could Have Lied” by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Ooh ooh. I could have lied is about Anthony Kiedis shooting his shot with Sinead O’connor of Nothing Compares 2 U fame, and her not being up for it, and shooting him down.
I loved that, because it’s not the happy fairy tale ending or the triumphant hookup. She said no, he grieved, and put it to music. I suspect a lot of people know how he feels - rejected, humiliated, embarrassed, replaying it in his head.
*I could’ve lied, I’m such a fool! My eyes could never, ever, ever keep their cool. Showed and I told her how she struck me, but I’m fucked up now… *
That’s art! If you’re lucky, it makes you feel something. You weren’t there, you didn’t experience it but boy, do you know how he feels.
Nice, I didn’t know that history. I do know that feeling. If someone asked me what music was, I would say “communicating emotion.” The ones that do it well make you feel something.
I guess I’m an outlier then. I’ve never really listened to songs for the lyrics, but the general feeling of the beat and melody, no matter if I’m depressed or happy. I often imagine a picture or a scene when listening to something. If I pay attention to the lyrics it’s usually because of two extremes - either when it’s so extremely fitting to the scene I envisioned that it surprises me, or the contrary.
I recently listened to some songs I liked as a teenager, but I actually paid attention to the lyrics. Holy shit, some of those songs were dark.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - If Not Now, Then When?
Listen to it without the lyrics and see if you can catch it, the high pitch vocals are sort of hard to understand. Then watch along with the lyrics, both the song and music video really change once you know what it’s about.
My interpretation
My interpretation is that the black hole represents fossil fuels and deforestation. We discovered what we could do with them, became reliant to the point we’re unable to throw them away, and now we can only watch as animals, trees, and loved ones get sucked in by the consequences.
Relatable. I go a step further by deliberately listening to songs in foreign languages I do not understand, so I do not know the lyrics at all!
Oh man I love the music in Shen Yun!
Hell yeah, I love that Mexican female pop that sounds like Electronica Cumbia that also features a rap verse. The music videos are about being hot and selling drugs but the vibes are impeccable.
I love doing this! French metal is slept on and Arabian pop slaps.
Arabian pop IS slept on. But it also encompasses the stuff my mom listens to, and she and old German ladies listen to the same music just in different languages.
Theres also a lot of really cool Arabic metal.
All pop slaps, foreign pop just slaps harder because you can’t understand the cringe lyrics.
Not true, I can’t understand Korean but K-Pop is still cringe.
I enjoy Landmvrks but otherwise don’t know any heavy French music. Got any reccs for currently active bands?
Gojira kicks ass but all their stuff is in English.
Oh wow I’ve listened to them and even seen them with Mastodon but I didn’t know that Gojira was French
Igorrr is the best metal period, not just French. Very experimental but it goes hard. Imagine Frank Zappa, Aphex Twin and Dead Can Dance writing a metal album and you get Igorrr.
Unsure if any are active or not, that isn’t something I pay too close attention too personally unless it is local music, but here are a few recs from what I could Google about them being active (or at least not disbanding)
- Alcest
- Blut Aus Nord
- Sortilège (reformed in 2019 after a long hiatus)
- Bran Barr is good folk metal but only two albums though over 10 years, technically never disbanded.
- Amesoeurs (not active but still good)
- ADX if you like speed metal
- Attentat Rock (reformed in 08)
Sweet, I’ll check them out
Oh, the memories. I used to download that off Kazaa to show people. Usually alongside Don Hertzfeldt’s Rejected.
16 year old YouTube video lol. Fuck we’re old.
2007 Jan 6
Chocolate rain
Some stay dry and others feel the pain.
Baby’s born and now it’s not the same.
That’s why I listen to music no one can tell the lyrics of.
What’s it like listening to Lorna shore?
Clawfinger - Little Baby.
I sent this to my wife, she heard it and said it was good. I told her to listen again, but also listen to the lyrics. Suddenly she didn’t like it.
This is the reason I liked Weird Al as a kid. (I still do) His lyrics were the only ones I could understand.
I was the same way until about five years ago, then for whatever reason I started to hear the lyrics. Pumped-up kicks, I sang that song proudly without any idea what I was saying. Some things started to click and now wow.
When you start noticing, you start seeing some pretty hilarious things.
Like hearing “born in the U.S.A.” by Springsteen used at political rallies. lol
Wait, as in you would sing gibberish words that sounded similar to the real words? Or you would sing along to the real words but they would go in one ear and out the mouth without stopping to process the meaning behind the sentence?
Because I’ve definitely done the former - I think that’s how most people sing along to Smells Like Teen Spirit.
I never considered that some people know the right words to sing, but don’t process them as language with meaning and intent.
I’d sing the words without any idea what they were messing up a few of the words but fewer than you’d expect. Maybe it’s because I was in choir at a young age until early adulthood and in addition to reading notes you read and sing sounds not words. So for example in the chorus of What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor the lyrics are something like ‘Way-ho and up she rises,’ but on the sheet music it could be ‘Waaaaa- ehyyyyy o- HO.’ It doesn’t look like words, it’s sounds. So singing pop music I used to just hear and reproduce the sound without thinking about what I was saying much. Super clear lyrics yeah but even a little hard to hear I didn’t used to.
I too am white and nerdy
Now you have me thinking. I’ve always said that I don’t listen to lyrics but when I was a kid I listened to a lot of artists that are straight up comedy or lean that way (e.g. Barenaked Ladies).
I too ride the bus
I love my pancreas too, al.
Have I missed something about pumped up kicks? Because I never thought the song was intended to be in FAVOR of shooting kids.
All the other kids with the pumped-up kicks
You better run, better run, outrun my gun
Do you interpret that as promoting school shootings?
I think the subject matter is pretty obvious. I’d imagine it being in favor of shooting kids can be argued against though
The song does not favor shooting kids. It about creating awareness on the issue of gun violence and teen mental illness by showing things from the perspective of a school shooter.
That’s what’s I thought it was.
I mean people seem generally shocked that it’s about school shootings at all
I guess. Do a lot of people assume a song would never be based on such a dark or serious topic? I can imagine this being the case if this was the first song with a dark topic a person ever heard, perhaps. Maybe I’m just desensitized because I’ve heard a lot of music with dark themes.
I mean what’s surprising isn’t that it’s a song with a dark theme but the contrast between the radio friendly, sunny sweet beat and melody against the lyrics. Additionally it’s just a song that so many people know from hearing it at the supermarket and on the radio without paying particularly attention to it that it’s surprising when they find out.
I guess, I just feel personally (and this is my opinion) that with a song like this with a catchy chorus, the chorus is the first thing you notice about the song, and the theme is made clear in the chorus. You don’t really have to dig into the verses to find out what the chorus means.
Edit: I should probably make it clear that I’m not trying to say there’s anything wrong or bad about people not noticing or being shocked that PUK has dark lyrics. I guess I’m just sharing out loud thoughts I probably should be keeping to myself.
For me I really have to focus to pick out what lyrics are saying at all. If I’m not paying a lot of attention the singers are just another instrument to me making notes.
Careless whisper is such a sexy song with that saxophone. ‘Guilty feet have got no rhythm’ definitely can’t be a poetic device for not being able to get hard because you cheated on your partner.
Sometimes I’m worried that the J-pop I listen to has questionable lyrics, but then I remember that song about falling in love with a T-Rex and that other song about making poor people fight to the death and cannibalizing the loser and think, there’s no way this can be worse than that
But then sometimes an absolute banger turns out to be about suicide, oops
I present to you this song, which apparently based off a real story in which a girl live streamed herself getting into increasingly dangerous situations.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
So many getting pissed at RATM for “becoming political”.
Especially right wing people.
deleted by creator
Especially
I’m not sure what machine they were raging against, but it was probably a printer.
Actually it’s not a printer this machine is much more sinister. A machine that is used to oppress people. They use this machine to devide humankind and go againt each other but don’t let it distract you from the fact that in 1998, The Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell, and plummeted 16 ft through an announcer’s table.
Actually it’s not a printer this machine is much more sinister. A machine that is used to oppress people. They use this machine to divide humankind and go against each other […]
Sounds just like a printer.
They really were the worst back then.
Despite all the shitty things manufacturers (especially printer manufacturers have done), actually using printers has gotten so much easier.
A few years ago you had to sacrifice a goat under a blue moon while reciting the installation instructions in backwards Latin to add a printer to a computer.
Now people can log into the Wi-Fi at my house on their phone for the first time and immediately click “Print” on their phone, pick a printer, and it just fucking works.
No special apps, no drivers, no “have disk” bullshit.
reminder that printers being absolutely dogshit garbage is what gave rise to the free software movement, richard stallman was so sick of dealing with printers that he wrote his own software for it.
printers being awful is a big part of why linux exists, which powers most of the web.
Thanks hp and Epson, for creating the open source movement!
Hey Ya!
“Y’all don’t wanna hear me, you just wanna dance”
