Some of them were a bit of a stretch but some of them were really good.
I was surprised that one of my favorite ones isn’t there: CCR lyrics that go like: “There’s a bathroom on the right”, or was it “There’s a baboon on the rice”?
If you know another language you can have even more fun. There are quite a few songs that contain what sounds like very funny German sentences.
Grrrr…the mixing!!!
While I hate songs where the instruments drown out the vocalist, I also hate the vocals drowning out the instruments!
This is my #1 compliant with the majority of songs from the past 10 years or so. Are there musicians involved or is it just a computer? A bunch of looped samples?
Here’s an example of a well-mixed song by a great female vocalist:
About the mixing:
I really like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, but it drives me mad how they keep drowning Noel’s voice in the music. Some people say that it is a remnant of the old times, that he used to do it because he didn’t like his singing much, but despite his huge improvements over the years they still mix it that way. He sings really well (and has been for quite a while) but nope, even on his 2023 album he is just too quiet.
For me mixing is part of the package. Just like everything else it is an art. Some people notice, some don‘t. Some feel the difference, some are deaf to it.
Back in the day, I could often be found in the back of the old bookstores, in the audio section, wandering from headphone to headphone and listening to the music demos they had back there, randomly listening for something unique to catch my ear.
With bookstores a fading memory, now I wander Youtube listening for things, usually something acoustic, new age, chill, ambient…
I remember those. CD players encased within bookshelves, each with their own headphones. You had control enough to peruse the whole album given enough time. A good memory for sure. I had a guitar lesson on Saturday mornings at Maple Street Guitars in Buckhead (Atlanta), after which I’d head over to Tower, where I’d spend hours listening to new music. You could ask a store clerk to load up almost any album, but the staff favorites were usually worth a listen.
Once, I exited the store to find a mega tour bus parked in front. As I walked by the front of the bus, I looked through the enormous window. To my astonishment, I could see BB King sitting at a table by himself just behind the driver station. I paused and began making worshiping motions in his direction. I could see him smiling and waving back, but he didn’t move. He sat there wiping his brow with a towel and frankly looked exhausted. I gave him a last friendly wave and moved on, somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t gotten to chat with my ultimate guitar hero. Mr. King needed some downtown, and who was I to deny him his respite.
The first song that I learned to play was Sweet Sixteen.