When I tell people I don’t really listen to song lyrics, the customary response – combined with a incredulous look – is “Um, aren’t you an English major?” Yeah, I say, but I’m also a musician and I’m lucky enough to have decent relative pitch. I’m usually so tuned into the melody that the lyrics are more important for their rhythm and feel than what they say.
I often like songs that annoy other people just because I enjoy the melody, harmony, and rhythm. There are definitely exceptions. “California Gurls” – as catchy as it is – cannot escape its vapid lyrics. But the inverse: songs that have great lyrics but only so-so music don’t really interest me at all. You know, songs from Bob Dylan or folksy “chick” singers like Sarah MacLaclahan or Alanis Morrisett.
I’ve been on a Radiohead kick lately. I know I’m way late to this boat but one song in particular is beautiful: “Pyramid Song.” Released on the band’s 2001 album “Amnesiac,” it’s a very dreamy, haunting song. I had to look up the lyrics online but it wasn’t what they meant but how they sounded.
I jumped in the river and what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
All the things I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt
If I could characterize the song in a word, I’d say “ethereal” and though the lyrics are a bit out-there, the afterlife imagery fits perfectly with its dreamy feel. They just sound cool. And that’s all I can ask of a song.
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