Pandora Reveals Shockers

[susandennis]

In the 50's and 60's we did not have lyrics. We had AM radio and, if we were lucky, we had a 45 with a colorful label and could learn the name of the song, the singer, the record company but that was it. We learned the words by listening to the songs. Repeated listening embedded those lyrics into our dna.

It's both amazing and kind of tragic that I can sing every word of Look Look My Heart Is An Open Book and Lipstick on Your Collar and cannot remember the name of one single teacher I had before 10th grade and few of those after.

When I fire up my Oldies station on Pandora, it provides lyrics to most of the songs. I do think it's funny that I can actually provide more lyrics out of my head, than Pandora spits out. BUT, for the songs it does know, I am so amused to see the differences between my lyrics and Pandora's. Often it's not huge, but little missteps here and there.

Today's music has no mystery. All the lyrics are there. On the other hand, there might be something to be said for accuracy.

Comments

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

Didn't albums come with lyrics sleeves? My experience is more from the 70s, but I know that most of the records my older siblings bought had a lyrics sleeve in them.

[susandennis]

I think most albums back then did not but, honestly, I don't remember albums. At least my friends and I did not have any. There were a lot of one hit wonders and albums were expensive. We were happy to have a stack of 45's on a fat spindle.

Seems like some of the early albums might have printed lyrics on the back but I never say a lyric sleeve until the 70's.

[howeird]

45s didn't come with lyrics but LPs did. Sometimes what they played on the radio was not what was released later on CDs, which may account for some of Pandora's different lyrics.

In Thailand in the 70's we bought these pirate lyric books. They were produced by Thais who barely spoke English, and between not hearing the words correctly and the typos, they are a hoot. I still have a couple, maybe I'll scan some stuff.

[susandennis]

that's a riot about the Thai lyric books. i never even heard of a lyric book. wild.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

We have the closed-captioning turned on on our tv so my wife can learn english, and whenever there's a rock concert playing, I get all sorts of surprises by what they are actually singing versus what I thought they had been singing all these years.

[susandennis]

Oh that's a cool idea to turn closed captioning on for concerts. I'm going to have to try that!