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Post by Kapitan on Feb 22, 2023 15:51:31 GMT
Having gone through every song, I thought it might be worth people chiming in on the album's lyrics as a whole.
For me, they're fine. I don't consider most of them especially good, but neither do I consider most of them especially bad. A lot of them are easy to ignore, frankly. With a few exceptions, they get across the various vibes of the songs without being particularly captivating either through storytelling or poetic imagery.
It is overall a combination of nostalgia, optimism, and love, but shaded with realization (and acceptance) of mortality. It is almost a concept album, though clearly not in a narrative sense. The main detour from all of this is "Bill and Sue," but otherwise the songs generally fall into those main themes, and often in combinations of several of them (mostly love and nostalgia combined).
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Post by kds on Feb 22, 2023 16:13:28 GMT
For a later era release from a band whose strong suit isn't even lyrics (IMHO), I think that overall TWGMTR's lyrics are pretty good.
There really aren't any embarrassing or cringey lyrics. Even the self references are pretty restrained. And any issues with those are made up for by the final two or three songs.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 22, 2023 17:40:27 GMT
Yeah, overall the lyrics on That's Why God Made The Radio are pretty good. I nit-picked a bit on my posts, but that was more, per the thread, trying to be critical and analyzing, and also just making conversation and thinking out loud. Not only are the lyrics good, but I think they are delivered well by the guys.
As Kapitan noted, if not for "The Private Life Of Bill And Sue", That's Why Got Made The Radio could darn well be considered almost a concept album. It probably is anyway to some extent, if not reviewed/written about as such. The lyrics are a little top-heavy reunion-wise and aging-wise, but that was to be somewhat expected - and I don't mind - because, again, the lyrics are sung effectively.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 22, 2023 20:06:41 GMT
Yeah, overall the lyrics on That's Why God Made The Radio are pretty good. I nit-picked a bit on my posts, but that was more, per the thread, trying to be critical and analyzing, and also just making conversation and thinking out loud. Not only are the lyrics good, but I think they are delivered well by the guys. I hope everyone reading understands that's the spirit of the thread--and not just this, frankly, but (as far as I'm concerned) all ratings, rankings, and discussion threads. I mean, obviously we're all big enough fans that we spend time on boards like this, so it should go without saying. But just in case it doesn't, I'm saying it! And on the flip side, there's nothing wrong with honest criticism, either. We're all entitled to our opinions, and it's interesting to compare notes (especially on those occasions when somebody's opinion falls outside of the mainstream). For me, as I've said many times, I think in the end TWGMTR was far, far better than I expected it would be. No, the lyrics didn't blow me away, but as kds said, it's the Beach Boys: they're hardly known for being Dylan-level lyricists. In most of the better cases, the lyrics are more effective than "brilliant." No shame in that, especially considering the music that underlies them. And here, I think the lyrics were mostly effective. No serious complaints on this end.
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Post by kds on Feb 22, 2023 20:36:46 GMT
And bonus points for The Beach Boys not trying to force any modern slang onto the album. One of the biggest offenders I can think of is the use of "rad" on California Callin'.
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