embarrassingly for me, it is not usually about the lyrics. a song gets me with its melody, its chord progression, its impeccable choice of instrumentation. maybe not something to be so embarrassed about. after all, throughout college i had this whole thesis brewing in my head about how words are a mere articulation, oftentimes a limitation, of true feelings that can be expressed rawly in other ways. vocalizations, music, art, film. this is why shoegaze can do so much for me. that burying of lyrics creates something expressive in and of itself. maybe an introversion, a voice trapped far within a clumsy body.
it feels like there’s some notion or stigma that not having amazing lyrics, or not loving a band for its profundity, makes you less intelligent. is that a thing? or am i just projecting? some kind of guilt for being this way. and not that i don’t love lyrics too. i love writing them, and i love people knowing what i’m writing about. so many songwriters want to leave interpretation open – but i don’t! and then there are things like martin gore’s lyrics. cheesy, often. but – there’s something behind that all. even in “Somebody” he jokes about how he can get away with being so sappy. sort of hilarious? indeed. the cheesy aspect of depeche mode is inherent to who they are, and it’s OK, it’s built into their image, and they got grandfathered into stardom and some people hate it, but i love it.