Today I watched video interviews about songwriting (which I suggest you check out – very interesting in spite of the limitations discussed below) in The New York Times app with Jay-Z and Taylor Swift, two extremely smart, talented, articulate songwriters. But… as edited, all they talked about were lyrics. As if music was not even a part of a song, as opposed to being an equal partner (if not the senior partner).

I don’t blame Jay-Z or Taylor. I know they know the truth.

But does the NY Times know? Do pop ‘music’ critics know?

I don’t think so.

For prose writers it’s a thousand times easier to talk about lyrics than music. They can also wallow in the lurid, confessional aspects of a lyric that may or may not actually be what the writer intended. And I’m sure these songwriters were responding to the questions they were asked, which I’m pretty confident were mostly (only?) about the lyrics (because, after all, that’s what songs are all about, no?).

This approach has bothered me for a long time. I read a ‘music review’ and all they talk about are the lyrics; and these days they talk about them as if they’re the writer’s journal and what’s important is how the words relate to a usually imaginary autobiography. Oh, they also mention the performers’ outfits and feuds.

In a word – gossip.

How about if they just acknowledged that music is part of it? Yes it’s hard to write about music… but hey, it’s hard to play an instrument well, it’s hard to write good songs… but if that’s the business you have chosen, you can at least try.

Next time you see MUSIC REVIEW at the top of a story about a singer or musician, notice how long it takes for them to mention music… if they ever do. The music is an afterthought in most MUSIC REVIEWs. If that.

I don’t expect them to get into the technical aspects of music; we’re talking about general interest publications. But how about something as simple as… ‘When the melody jumps up there, it has a great effect.’

Don’t you think they could talk like that, in terms a layman could understand? It doesn’t have to be technical (most ‘critiques’ of lyrics aren’t either).

Without music, lyrics are just words on page or a screen. (And, of course, without lyrics you don’t have a song you can sing.)

You can listen to and look at music and lyrics separately, enjoy and appreciate them, but when the rubber meets the road songs are written to be sung and played.

In a good song the music and lyrics are inseparable, inextricable… no matter what ‘music’ critics tell you.

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