What do the lyrics mean?

[lectoid]

Maybe I should just sit back and enjoy the music, but sometimes I think about the lyrics and they just don't make sense to me. Is it just me? Are they just supposed to be part of the music?

Take for example Crocodile. I looked up the lyrics here and I don't know what I am supposed to understand, if anything.

Like I said, maybe I should just continue to enjoy the music as it is. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Thanks, and be gentle.

[bryantm3]

many underworld lyrics, i find, tend to be in an abstract random fashion, but all point in a certain direction. there are exceptions, such as 'push upstairs' which is a pretty clear plotline, but for example, 'dirty epic', although it doesn't tell a cohesive story, uses words and phrases to point towards a particular theme, when by themselves seem like random words.

however, not all of the tracks are in this fashion. for example, from beaucoup fish forwards, many of the tracks tend to use lyrics in a rhythmic fashion, sort of as a unique musical instrument, rather than actually making any sense through the use of words. for example, crocodile (correct me if i'm wrong) is basically using the music to create words. the two best examples outside of underworld i can think of are scat lyrics, and latin choral pieces that rely on the harmony of voices while simply using the lyrics as jumping off points. the key difference in these two and underworld is that underworld will develop nonsense sounds into lyrics that streamline along with the music, serving no purpose other than to create emotion by using the voice as an instrument.

that's the best way i could explain it, maybe someone else could do better.

[King of Snake]

Also for some songs they lyrics are simply "stream of consciousness" observations and overheard conversations from a particular location or journey. Ring Road is a good example of that.

[lectoid]

That helps a lot.

I think I started noticing how lyrics don't make sense all of the time is when I heard a friend listening to Beck. I've only heard Becks "hit" songs, but what I hear makes far less sense than anything I've ever heard.

[Strawman]

Originally Posted by lectoid

Maybe I should just sit back and enjoy the music, but sometimes I think about the lyrics and they just don't make sense to me. Is it just me? Are they just supposed to be part of the music?

Take for example Crocodile. I looked up the lyrics here and I don't know what I am supposed to understand, if anything.

Like I said, maybe I should just continue to enjoy the music as it is. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Thanks, and be gentle.

Crocodile - makes perfect sense to me........maybe you have to be Australian to understand it

[stauff]

Speaking of understanding crocodile lyrics and being Australian.....

I've seen a few times it asked what the vocoder bit is in the middle. If you get the Innervisions Orchestra Mix (from The Bells! The Bells!), it's out on its own and much clearer. However, it's still not entirely clear what he's saying.

Having listened to it a few times, the only way I can understand it is as Japanese - sounds roughly like "mizu kappu mabuse" -> 水カップまぶせ -> "Cover [up] the cup [of] water".

Vital information, I'm sure

- Matthew

[boywithjavelin]

What makes Underworld's and indeed Beck's use of "nonsense" lyrics acceptable is that it is an intelligent choice on the part of the artist.
You believe Messrs Hyde and Beck could write a "proper" song if they chose to.
But if you tak someone like, say, Oasis, then the nonsense is inadvertent and perfectly good (even great) tunes like "Don't look back in anger" and "Wonderwall" are ruined by lyrics that suggest they all left school at sixteen - haven't read a book since and worst of all, think it doesn't show....

"

[Strawman]

I'm just a waitress she said.......

went and bought a new hat she said.....