• OK, it's on.
  • Please note that many, many Email Addresses used for spam, are not accepted at registration. Select a respectable Free email.
  • Done now. Domine miserere nobis.

Creativity from misunderstanding?

Hadoblado

think again losers
Local time
Today 4:56 PM
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
7,065
---
I have difficulty hearing lyrics in songs, I usually don't care about lyrics very much but sometimes I'll passively pick up on them and find myself repeating them in my head later. Anyway, often I'll find that I have misheard the lyrics and have therefore misattributed meaning to the song. When I then compare what I have with what the original intention of the lyrics, I tend to find mine have much more depth and fit much better.

Now, for the sake of discussion, let's assume that my lyrics are much better, it is not just my bias.

Am I being creative?
 

kantor1003

Prolific Member
Local time
Today 7:26 AM
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
1,574
---
Location
Norway
No. At least I wouldn't think so based on my own intuition and various models of the creative process posed by people like John Dewey, Graham Wallas or more recently, Ellies Paul Torrance. I think all of these models include both problem finding and problem solving as elements in the creative process.
 

Meddle

Redshirt
Local time
Today 8:26 PM
Joined
Feb 15, 2011
Messages
12
---
I think you are.

Creative is just a word.
 

NinjaSurfer

Banned
Local time
Yesterday 11:26 PM
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
730
---
I have difficulty hearing lyrics in songs, I usually don't care about lyrics very much but sometimes I'll passively pick up on them and find myself repeating them in my head later. Anyway, often I'll find that I have misheard the lyrics and have therefore misattributed meaning to the song. When I then compare what I have with what the original intention of the lyrics, I tend to find mine have much more depth and fit much better.

Now, for the sake of discussion, let's assume that my lyrics are much better, it is not just my bias.

Am I being creative?

I listened to and loved Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana for years before I even knew what the lyrics were. I was like "mosquito"... "libido"... really Kurt!? awesome, lol.
 

smithcommajohn

Do not consume with alcohol
Local time
Today 2:26 AM
Joined
May 27, 2011
Messages
581
---
Location
South Florida
I have done this on countless occasions! I think a lot of people mishear lyrics in songs, but don't go beyond that searching for meaning.

When we can create new meaning with our misheard lyrics it adds a new kind of depth to a song. For sure that's creativity, imo.
 

Hadoblado

think again losers
Local time
Today 4:56 PM
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
7,065
---
It makes me so sad when I realise how bad the lyrics to the songs I love so much are. Here I am thinking that they are insanely clever innovative thinkers, when all they are doing is repeating their dime'o'dozen opinions. The number of mind-fucks I have misattributed to the artist of the song is mind-boggling.
 

Da Blob

Banned
Local time
Today 1:26 AM
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Messages
5,926
---
Location
Oklahoma
I am of the opinion, that some of those who profess to be musicians, deliberately occlude their lyrics, by turning down the volume on the vocals when mixing the final track in the studio.

The reason? Perhaps because they have nothing heartfelt to say, no message they wish to proclaim, no self to express and no art hidden in their noise....

Those true artists with something to say, make sure the mix highlights the message of the vocals. It is simply a matter of turning a dial on the soundboard...
 

Hadoblado

think again losers
Local time
Today 4:56 PM
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
7,065
---
There was a little boy,
who's Daddy drank too much,
and then he made him up,
and then he made him up!

This is my interpretation of the lyrics from a song by Dog Fashion Disco (I forgot the name of the song). This made me incredibly happy as it made me think the singer was expressing some extreme psychosis from the perspective of someone who didn't have any problem in life, so made up and believed a story about his Dad drinking too much. I don't know why this idea makes me happy, probably because it's thinking outside the box.

There was a little boy,
who's Daddy drank too much,
and then he beat him up,
and then he beat him up!

This is the actual lyrics. These are basic shock value lyrics that are incredibly unprofound, I am disappointed.
 

pjoa09

dopaminergic
Local time
Today 2:26 PM
Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
1,857
---
Location
th
HAHAHA shit. that happens to me too. Often with rap songs. I actually understand the lyrics but I can't relate to the wild sexual and relationship experiences that they brag about so in the attempt to relate I seem to creatively apply the lyrics to a less dramatic experience.

In certain cases, I am prone to simply use the tune as a creative imagery fuel.
 

hablahdoo

Member
Local time
Today 2:26 AM
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
67
---
Location
New Hampshire
Reading this thread is entertaining. Between me and my sister she knows the lyrics to all the songs she hears, I can hum the sound of the instruments, and we're both horrible at the other task. So although I can't relate well to the misinterpretation of lyrics, it's perfectly analogous to how I misinterpret the instruments. I can hum an instrument's part in the song that sounds right with the rest of it completely unknowing that in the actual version it's done differently.

I am of the opinion, that some of those who profess to be musicians, deliberately occlude their lyrics, by turning down the volume on the vocals when mixing the final track in the studio.

The reason? Perhaps because they have nothing heartfelt to say, no message they wish to proclaim, no self to express and no art hidden in their noise....

Those true artists with something to say, make sure the mix highlights the message of the vocals. It is simply a matter of turning a dial on the soundboard...
The artisan creates purely for function, but the artist puts a part of himself into the work. Must it matter whether his means are through vocals, a painting or an instrumental? They can all hold a part of him in it.

I only make music as a hobby for myself but I'll make a point anyway. I make music to my personal taste; all of my collected knowledge and experience influences the result. A lack of lyrics shouldn't make me any less genuine an artist.
 

Da Blob

Banned
Local time
Today 1:26 AM
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Messages
5,926
---
Location
Oklahoma
Reading this thread is entertaining. Between me and my sister she knows the lyrics to all the songs she hears, I can hum the sound of the instruments, and we're both horrible at the other task. So although I can't relate well to the misinterpretation of lyrics, it's perfectly analogous to how I misinterpret the instruments. I can hum an instrument's part in the song that sounds right with the rest of it completely unknowing that in the actual version it's done differently.


The artisan creates purely for function, but the artist puts a part of himself into the work. Must it matter whether his means are through vocals, a painting or an instrumental? They can all hold a part of him in it.

I only make music as a hobby for myself but I'll make a point anyway. I make music to my personal taste; all of my collected knowledge and experience influences the result. A lack of lyrics shouldn't make me any less genuine an artist.

I prefer instrumental music myself. Few seem to do lyrics artistically in any event...
 
Top Bottom