When I listen to a lot of songs with lyrics performed, all I hear is the melody and/or just the rhythm. This is especially true for songs written and sung from the rock and roll era to the present day.

Most songs before the 1950s, and certainly a lot since, were performed by singers with enhancing complements that allowed the lyrics to be heard up front. From Middle Ages madrigals to early blues to Broadway show tunes to country western to WWII ballads, singers were easy to hear and understand.

Since rock and roll came along, so many (but not all) songs have been dominated by raging guitars and back beat drumming that drowned out the singers and so many performers seem to not enunciate clearly.

Add to that I may suffer some hearing loss from my lifetime exposure to machinery noise, aging, and lack of interest in the “message.”

I find it much more interesting to listen to harmonies and rhythms if I tune out the lyrics of so much, but not all, of what is presented. I find I am pretty good at isolating different parts of the music to listen to. 

For instance, I can hear just the bass line or just the drums in the music without really hearing everything else. I especially enjoy Latin music for these elements and am finding I enjoy 19^th and 20^th century classical music for the richness of the chord harmonies. All you have to do to understand this is to listen to Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” or Revel’s music played by a symphony orchestra.  

I do enjoy some exceptions. Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Train” and Willy Nelson’s “Don’t Give Up” come to mind. And of course The Moody Blues, The Beach Boys, Don McLean, Tony Bennett, and John Hartford. 

In watching the television show “The Voice” I find it interesting to hear the judges talking about the message and emotions being expressed by the artists and the performance being so important. But most of the time I don’t hear them. I find so many popular songs today to be boring, lacking melody to my ears, and the performances full of what I describe as “warbling,” which I find distracting, unnecessary, and “muddying.”

I guess I’m just an old fuddy duddy from some previous generation. I suppose my reaction to the changing tastes over time is pretty common and diversity is probably a good thing. If one thing doesn’t seem to work out just wait… sooner or later it will change again and maybe be more acceptable to previous listeners. Or maybe not.

One thing that seems to be prevalent in my music taste is its wide range of genres. Just look at my meager collection of recordings to understand that.

Anyway that’s my take on listening to music. 

Ken Kaiyala
10-30-21