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[,]

I heard a KT Tunstall song on the radio today, "Other Side of the World," which contains the phrase "same old tired excuses."  But instead of singing "exCUSes," she sings "EXcuSES," stressing the wrong syllables.  Is this a pet peeve for anyone else?  It sounds so amateurish to me.  Listen to anything by Chuck Berry or Paul Simon (except "Sounds of Silence") and they sing in a perfect conversational rhythm, which I think is one of the many hallmarks of good writing.  

Here are some others that I find particularly silly:

Fleetwood Mac: "When the rain waSHES you clean, you'll know."

Jackson Browne:  "Lookin' out at the road, ruSHIN' unDER my wheels."


Is it just me?

[Kendrix]

What I find to be much worse is when a given syllable is stretched across two notes to make it fit.  ( I can't think of a good example at the moment).  This usually sounds very contrived.

As for the J. Brown and F Mac examples you mentioned - i dont find those to be bothersome.  As sung, they dont seem to pop out at me in an un-natural way.

A less obvious transgression is when two lyrics sung over the same musical construct have different syllable counts.  Sometimes a few extra syllables get squeeezed in.  
Even Elvis Costello and Dylan do this (their lyrics can get a bit wordy).
Sometimes it's barely noticable.  Sometimes is awkward as hell.

My attitude is that strictly following these songwriting rules aint what its about.  Its about...Whatever Works....for the song. Tradeoffs/imperfections are part of the package.

[rollmottle]

satellite wrote on Tue, 07 August 2007 11:54

Fleetwood Mac: "When the rain waSHES you clean, you'll know."

funny, it's idiosyncracies like this that are simply part of the reason why i love this song and this band so much.

[ktownson]

I think it's a "made you look!" kinda thing.

I find the misuse of articles (using "thee" before a consonant instead of "thuh", or "thuh" before a word starting with a vowel) to grate on me. Probably a result of choir directors harping on it over the years.

Much as I enjoy his music, James Taylor was one of the worst offenders.

[,]

Or when George W. Bush reads his speeches.  

I'm a big FM fan myself, but Dreams came out when I was a kid, and even then it didn't work for me, although I didn't know at the time WHY it didn't work.

[maxdimario]

naw it don't bother me.. I think it's expression.

what REALLY BOTHERS ME is when they put a weak word on a strong note of the melody.

I HATE THAT!

[McAllister]

yes it bothers the holy snot outta me
the rhythm is as important as the rhyme

a big one for me was (Soul Asylum?): runaWAY TRAIN never comin' back

arggh

M

[Careful Collapse]

Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) is TERRIBLE at that.  Absolutely HORRIBLE.

[Extreme Mixing]

McAllister wrote on Tue, 07 August 2007 13:57

yes it bothers the holy snot outta me M

I'm sure it bothers them, too.  All the way to the bank!!!

Steve

[rankus]

A lot of the younger bands I'm recording these days tend to pull tricks like this... You have to do something to be different I suppose... I'm OK with it most of the time, but there are some that make me wince.

[maxim]

i try and match rhythm to syllables...

[jwhynot]

It isN'T ironic....

oh wait...



JW

[,]

jwhynot wrote on Tue, 07 August 2007 18:40

It isN'T ironic.... oh wait...

It took me a minute, but... very good.

[garret]

maxim wrote on Tue, 07 August 2007 19:32

i try and match rhythm to syllables...

That's an ole Lennon trick...

Need a few more syllables?  just add a few beats.

Across the Universe is the best example..  I don't think there's a regular verse in that tune.  

[John Ivan]

It doesn't bother me at all. I think it can be a cool thing, how people "work" a lyric into a musical idea. The Mac example is a good one. The "SH" sound is so musical in that case..

Interesting how we all have little things that drive us nut's.

Ivan...............

Oh, and I LOVE:

Mee-ee aa-and mithis--- mithis Jo-oones ms. jones ms. jones ms. jooness.

Wonderful