I actually wouldn’t be completely floored to podium all 4 of these.
My nodiuming days are over.
I might squeak out mid-table out of this.
3 Likes
zomg
1 Like
Category host name : Skydiver8
Category : A song with lyrics so poetic, you wouldn’t be laughed off stage at your local poetry slam if you just read them with no music.
I have some notes. It’s a lot. I will give you time to peruse this.
Before I start, one note: I did not hate any of the songs submitted, and as far as poetry goes, there were only a few that veered more toward “song lyrics only.” I’m seriously impressed with this selection of songs, and if you nodium, I still won’t have much bad to say. I WILL say that I never would have picked out the winner at the start when I looked at the list of artists/songs (before listening). This was a great demonstration of breaking out of my biases.
Good job on creativity, too. Nothing obvious like Dylan or Mitchell on the list. I also found it interesting that no one submitted a song based on a classic poem (except one…sort of but not really), which would have been an easy way to a higher ranking based on my system (which didn’t exist until a couple days ago, so no big deal). It’s hard to out-poetry established poets like Robert Browning or Walt Whitman. For example, both of these probably would have reached at least middle-upper Pauwl territory based on poetry ranking alone:
Also, I am going to admit that I might have bit off more than I could chew with my category choice. I just didn’t have any idea how hard this would be to judge. Usually I just go by “feel” and be done with it, but that approach seemed a bit too simplistic and slightly unfair for this category. On first listen, there were entries with great poetry and not-so-great music and vice versa, which completely hamstrung me for a day or two. Every single entry had something going for it, and this was by far the toughest category I’ve ever judged.
Being a notorious over-thinker with ADHD, I decided that I needed some way to combine musicality with lyricism in my rating. I jumped onto Google and looked for methods of judging/rating poetry, and I combined that a little bit with my usual walrus approach, with a dash of my STEM roots, and came up with a rating system. I want to emphasize that without this system, I might never have been able to rank these at all, and you’d have been waiting weeks for my reveal. ADHD means that when I’m overwhelmed by something, I tend to just…not start. I had to force myself into something quantitative so I could just get going.
***** WARNING! Incoming math!
First, I gave a ranking from 1-12 based purely on the lyrics pulled from the internet.* We’ll call this L. Then I ranked them separately based on musicality/instrumentation/melody/etc, doing my best to completely ignore the vocals, a la Pyatnitski. We’ll call this M. Finally, I ranked them based purely on how the track, in its entirety, integrated lyrics and sound into a meaningful song. We’ll call this F. I then used a simple weighted mean equation to determine the final rating, let’s call it R.
L is weighted highest because for this one I felt category fit was the most important. M is second because it’s still a music contest, after all. F is least important, mainly because I didn’t hate any of the songs in this category and I didn’t want my my mood on any given listen to overly affect the songs’ final rankings.
((0.5xL)+(0.3xM)+(0.2xF))/3 = R
Obviously there’s still a lot of subjectivity when determining L,M, and F, but this equation really helped me organize all my thoughts into a final ranking of entries here. Like I mentioned above, it actually led to a couple of surprises, but after doing the math then listening again, I actually agree with what the science came up with.
Of course, because nothing ever works out completely, it also led to a dead tie between the top two, which I resolved by the highly scientific method of: “which one made me feel more feelings, man.”
*I want to note that I tried to judge the lyrics like a poetry competition, so I took into account things like imagery, use of language, power, message, originality, etc. There were several resources on the internet that broke this down more thoroughly, but I didn’t want to get too in the weeds here, so I simplified them for my use. Just google “how to judge a poetry contest” if you’re interested. Also, I am deliberately not posting my thoughts on the actual meaning of the lyrics. I will post the lyrics of each song and let y’all form your own opinions about that.
6 Likes
Yours was an interesting category for me. Decided on artist immediately and then it was just a matter of which song to submit.
Wow! This is probably the most thought that ever went into judging a category of Walrus. I am impressed.
3 Likes
I’m a nerd
1 Like
5 Likes
Let’s get started. I’ll reiterate, I didn’t hate anything here. Thanks for making this a challenge.
In 12th place, earning 1 point: PJ Harvey – Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln (L=2, M=2, F=2, R=0.6666r)
Like I said, I don’t hate this song. But someone has to be last. These are more like song lyrics, and I can actually think of other PJ Harvey songs that I would consider more poetic. The repetitive chorus is catchy, but that is pretty much all I enjoyed about it musically; the atonal repetitive bits started to grate on me after a while. Don’t get me wrong, atonal repetitive bits have their place, but I just don’t feel them here in this song. I wouldn’t change the station when it came on, but I also wouldn’t need to hear it again.
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
At the refreshments stand
A boy throws out his hands
As if to feed the starlings
But really he throws nothing
It’s just to watch them jump
See the people coming
They’re moving over the grass
To squeeze in two plastic chairs
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
Three notes, a bugle call
A black man in overalls
Arrives to empty the trash
Hauls it to a metal hatch
A doorway opens up
To the underworld
The boy throws empty hands
And the starlings jump
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
All near the memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln
2 Likes
Nothing says art and poetry more than an algebra formula
2 Likes
3 Likes
OG video in post didn’t work for me. This one did.
I’m using the links that were sent to me, so I apologize in advance if they don’t work.
In 11th place, earning 2 points: Chris Stapleton – Tennessee Whiskey (L=1, M=7, F=4, R=1.1333r)
Another one that falls in the “song lyrics, not poetry” bucket. This feels to me like a prototypical country song, which is fine, but I was looking for something slightly more insightful. Country is an interesting choice for this category, since the vast majority of it tends to be lyrically simplistic, as this is. There’s no real metaphor (just a couple similes) or symbolism here, nor descriptive imagery. The music itself is fine, but combined with the lyrics, it doesn’t do much to stir my soul. Another song I don’t hate, but wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to again.
Used to spend my nights out in a barroom
Liquor was the only love I’ve known
But you rescued me from reachin’ for the bottom
And brought me back from being too far gone
You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
You’re as sweet as strawberry wine
You’re as warm as a glass of brandy
And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time
I’ve looked for love in all the same old places
Found the bottom of a bottle’s always dry
But when you poured out your heart I didn’t waste it
'Cause there’s nothing like your love to get me high
You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
You’re as sweet as strawberry wine
You’re as warm as a glass of brandy
And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time
You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
You’re as sweet as strawberry wine
You’re as warm as a glass of brandy
And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time
You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey
You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey
1 Like
6 Likes
Holy shit
3 Likes
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccckkkkkk
4 Likes
It’s not your reveal yet.
5 Likes
Guys I’m starting to think I’m not very good at this
4 Likes
In 10th place, earning 3 points: Fiona Apple – I Know (L=8, M=1, F=1, R=1.5)
Comments: Honestly could have gone with a few dozen Fiona Apple songs here. Picked this one because it had the most clear lyrics and no real chorus. Would not feel the least bit out of place at a poetry reading.
Agreed. This ranked in the top half of lyrics, but alas, the music just doesn’t do it for me, and it was dragged down by my utter boredom at the sound of the song. This is the first entry where the lyrics and musicality differed so widely. There is some wonderfully descriptive language in here, and some imagery that fits well with what I interpreted the poem to be about. I suppose I might have been asking for it with my category choice, but slow jazz/lounge just isn’t really my thing, and I would rather hear this read as spoken word, to be honest. Sorry Fiona, never really got into you.
So be it, I’m your crowbar
If that’s what I am so far
Until you get out of this mess
And I will pretend
That I don’t know of your sins
Until you are ready to confess
But all the time
All the time
I’ll know, I’ll know
And you can use my skin
To bury secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background
But all the time
All the time
I’ll know, I’ll know
Baby
I can’t help you out
While she’s still around
So for the time being, I’m being patient
And amidst this bitterness
If you’ll just consider this
Even if it don’t make sense all the time
Give it time
And when the crowd becomes your burden
And you’ve early closed your curtains
I’ll wait by the backstage door
While you try to find
The lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so
It’s okay
Don’t need to say it
4 Likes
Maybe not LOL.
Fiona Apple is mine.
6 Likes
ok, now that the nodium is done, the next tracks were all very close, and I’m glad I had math to help me!
In 9th place, earning 4 points: Recoil – Breath Control (L=4, M=4, F=9, R=1.666r)
Of all the submissions in the Pauwl zone, this one was the biggest victim of my ranking system. I’m not sorry, though, because without the ranking system, I never would have been able to rank them at all and every listen would have produced a different outcome. Taken separately, the poetry and musicality of this are both just average at best. Together, it feels like a well-done psychological thriller. So it ranked high on my feels scale, but lower in the places that mattered. This is the first song I’d probably listen to again by choice.
Who wouldn’t want a good girl, a soft hand
A gentle woman for a gentleman?
He said, "It’s been fine so far but after a while
I want more than a soft style
I want some slashes
To go with those long eyelashes. "
And so the bedroom became the black room
But a year later he wanted something more
Something I wasn’t quite prepared for
He said, "Every woman has an itch
And every nice girl secretly wants to switch. "
"I like how the skins look on your white hands
I’d like you to deliver one of my demands. "
He said, "Every woman has an itch
And every nice girl wants to switch. "
He led me in and lit the room with a hundred candles
And said “God never gives you more than you can handle.”
I sat astride his chest, “It’s just a thrill,” he said
As he relaxed on the dark, dark bed, “it’s just breath control.”
He whispered “Hold me here” and I did and his head fell back
He whispered “Press harder” and I did and his eyes rolled back
It’s just breath control. Just breath control
I saw him go pale. I saw him seize up
I felt something creep up like a taste for this
Like a reward
A kind of love
A kind of lustmord
It was a minute then three then five then ten
He wasn’t coming up again
I held on for twelve
I saw him seize and thrash and twist
And when he was still, I lifted away my wrists
And looked at my hands
And tried to understand
“It’s just a thrill” I said
As he relaxed on the dark, dark bed
I sat aside his chest
“It’s just a thrill,” he said
“just a thrill. It’s just breath control.”
When it was over, I slipped off the skins
And drowned them in the river where we used to swim
And a year later in a shop, I was stopped by a man
He said, "I know you’re looking for something that’s hard to find
And I think I have what you have in mind. "
And he led me to a glass case
And looked deep into my face…
“It’s just… control.”
3 Likes