By Des (81.152.238.58) on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 07:05 pm:

This is an issue I hope will be thought-provoking (and could also be a non-starter).
From the standpoint of loving Black/Soul/Funk/Dance music....or for this Thread - music by contemporary Black artists(70's onwards) why,do you think or agree,is there no artist - that I can think of in that broad area of music definition - who write lyrics of an adult,amusing,ironic style?
If you take it that Bill Cosby,Richard Pryor and SOME Eddie Murphy (and others') standup routines consistently hit humourous nerves,often in that vein - I can't think of a Black music writer who,even occasionally,produced a lyric that amusingly reflected life experience/lifestyle ----- I don't think I'm being flip here - I realise there's good reason to say that earnest,well-intentioned,spiritual and serious lyrics were well taken care of by Smokey/Stevie/Marvin and others.....but I feel there's an area of Black musics' lyrical position that hasn't evolved into the wider aspects of life in the U.S. or,indeed let's say,Western Society,and yet Comedians have done so.......
Phew - hope you all get my drift and there's something to talk about here.
Some posting here may help me clarify the point for further exploration - let's see.
Des

By LTLFTC (12.210.76.205) on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 09:10 pm:

Des;
I think that one of the reasons early Funkadelic music still resonates with me is that quite a few of George Clinton's lyrics fit the motif you're talking about. There was an awkward "Smokeyesque" flavor to his relationship lyrics ("checks you sign with love and kisses later comes back signed 'insufficient funds'" from 'Can You Get To That") or "Ever know someone who takes personal the rain" from 'How do You View You". There was also irony and humor in some of his 'issue' songs, such as the way he would juxtapose nursery rhyme structures when talking about drugs ("Eeny meenie miney moe-catch a junkie by the toe" etc from 'Loose Booty" or 'Super stupid bought a 5 cent bag-he thought it was coke but it was skag' from "Super Stupid". A lot of his social commentary of the early 70's ("You and Your Folks , Me and My Folks" "Funky Dollar Bill" "Cosmic Slop") were Whitfield-esque with maybe a more demented and reality based edge to them. I really think maybe he studied the lyric styles of Smokey and Norman Whitfield and tweaked them a little. I know the PFUnk thing started in Jersey , but I think there is something so "Michigan" about that early stuff, not only from the Motown/Detroit rock musical fusion but also from a lyrics perspective also.

Steve K

By medusa (66.73.4.170) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 09:03 am:

Mr. Curtis Mayfield wrote a lot of Life Expierences, so did the Isley Bros., Fight The Power and Gamble & Huff, Love Train and a lot of O'Jayes recordings,(Family Reunion) Now if U R just talking about erotic stuff, hmmm not sure if he wrote it or not, but I think Leon Haywoods"I wanna do something freaky to you", The Whispers "Say Yes", "Olivia", The O'Jays, Let Me Make Love To You, Stairway To Heaven, and James Brown 2 name a few.
So what was your question? MAybe I missed something.

By medusa (66.73.4.170) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 09:04 am:

wish someone could decipher the lyrics to
Isaac Hayes song titled~~~
Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalimistic"
I think that means a little of everything!!

By Des (81.152.91.92) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 09:45 am:

God,no. I'm not at all talking about erotica.
When I list 'adult,amusing,ironic' , I mean along the lines of this :

I don't miss the quiet
Or the lonely nights
I don't miss the funky attitudes
And I don't miss the fights
I lie on the couch 'til suppertime
And hunker down and read the Post
And that's when I remember the things I miss the most:

The talk
The sex
Somebody to trust
The Audi TT
The house on the Vineyard
The house on the gulf coast
These are the things I miss the most

I kinda like frying up
My sad cuisine
Gettin' in bed and curling up with a girlie magazine
But sometimes in the corner of my eye
I see that adorable ghost
And then ba-boom I remember the things I miss the most

The talk
The sex
Somebody to trust
The comfy Eames chair
The good copper pans
The '54 Strat
These are things I miss the most

I'm learning how to meditate
I'm building the Andrea Doria out of balsa wood
The days really don't last forever
But it's getting pretty damn close
And that's when I remember the things I miss the most

I don't know how this'll read to everyone.
I can put the music to it while I'm reading/writing and I smile at some of the lines and admire the unusual,wry commentary on what I perceive to be a 40-50 something New Yorker of affluent recent past,who's suffered his divorce,lost a lot materially,but really misses some mundane/some exceptional aspects of his 'gone wrong' marriage.

If it made you smile,before reading my own view/comment - then the lyric,even on paper,is doing its' job here.
I could,for example,see/read a Bill Cosby of 10 years ago,communicate some of the allusions (within this lyric) in a quiet,but hilarious,touching way......
I want to know if anyone thinks this type of lyric could be :
a/ Produced by any Black musician/writer
b/ If none readily spring to mind - why not?

Remember - this is post-Smokey/Stevie/Marvin-era
(and to be honest,only Smokey did/does fit this bill).In other words since '75/80.

Let me say that I've been racking my brain to think of someone who fits the bill - even prior to this 'contemporary' timeframe - that I'm trying to discuss.....
Try some of the 'smart' lyrics of : Jon Hendricks
An example of a song that's close but no cigar(imo) : Dinner With Gershwin -- Brenda Russell

Here are some more adjectives that I never see or think of when thinking Black composers/songwriters and their lyrics :

Ironic
Witty

The above can and do apply to,for example,Bill Cosby -- and to a greater or lesser degree to other Black American comedians/scriptwriters etc etc.......
I'm hoping I'll be guided to people I've never listened to in depth.
Equally,I stress this is not a Thread topic designed to be divisive or unnecessarily irritating.(I'm sure I'll be told accordingly,anyway)
Des