Expert: Geoff Wickens - 4/5/2006

Question
I hope that this isn't too general of a question.  Do you think that the lyrics in rock music have the same quality and meaning as they did during the 70s?

Thanx

Answer
This isn't a real question .... but if you are asking my opinion, I think the lyrics these days are not written with the same saavy as they were in the 60's & 70's.  While it is true that there was some "smaltz" in that period (just look at the songs written by Barry Manilow), most of the stuff had meaning - there was a lot more to write about and a lot more people protesting about things.  There was the Government, war, hypocrisy, hippies, the newly found "generation gap" - there was a lot of fodder out there for a budding songwriter.  Folk Rock was the mainstay for a musical messages.  Look at "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie ... a 19 minute anti-war song.  most of the music all had hidden meanings.  If you listen to most of Jim Croce's music, you can see the message.  Today's muic - from say the mid-80's to now has had very few songs written to convey a message.  Most are written to sell records - written for the "good sound" not he "good message" of yesteryear.

Thanks for asking my opinion.

Geoff