Rock ’n’ is party music, and the Rock Hall is totally fine with that. And as long as the party keeps going, it kind of doesn’t matter what the lyrics are. They can even address a political issue, make a point, or “send a message.”
And, as long as— and the kid in American Bandstand says— “it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it,” it’s all well and good.
But then there are the acts that prize brain over beat. And for those acts, the Rock Hall, well, takes a beat.
No doubt, there is tremendous literature-type brainpower among the Hall’s inductees as they stand. Some have been compared to, and even are, published poets. One has won the Nobel Prize for Literature!
But there are an equal number of such acts who have not gotten in… yet.
Again, nothing against straightforward lyrics. Sometimes a simple lyric is very powerful, and surprisingly hard to craft.
Also, nothing against nonsense lyrics. I have a dream to collect all the nonsense lyrics in one book; it could even spin off into a game in which players had to guess which na-na-na-na or sh-boom or shang-a-lang came from which song.
But it seems that only one, or maybe zero, poetic— OK, fine: “nerdy”— lyricist gets in a year. Meanwhile, many more wait to get picked. As nerds are used to doing.
Out of the 100 greatest songwriters in rock history, many (while eligible) are not yet in the Rock Hall:
https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/
Update: Thinky performers Kraftwerk and Gil Scott-Heron were inducted as Early Influences in 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment