 Pop vs Poetry I hesitated to write this opinion because old guys (like me) criticising the "younger generation's" taste in music is just too much of a stereotype and really just too easy. But despite that, I'm going to do it anyway! I saw a meme recently comparing a more recent song (Run the World, by Beyonce) with the classic Queen song, Bohemian Rhapsody, written about 50 years ago. The difference in quality of the lyrics there was undeniable, but there is another band (currently my favourite) which I think has even better lyrics, in fact I would claim you could call them poetry. That band is the Finnish symphonic metal band, Nightwish. Ever heard of them? Do you even know about the genre? I like all types of music from classical to metal, so why not combine the two? Anyway, Nightwish's songs are written by their leader, Tuomas Holopainen, and they really are both quite beautiful and powerful. The music is classic metal guitar, keys, bass, and drums, but with orchestral, choral, and other classical elements as well. And they are probably best known for their female lead singers who sing in a classical (sometimes almost operatic soprano) style. Their original vocalist was Tarja Turunen, and the current one is Floor Jansen, who many people claim is the best female vocalist in modern rock. So let's do a comparison of a Beyonce song, which the meme claims resulted from the work of 6 writers and 4 producers, with some of the lyrics from a Nightwish song, written and produced by Tuomas... Beyonce, Run the World Girls, we run this mother (yeah!) Nighwish, Nemo This is me for forever By the way, "Nemo" here is not a Disney fish, or even the main character from a Jules Verne novel, it is the Latin word for "no one". I think the Nightwish song is just slightly more sophisticated, deep, and meaningful than the Beyonce one, wouldn't you say? And another objection I have to most modern pop is the lack of melody. Take a Nightwish song and play it without the vocals, and it is still worth listening to. Take away the vocals from most modern pop and you just have noise. In fact, many people might say that is all you have even with the vocals!
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POP VS POETRY