The not-so-much-a-lyrics mem
Mar. 1st, 2007 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eruthrosSo I was thinking about the lyrics meme, where you post interesting first lines of songs and people try to guess them.
And I was thinking about how fast I identify songs on my mp3 player: sometimes in two seconds, before any lyrics, just from the rhythm or chords or baseline. And about an oldies radio station where I grew up, which sometimes asked callers to ID songs from three chords.
And then, of course, there's the fact that some people don't "hear" lyrics (hi,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fiatlouis). There are people who know songs better'n I do but are surprised when I tell them "oh, I don't like the third verse."
Now, we're a text-based medium, but that's no reason to privilege the lyrics, right?
SO! In the spirit of inquiry, I have embedded a no-lyrics meme. This is a fifty-two second mp3 file, containing the introductory chords for ten songs. The songs are separated by two seconds of silence... which means that the average length of clip is around 3.5 seconds. (It would be shorter, but I objected to only two chords for one memorable song, because it sounded so incomplete without the whole line. I am silly and inconsistent.) These are really distinctive intros, the sorts of songs that my radio station used to ask you to guess with a single chord.
And hey: there's a song in here that is represented by a single chord. But I betcha you can do it.
It's embedded from imeem, and you'll have to click on the little icon to make it start. You may want to make liberal use of the pause button -- I'd've done them in separate files, but ten different embedded files of 3 seconds each? Blargh. Comment below and I'll ETA up here when people guess songs.
To follow, if this works out at all: not-so-distinctive songs (five, maybe eight seconds apiece!) and, of course, the fannish version, featuring people who should not sing and half-second clips of soundtracks.
And I was thinking about how fast I identify songs on my mp3 player: sometimes in two seconds, before any lyrics, just from the rhythm or chords or baseline. And about an oldies radio station where I grew up, which sometimes asked callers to ID songs from three chords.
And then, of course, there's the fact that some people don't "hear" lyrics (hi,
fiatlouis). There are people who know songs better'n I do but are surprised when I tell them "oh, I don't like the third verse."Now, we're a text-based medium, but that's no reason to privilege the lyrics, right?
SO! In the spirit of inquiry, I have embedded a no-lyrics meme. This is a fifty-two second mp3 file, containing the introductory chords for ten songs. The songs are separated by two seconds of silence... which means that the average length of clip is around 3.5 seconds. (It would be shorter, but I objected to only two chords for one memorable song, because it sounded so incomplete without the whole line. I am silly and inconsistent.) These are really distinctive intros, the sorts of songs that my radio station used to ask you to guess with a single chord.
And hey: there's a song in here that is represented by a single chord. But I betcha you can do it.
It's embedded from imeem, and you'll have to click on the little icon to make it start. You may want to make liberal use of the pause button -- I'd've done them in separate files, but ten different embedded files of 3 seconds each? Blargh. Comment below and I'll ETA up here when people guess songs.
To follow, if this works out at all: not-so-distinctive songs (five, maybe eight seconds apiece!) and, of course, the fannish version, featuring people who should not sing and half-second clips of soundtracks.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-02 03:58 am (UTC)Nirvana - Nevermind
REM - It's the End of the World as we Know it (and I feel fine)
Madonna - Like a Virgin
The Beatles - Hard Days Night
OK Go - Here it goes again
Blur - Girls who like Boys
?
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
?
?
Oh, and also: fr1st p0st!
edit
Date: 2007-03-02 04:03 am (UTC)Re: edit
Date: 2007-03-02 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-02 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-02 08:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-03 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-03 02:03 am (UTC)2 - REM, its the end of the world as we know it
3 - madonna, like a virgin
4 - beatles, hard days night
5 - ?
6 - blur, girls and boys
7 - placebo, 20th century boy
8 - ?
9 - ?
10 - ?