I can't understand Beck's lyrics.

[eutgard]

I've been a Beck fan for a long time.

But...

I can't understand his lyrics.

Of course English is not my native language, but his lyrics are very hard to decipher.

Should I study more English or just give up understanding?

[T-Bird]

Hi.

I learned a lot of english from lyrics back in the day. While that's very common thing, that won't give You any advantage over "real" education.

So my vote would go for more studying, even though You most probably won't understand majority of lyrics, no matter how much you study.

If Youre really bent on understanding a specific lyrics, regardless of the artist, find them on print. It's way easier than trying to hear what they sing (mumble, scream, whatever ).

Regards
Sam

[pnut166]

Give up.

[anonymous122511]

Originally Posted by pnut166

Give up.

That's funny considering these guys probably speak better English than you do. Don't worry though, they couldn't possibly make you look any more stupid than you just did yerself.

[254 stringer]

I wouldn't try I'm not a big Beck fan but have heard some of his tunes I think he just writes down a bunch of random words and fits them into the song

[Chris K]

You mean...

You're everywhere and no where, baby,
thats where you're at,
Going down a bumpy hillside,
In your hippy hat.
Flying out across the country
And getting fat (?!)
Saying everything is groovy
When your tyres are flat
(Chorus)
And its hi - ho WOLVERHAMPTON !!!!
and away you go now kronie
I see your fish is shining
But I wont make a fuss
Though its obvious.
Flies are in your pea soup baby,
They're waving at me
Anything you want is yours now
Only nothing is for free.
Lies are gonna get you some day
Just wait and see.
So open up your beach umbrella
While you are watching TV


Not that hard... once you grasp the general idea. Much symbolism.
My advice would be to read up on poetry.

[Exploiter8]

I didn't realize Jeff Beck songs had many lyrics!

X8

[bongomania]

The honest no-joking answer is that most of Beck's lyrics are pure nonsense that just happens to fit the mood or rhythm of the song. There are a few instances of non-nonsense, like when he says "I've got two turntables and a microphone", in a song paying homage to hip-hop music. That makes perfect sense. But a whole lot of the rest of it is stream-of-consciousness "poetry" that should not be examined for meaning.

BTW, that's no insult to Beck--I like some of his songs, whether they mean anything or not.

[IncX]

i still dont know what "suy un pendidor" means... not that i made any research on it.

and yes... i dont think you could make much sense with:

in the time of the chimpanzees i was a monkey, butane in my veins and mouth to my chunky

lol

thats probably the only beck song i know ... and i probably messed up the lyric above too

[bongomania]

"Soy un perdedor" is Spanish for "I'm a loser". Some people say it's not a great translation of the meaning, but I'm not a native Spanish-speaker so I couldn't say for sure.

[UncleFluffy]

I recall an interview where he mentioned that a lot of his lyrics come from playing with fridge magnets or similar semi-random techniques.

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by bongomania

The honest no-joking answer is that most of Beck's lyrics are pure nonsense that just happens to fit the mood or rhythm of the song. There are a few instances of non-nonsense, like when he says "I've got two turntables and a microphone", in a song paying homage to hip-hop music. That makes perfect sense. But a whole lot of the rest of it is stream-of-consciousness "poetry" that should not be examined for meaning.

BTW, that's no insult to Beck--I like some of his songs, whether they mean anything or not.

+1
stream-of-consciousness "poetry": well put, but IMO you might have skipped the ".

What else could poetry be about ?

Literal meaning simply doesn't apply here, general idea, consciousness does.

[bongomania]

True enough, skidoodley-bop tanker!

[pnut166]

Originally Posted by jeff arddun

That's funny considering these guys probably speak better English than you do. Don't worry though, they couldn't possibly make you look any more stupid than you just did yerself.

Little out of line there, aren`t you ?

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by bongomania

True enough, skidoodley-bop tanker!

huh huh, and who would ever need a translation ?

[Pilgrim]

I haven't been able to understand the lyrics in 95% of popular music since I started listening in 1960.

[s_mcsleazy]

didnt beck once admit that the lyrics for looser were pretty much came up with on the spot

[Unrepresented]

+1 to stream of consciousness.

There's also a lot of pop culture references involved that unless you're a product of 70's/80's/90's America or have done extensive studying of the culture, you'd probably miss, or at the least find confusing.

[Etienned]

While I agree on the stream of consciousness idea, I would add as a non native English speaker too that urban dictionary is your friend... Dr. Webster won't say anything street-savvy about what horse or nedm are ...

[BananaKing]

If you want to feel better about trying to understand Beck's lyrics, try listening to the Mars Volta first and then come back to Beck. You'll start feeling better in no time