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Internet Lyrics Rant!

MasterMonkeyMan

MasterMonkeyMan

Oct 31, 2009
2,073
4,288
#1
Where do you guys look for ACCURATE lyrics? I was just looking up some lyrics for a song. I know most of the lyrics, there are just a couple of lines that are hard to make out.
I have to say, this search sure made clear how lame the Internet has become. Someone at some point must've posted a really bad set of lyrics to this song and subsequently every singe lyrics site just picked 'em up, didn't verify and just put then up as "accurate". What a joke. Kinda parallels this "fake news" meme that we have been experiencing lately. Frustrating waste of time.

If anyone knows "Law of the Land" by the Temptations, go look up the lyrics for a real good laugh. The ones posted don't even make sense in the context of the song.

When they can't even get a simple line like this correct:
"You must play your cards on top of the table
When you gather you either win or lose"

When you gather? Gimme a break.

Good grief!!
 
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#2
MasterMonkeyMan said:
I have to say, this search sure made clear how lame the Internet has become. Someone at some point must've posted a really bad set of lyrics to this song and subsequently every singe lyrics site just picked 'em up, didn't verify and just put then up as "accurate". What a joke. Kinda parallels this "fake news" meme that we have been experiencing lately. Frustrating waste of time.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly! I was hoping I wasn't the only one!

Example: The Bar-Kays' "Holy Ghost"

There's a line that clearly says, "This feelin' that sets my soul on fire."
According to several internet sites, the lyric says, "This feelin' that sucks my soul over." Sucks my soul over?!o_O:rollno:

Wow. Just...wow. And that's just one example. You best bet nowadays is to find the song yourself and listen carefully. It's bound to be more accurate than relying on internet copycat sites.

Yeah...I know there are more important things, but I sure wish we'd get out of the unfortunate habit of lowering the bar when it comes to information, even relatively trivial information. Either get it right or don't have a site devoted to it.
 
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#7
buldog5151bass said:
I am guessing some is just computer recognition The other option is doing it yourself. If you want to take the easy way, that's what you get.
Click to expand...
Well I can make out about 90% of the lyrics and can't figure out just a few (have listened since the song came out - 1973), u just trying to get a little help from some friends. Not really the easy way out. Quite amazed with how far bad info propagates. Thanks.
 
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#8
Is knowing the exact lyrics that important?
I worked with one professional vocalist who was always spot on with lyrics and pitch.
I asked how she remembered all those lyrics. She said she doesn't. A lot of times she'll ad lib
if she forgets. As long as the words have the same cadence, length and pitch, no one notices.
I certainly didn't and was impressed.

Here's a classic ad lib by Ella Fitzgerald. Mack the Knife.
She completely forgot verse 4 & 5 yet made it sound like it was intentionally written that way...or was it?

 
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#10
dtripoli said:
Is knowing the exact lyrics that important?
I worked with one professional vocalist who was always spot on with lyrics and pitch.
I asked how she remembered all those lyrics. She said she doesn't. A lot of times she'll ad lib
if she forgets. As long as the words have the same cadence, length and pitch, no one notices.
I certainly didn't and was impressed.

Here's a classic ad lib by Ella Fitzgerald. Mack the Knife.
She completely forgot verse 4 & 5 yet made it sound like it was intentionally written that way...or was it?

Click to expand...

Not really important. It's just been slightly bugging me since 1973. Just one of those things one might expect the wealth of information known as the internet to be able to answer. It often is.
 
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#11
MasterMonkeyMan said:
Wow, Liner notes! I remember those. You are showing your age!
Click to expand...
This one's from their liner notes - most recent one I've transcribed.


BRIGHTER THAN GOLD

by The Cat Empire


Four steps in the morning
Two steps in the day
Three steps in the evening then
The darkness is ablaze and all the
Angels, sikhs, and soldiers
Come step to the parade

Run out like a cheetah
Monkey's in the blood
What a piece of work is man
Who screams the name of love but all his
Brothers, cousins, sisters, and others
Hear is fuzz

All night awake
In the moonlight I'm with you
In the moonlight I'm with you brighter than gold

Born on the horizon
Beaming through the sky
Some have seen what none can dream
But light calls it a lie and all the
Sinners, saints, and winners
Just wink and walk on by

But Brando's in the forest
And Nancy's in the flood
The black swan makes a pirouette
The gods cry from above, and all the
Rain keeps falling
On bare feet in the mud

All night awake
In the moonlight I'm with you
In the moonlight I'm with you brighter than gold

Come northern lights of Norway
Come sunrise to the east
Come wicked witches in the west
We're southbound with the beat and all the
Lions, brides, and preachers
Come down into the street

All night awake
In the moonlight I'm with you
In the moonlight I'm with you brighter than gold.
​


(try the net :smug:)
​
 
#15
If you know what the lyrics are, why do you need to search the Internet?

Yer prolly gonna have to copy and paste the lyrics, anyway. Just edit your copy.

Same goes with tabs, midi files, charts, recipes, programming code snippets, etc... or anything else you google up that ain't quite right.
 
#17
MasterMonkeyMan said:
Where do you guys look for ACCURATE lyrics? I was just looking up some lyrics for a song. I know most of the lyrics, there are just a couple of lines that are hard to make out.
I have to say, this search sure made clear how lame the Internet has become. Someone at some point must've posted a really bad set of lyrics to this song and subsequently every singe lyrics site just picked 'em up, didn't verify and just put then up as "accurate". What a joke. Kinda parallels this "fake news" meme that we have been experiencing lately. Frustrating waste of time.

If anyone knows "Law of the Land" by the Temptations, go look up the lyrics for a real good laugh. The ones posted don't even make sense in the context of the song.

When they can't even get a simple line like this correct:
"You must play your cards on top of the table
When you gather you either win or lose"

When you gather? Gimme a break.

Good grief!!
Click to expand...
I remember the first time I looked up lyrics on line I was elated. Then I noticed, after a few weeks, that a lot of them are dead wrong. It got to the point where I was beginning to wonder if most of them are created by some guy in South Korea. However, just as one gets a feel for how to use Google to drill into what they need, I sort of got a feel for using the sites to get what I really need. Ultimate guitar can be pretty accurate or not. It really goes for all of them, but some of them have multiple versions of the same song, often changing the lyrics to what they should be.

BTW, There's a bathroom on the right.
 
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#20
buldog5151bass said:
I am guessing some is just computer recognition The other option is doing it yourself. If you want to take the easy way, that's what you get.
Click to expand...
Looking up lyrics on what's supposed to be a lyrics site is "the easy way"? People look up information all the time.

The OP ended up finding out that the sites aren't reliable, but at least he checked it out. There's nothing lazy about that.
 
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