I'm Dutch, so my native language ain't English. To me, the songlyrics from Jumpin' Jack Flash (for example) sound very cool. I know Mick's talking nonense in this song, but I don't experience it, because I'm not a native speaker. How do native speakers experience songlyrics from songs like that? And all songslyrics in general? Which Stones songs really have crazy/stupid lyrics, in which Mick's really talking nonsense, and which songs have really good lyrics?

the way i hear it JJF is real far from nonsense.
in general? the Stones' lyrics aren't a Big Deal to me, so the less-than-brilliant ones seldom get in my way much
and the great ones (and there are miles and miles of them, including JJF) are a huge "extra".

allright, but aren't some songlyrics (like Carol, although original Chuck Berry) a bit childish; I mean it's the beat and the rythm that makes the song work with those songs?

Carol might be childish if you read it, as a poem,
but one use different senses when one listen to a performance of that song.

>> it's the beat and the rhythm that makes the song work <<

well, sure: lyrics should above all fit the music. that's a major part of what makes a great lyric great.
it's also why they're song lyrics and not literature. separating them from the music doesn't make any sense to me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-12 21:01 by with sssoul.

I like the lyrics to (in no particular order)

100 Years Ago
Winter
Memory Motel
Out Of Time
Under My Thumb
Torm and Frayed
Shine A Light
Worried About You
Almost Here You Sigh
Till The Next Goodbye
Gimme Shelter

lots more

For me, it is just the overall sound that determines if I like a song or not.
I do not pay a lot of attention to lyrics. That goes for the Stones or anyone else.

I like how Mick's vocals on the older records were low in the mix, or perhaps he slurred the words a bit. I'm thinking that some tunes might not have recieved airplay if he had not done that.