Lyrics arewords that make up asong, usually consisting ofverses andchoruses. The writer of lyrics is alyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as anopera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, as a "librettist".Rap songs andgrime containrap lyrics (often with a variation of rhyming words) that are meant to bespoken rhythmically rather than sung. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizesform,articulation,meter, andsymmetry of expression.
The wordlyric derives viaLatinlyricus from theGreekλυρικός (lurikós),[1] the adjectival form oflyre.[2] It first appeared in English in the mid-16th century in reference to theEarl of Surrey's translations ofPetrarch and to his ownsonnets.[3]Greek lyric poetry had been defined by the manner in which it was sung accompanied by thelyre orcithara,[4] as opposed to the chanted formalepics or the more passionateelegies accompanied by theflute. The personal nature of many of the verses of theNine Lyric Poets led to the present sense of "lyric poetry" but the original Greek sense of "lyric poetry"—"poetry accompanied by the lyre" i.e. "words set to music"—eventually led to its use as "lyrics", first attested inStainer and Barrett's 1876Dictionary of Musical Terms.[5] Stainer and Barrett used the word as a singular substantive: "Lyric, poetry or blank verse intended to be set to music and sung". By the 1930s, the present use of theplurale tantum "lyrics" had begun; it has been standard since the 1950s for many writers.[1] The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song by authorities such as Alec Wilder,[6] Robert Gottlieb,[7] and Stephen Sondheim.[8] However, the singular form is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics.
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The differences betweenpoem andsong may become less meaningful where verse is set tomusic, to the point that any distinction becomes untenable. This is perhaps recognised in the way popular songs havelyrics.
However, the verse may pre-date itstune (in the way that "Rule Britannia" was set to music, and "And did those feet in ancient time" has become the hymn "Jerusalem"), or the tune may be lost over time but the words survive, matched by a number of different tunes (this is particularly common withhymns andballads).
Possible classifications proliferate (underanthem,ballad,blues,carol,folk song,hymn,libretto,lied,lullaby,march,praise song,round,spiritual).Nursery rhymes may be songs, ordoggerel: the term does not imply a distinction. Theghazal is a sung form that is considered primarily poetic. See alsorapping,roots of hip hop music.
Analogously, versedrama might normally be judged (at its best) aspoetry, but not consisting of poems (seedramatic verse).
In Baroque music, melodies and their lyrics were prose. Rather than paired lines they consist of rhetorical sentences or paragraphs consisting of an opening gesture, an amplification (often featuringsequence), and a close (featuring acadence); in GermanVordersatz-Fortspinnung-Epilog.[9] For example:
When I was a child, [opening gesture]I spoke as a child, [amplification...]I understood as a child, [...]I thought as a child; [...]But when I became a man, I put away childish things. [close]- 1 Corinthians 13:11
In the lyrics ofpopular music a "shifter"[10] is a word, often apronoun, "where reference varies according to who is speaking, when and where",[11] such as "I", "you", "my", "our". For example, who is the "my" of "My Generation"?
As of 2021[update], there are many websites featuring song lyrics. This offering, however, is controversial, since some sites include copyrighted lyrics offered without the holder's permission. The U.S.Music Publishers Association (MPA), which represents sheet music companies, launched a legal campaign against such websites in December 2005. The MPA's president, Lauren Keiser, said the free lyrics web sites are "completely illegal" and wanted some website operators jailed.[12]
Lyrics licenses could be obtained worldwide through one of the two aggregators:LyricFind andMusixmatch.[citation needed] The first company to provide licensed lyrics wasYahoo!, quickly followed byMetroLyrics.[citation needed] Several lyric websites are providing licensed lyrics, such asSongMeanings[13] andLyricWiki (defunct as of 2020).
Many competing lyrics web sites are still offering unlicensed content, causing challenges around the legality and accuracy of lyrics.[14] In an attempt to crack down unlicensed lyrics web sites, a U.S. federal court has ordered LiveUniverse, a network of websites run byMySpace co-founderBrad Greenspan, to cease operating four sites offering unlicensed song lyrics.[15]
Lyrics can be studied from an academic perspective. For example, some lyrics can be considered a form ofsocial commentary. Lyrics often contain political, social, and economic themes—as well as aesthetic elements—and so can communicate culturally significant messages. These messages can be explicit, or implied through metaphor or symbolism. Lyrics can also be analyzed with respect to the sense of unity (or lack of unity) it has with its supporting music. Analysis based ontonality andcontrast are particular examples. FormerOxford Professor of PoetryChristopher Ricks famously publishedDylan's Visions of Sin, an in-depth and characteristically Ricksian analysis of the lyrics ofBob Dylan; Ricks gives the caveat that to have studied the poetry of the lyrics in tandem with the music would have made for a much more complicated critical feat.
A 2009 report published byMcAfee found that, in terms of potential exposure tomalware, lyrics-related searches and searches containing the word "free" are the most likely to have risky results from search engines, both in terms of average risk of all results, and maximum risk of any result.[16]
Beginning in late 2014, Google changed its search results pages to include song lyrics. When users search for a name of a song, Google can now display the lyrics directly in the search results page.[17] When users search for a specific song's lyrics, most results show the lyrics directly through a Google search by using Google Play.[18]
All of our lyrics are legally licensed through LyricFind.
