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soc_puppetThis may well come out far too preachy and take me more time than I technically have today, but it's something that I've been thinking about ever since, oh, the sixth Vacation Josh comic on Girly (which is a very cute comic and you should totally give it a read if you're okay with lesbians and stuff Edit: now with correct linkage -_-a).
In the body of this comic, he brings up the argument some people make that art doesn't matter in comics as long as the writing is good; he disagrees with this, and after some thought, I did as well. And I contemplated this for quite a while, but I wasn't sure how to make the argument until some time later.
It was while driving my brother back from one of his Friday Night Magic game sessions that he brought up the question, "What's more important to you in music, the melody or the lyrics?" He told me that he was mostly interested in melodies in general, and so tended to ignore lyrics or to pay only secondary attention to them. Since he noticed me commenting on lyrics a number of times rather than melodies, he wondered which one was more important to me?
I couldn't answer immediately. Certainly I enjoyed good lyrics that could invoke ideas, but they were useless if the melody was dull or if I just didn't care for the vocalist. Likewise, the melody of a song could be engaging and well put together, but if the lyrics didn't appeal to me I wouldn't want to listen. (At that time, I came to the conclusion that it was vocals that I really cared about, since both of these concepts were connected to them. It was probably also influenced by my love of a capella music. I still believe this now, but it's also largely irrelevant to the topic at hand.)
It would be later still, after reading John Steventon's blog (specifically, his thoughts on familiarity/the need for editors) and the Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Edition book (specifically, Watterson's comment that sometimes good art could save a poorly written strip), that I came to my own conclusion about the importance of melody or art in comparison to lyrics or writing:
They were both important to me. Obviously, if I didn't care for the art of a specific comic, there was nothing in the world short of constant nagging and possibly the threat of dinosaur attack that would make me read it. Likewise, if I admired the art but the story left me cold, that comic would be tossed by the wayside. I didn't have to prioritize one over the other; I could like both for different reasons in different situations, and the need to choose one over the other was really baseless. Music too I didn't need to like soley for the lyrics or the music; a combination was acceptable. What confuses me is why people think we should feel otherwise.
Hang the concept that it's selfish to choose to read or listen to something for one of its aspects alone; if I like it, isn't that enough? If it isn't, it should be.
Not the best written piece on the subject, but it will have to do for now. Lab closes in one minute.
In the body of this comic, he brings up the argument some people make that art doesn't matter in comics as long as the writing is good; he disagrees with this, and after some thought, I did as well. And I contemplated this for quite a while, but I wasn't sure how to make the argument until some time later.
It was while driving my brother back from one of his Friday Night Magic game sessions that he brought up the question, "What's more important to you in music, the melody or the lyrics?" He told me that he was mostly interested in melodies in general, and so tended to ignore lyrics or to pay only secondary attention to them. Since he noticed me commenting on lyrics a number of times rather than melodies, he wondered which one was more important to me?
I couldn't answer immediately. Certainly I enjoyed good lyrics that could invoke ideas, but they were useless if the melody was dull or if I just didn't care for the vocalist. Likewise, the melody of a song could be engaging and well put together, but if the lyrics didn't appeal to me I wouldn't want to listen. (At that time, I came to the conclusion that it was vocals that I really cared about, since both of these concepts were connected to them. It was probably also influenced by my love of a capella music. I still believe this now, but it's also largely irrelevant to the topic at hand.)
It would be later still, after reading John Steventon's blog (specifically, his thoughts on familiarity/the need for editors) and the Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Edition book (specifically, Watterson's comment that sometimes good art could save a poorly written strip), that I came to my own conclusion about the importance of melody or art in comparison to lyrics or writing:
They were both important to me. Obviously, if I didn't care for the art of a specific comic, there was nothing in the world short of constant nagging and possibly the threat of dinosaur attack that would make me read it. Likewise, if I admired the art but the story left me cold, that comic would be tossed by the wayside. I didn't have to prioritize one over the other; I could like both for different reasons in different situations, and the need to choose one over the other was really baseless. Music too I didn't need to like soley for the lyrics or the music; a combination was acceptable. What confuses me is why people think we should feel otherwise.
Hang the concept that it's selfish to choose to read or listen to something for one of its aspects alone; if I like it, isn't that enough? If it isn't, it should be.
Not the best written piece on the subject, but it will have to do for now. Lab closes in one minute.
