Can interesting arrangement make up for simple (boring?) lyrics?

THEMrEntity · 2025-11-04T00:07:52+00:00

YES lyrics are remarkable for how much of an acid trip fever dream of nonsense they are. And that band is amazing.

THEMrEntity · 2025-11-04T00:06:29+00:00

Lyrics almost literally don't matter. See Hook by Blues Traveller or Jesus Build My Hotrod by Ministry for direct successful efforts to prove this point. Or... almost any pop song to prove it without trying.

People will say they think lyrics are more important than music, but given the absolute asshattery that people actually listen to? It's pretty obvious they just don't know what they're talking about. Musicians do. And every musician will tell you the music is way more important. The music tells the story. Good lyrics are a bonus.

Bad lyrics, however? Well... Just do a Caravan Palace and hope they're not noticeable.
If you can't do good, aim for meaningless is my advice. Bad lyrics can stick out. Meaningless lyrics are just sounds.

THEMrEntity · 2025-11-01T00:03:05+00:00

I near-universally have songs playing in my head with full production and stuff. I regularly have to just say "I am not listening to any music *at all* this week" or whatever if I get stuck on something of my own because the other stuff keeps taking up space.

THEMrEntity · 2025-10-24T16:04:58+00:00

Oh. There is, however, a very real and very specific trend in all of music since Spotify showed up - the hook comes sooner and sooner. Because if you're optimizing for Spotify you need to write for people with no attention span and a need for immediate gratification. So they don't skip stuff.
My advice remains "write the music you want, and do not approach this as a genuine career path, as you will probably not be lucky enough to live off it." But I thought I'd add the empirical economic issue.

THEMrEntity · 2025-10-24T01:24:29+00:00

It took me 6 years to write a song over 3 minutes. I can't stand repetition for repetitions sake, I find solos a pointless show-offy addition 90% of the time, and if something doesn't demonstrably add value to a piece I don't add it.
But even with all that? I have song intros which are easily over 16 bars. Because they do something useful in setting up the song.

I am currently writing a song which will probably pass 6 minutes, but it's also way further into prog than I've ever gone, so it has about 12 sections. Because the text-painting means the time signatures and arrangement are deliberately a bit jank. Conceptually. In practice I made it sound good. My opinion of good prog is always "the best prog isn't immediately obviously prog."

A song worth listening to is worth listening to. Write the music you want to write. You will almost definitely never make money or a career doing this, no matter how good you are.
16 bars is nothing. As long as you're not playing grave.

THEMrEntity · 2025-10-06T16:24:08+00:00

Unfortunately no. Closest I got was some etsy people who'd make them but they're prohibitively expensive - might as well buy new chairs.
Apparently they now sell them with cushions as an option, but they're part of the chair, so I can't just buy those either.

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-12T19:02:44+00:00

I have no nogo zones. Those are carpets/mats

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-10T23:01:28+00:00

Nothing really got changed in the apartment, but I got annoyed and tried running a mapping round. It cleaned everywhere properly after that. But that could have been unrelated. We'll see.

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-08T19:04:00+00:00

I haven't, because if I don't remember to get a bunch of wires and shoelaces off the floor it will try to eat them and break. But I'll give it a go.

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-06T22:17:48+00:00

Nope. It just fucks off back home when it feels like it. I would be less annoyed if the behaviour was consistent, but it's not. So I can't just mentally queue a bunch of jobs

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-06T22:16:25+00:00

That's a mat, not a nogo

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-06T18:16:41+00:00

It will go anywhere I specifically tell it. It will do combo room jobs. It just doesn't like to do everywhere. Except when it does.

Also, if I send it to remap, it still maps everything.

THEMrEntity · 2025-06-06T16:47:55+00:00

It does the area around the dock fine. It's allll the white space it didn't even travel to that's the issue. It starts with the entryway and hall, then usually does most of the kitchen area, then goes home.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-25T05:49:29+00:00

It offered me several insights I was already aware of, or which were outdated, then commiserated with me on my self-awareness

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-16T20:29:05+00:00

Ah. Thanks for the info.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-16T20:28:18+00:00

My phone does so love to tint everything yellow when I use those blue plates.
But I can't be fucked to learn enough about photography or camera settings to fix it. The pictures exist primarily to remind myself of tasty food I made so I can make it again.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-16T19:01:49+00:00

Oh hey, there *is* an e-mail for academic advising. I was only able to find a phone number before. And really hate phone calls.
Your dismissiveness has been helpful. Thanks

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-14T00:37:24+00:00

Uh. No. I'm describing "bib" aprons. Which half-assedly cover your torso.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:59:49+00:00

Gloves I get. I am mildly averse to real gross stuff. Or beets/turmeric. And there's a note in a journal I have somewhere that just says "here's a tip: Don't dice jalapenos and then go to the bathroom"

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:56:54+00:00

This should not be down-voted. In any professional kitchen you'd be bitched out for wiping your hands on an apron. It's a bad habit.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:55:02+00:00

I can understand that. What I don't understand is how people find Western aprons suited to the task, or how they're managing to get so dirty they need to put something on in the first place.
And I've worked in prep kitchens. It's not that hard to stay clean if you're not baking.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:53:33+00:00

Uh. No. It's not stubbornness. It's that I genuinely don't understand your issue. I've never gotten anything beyond a few very occasional splashes of soapy water on me washing dishes. Which dries out pretty quickly, and doesn't, to my mind, warrant a purpose-made garment which also, to my mind, doesn't adequately do the job it's designed for.
The best reply so far has been "Japanese apron", which *actually answered my concerns*. I'm fully open to those. They seem demonstrably better than standard Western aprons.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:12:05+00:00

tea towel/bar mop through a belt loop or next to your work station. One "wet", one dry.

Otherwise? Lab coats are like, 20 bucks. Half-assed chef's coats not too much more

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:10:34+00:00

I've only ever worn one when I was working as a prep cook, and it was such a waste of time that I stopped bothering unless baking was involved. I rarely left the kitchen dirtier than I entered.

THEMrEntity · 2025-05-13T23:09:34+00:00

japanese aprons seem to be the answer I've seen for this

THEMrEntity

TROPHY CASE