Tone vs content
February 13th 2007 08:22
2. Sting's "Every breath you take" is a staple of weddings and love song playlists, and depicts the ravings of a stalker.
| Every breath you take
Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take I'll be watching you... Oh, can't you see You belong to me... |
Sting has often commented on the matter:
| Yes I used to get letters from couples saying, Dear Sting, thank you for writing that beautiful song, it's our song. Sick! It's a very sinister song, but it's seductively dressed up. |
3. "Mack the Knife", with versions by Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nick Cave, Robbie Williams, Frank Sinatra, etc, is swinging and upbeat, while describing a criminal's robberies, murders and rapes.
| Ya know when that shark bites
With his teeth, dear Scarlet billows Start to spread. Fancy gloves though Old MacHeath wears So there’s never A trace of red. |
***
| In terms of communicating a message, visual is worth more than aural (so goes the standard claim). People take in more via eyes than ears.
But thinking of aural alone, tone is worth more than words. Actors are very aware of this. The same line can be spoken in any number of ways. And though, ideally, you want to "connect" to the words, a lot of the time you can leave them to worry about themselves -- it's behaviour that matters. |
Late Show with David Letterman
Friday 15 October 1999 Top ten things that sound creepy when said by John Malkovich (read by John Malkovich) 10. Does this look infected to you? 9. I put my jammies on all by myself, mommy! 8. You mean I get all these great funk classics on just one compact disc? 7. Senator Hillary Clinton. 6. I can provide references from my last hospital job. 5. Nougat! 4. I love you, Ted Danson. 3. Your glasses will be ready in about an hour, Ted Danson. (Modified by Malkovich to "I want to have your baby, Ted Danson.") 2. Johnny likes bunnies. 1. Who wants to be a millionaire? |
Cyrus the Virus
***
In terms of listening to lectures, Plutarch, among others, warns against the distraction of form. Be attentive to the content, not the manner.
One way to cause instant confusion is to close your eyes in the middle of speaking to someone. This often amounts to a kick in the butt to concentrate on word meanings, not irrelevancies.
Though manner might be important for other things -- for instance, for gauging psychology.
And though it might be harder than Plutarch realizes to separate form from content...
***
Well I don't know why I came here tonight, I got the feeling that something ain't right... Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle with you...
What does it mean to sing upbeat about terrible things? Is this whistling in the dark? Is laughter the sound of despair?
This sort of complexity is common, and understood, in film. It's a difference, among other things, of expectations and genre conventions. You often want the soundtrack (or the voiceover) to bring something new to the scene, rather than parallel it.
For if the soundtrack simply parallels, then there are risks -- perhaps it will amount to description, not reinforcement, and the audience will feel the message heavy-handed; or, worse still, will think the sound in excess of what's conveyed by acting and script, and will be made aware of the weaknesses of these.
***
The Sting quote was from an interview with Paul Du Noyer in the June 1985 issue of New Musical Express.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Reservoir Dogs. The Con Air image of John Malkovich came from this website. The image of Fabienne Delsol came from this website.
One more example: Frederic in Pirates of Penzance sings sweetly and lyrically:
| Oh, is there not one maiden here
Whose homely face and bad complexion Have caused all hope to disappear Of ever winning man's affection? |
-- But, here, as with the Malkovich top ten, the audience is wise to the content -- in this case, the diction is clear enough. And so there's a comic effect from the contrast...
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Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
Thoughtful, provocative post as usual and always well done.
katyzzz
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Comment by Damo
Interesting read.
(Thank god at least one person is not writing about Obama vs Howard today.)
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
There's something funny about the way a story can develop into the every-water-cooler conversation. One random story one week, and another the next. I don't think there's much logic to it...
Comment by JoshZ
It's also interesting to note the lack of tone that the written word can take.
JZ
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Comment by Brenton
Dr Spin
Tales From The Other Side
Blip Blog
Gadget Museum
Makes you think alot about the techniques of successfull pollies.
I also love that everyone findfs an Anti-God, andi-Capital, andti-social anthem - Lennon's Imagine.
This is kind of unrelated, but conveys a similiar point -
I didn't kill my wife.
I didn't'kill my wife.
I didn't killmy wife.
I didn't kill mywife.
I didn't kill my wife.
Comment by Vixter
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Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
... this is such an interesting post!
When I had my second child, I sort of died - kinda - headed for the light. That's it : going, going, Gone with the Wind ... well, almost, *gasp* they suddenly decided it wasn't time ... lucky me? ... (maybe not) I'm still "getting over being killed by a professional," but that's another story for another day...
My point is this, that after I 'came back' I started to hear - I mean REALLY HEAR. Especially what these silly popular songs were REALLY saying and I think it was when I first REALLY heard MacKnife and Sting's, Every Breath, for what they were... I was amazed that I had neve HEARD them before.
I continued "listening" this way, until today and all I can say is that it really has been (is) a Magical Mystery Tour...
Lilla
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Did you know The Police are re-forming for a world tour? They were rehearsing at the Whiskey-a-go-go, playing I Can't Stand Losing You (a song about suicide) and Sting was reading the lyrics from a page while Stewart Copeland shouted out chord changes! Ha!
I find the annoying thing with sending sms, and with emails from time to time, is that tone gets lost. And someone can miss the humour that was intended, so that the entire message is misinterpreted.
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
even though you can add *lol* and *rofl* and all these other things... so much 'tone' is lost (and hidden) in sound (music) and without it (in text) ... too true.
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
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I guess that's what provocative actually means.
One can't always arrive at a conclusion, mostly there isn't one.
katyzzz
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Just two general comments in reply:
1. When I'm talking about "tone vs content", I'm mainly thinking of vocal tone. That is, the effects and meanings you get from pitch, volume, timbre, tempo, etc.
The word "tone" can be used in a different way when you're talking about pure words. For instance, sometimes people say things like "I don't like your tone", referring to something like the emotive impact of words.
2. It's not easy to separate vocal tone from content. This is a sore point in my post, and Brenton's example about varying the emphasis sticks a finger in the wound.
A more accurate presentation of speech is that there's NO distinction between vocal tone and content. The message you get is the message you get. It comes in one piece.
When I compare the vocal tone of the Sting song with its content, to some extent I miss the point. Looking at content alone is artifical...