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Dance Music That Means Something

Dubversion said:
Pie Face asked me to post this, she can't be arsed and she's a bit pissed to boot.

BUT..

she was wondering if there was any dance music with actual lyrical content that actually SAYS anything. Anything beyond the usual platitudes about how we're all free to feel good, love lifts us up yadda yadda - ie, i guess uplifting ecstasy fuelled positivity.

All i could think of was Pop A Cap In Your Ass by Ben Watt... Other than that, the only dance music that seems to 'say anything' does it through samples rather than words..

so does the medium itself not lend itself to proper statements - either because musically it wouldn't work or because dance music is primarily party music or whatever.


is that fair enough? or are we wrong?

Not a JUDGEMENT of dance music per se, just a wonder...
Click to expand...

yes.

www.myspace.com/fatterfaction
 
There was quite a bit of dance music with polticial content in the 80's. Pet Shop Boys' Opportunities, We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing by Heaven 17, World Destruction by Africa Bambaataa
 
good response from free spirit ; there IS some dance music with lyrical content that means something out there !

A lot depends on your definition of "dance music" ? Would you group Soul II Soul as dance music ? I'm sure you should do. And Omar ?
Look at Soul II Soul's first album ; it's hardly four-to-the-floor hands in the air anthems now is it ?

Listen to some of Blaze's productions. Moodymann. A lot of Kevin Saunderson's stuff.

"Reachin'" by Phase II (uplifting and meaningful)

"This Town Needs A Sherriff" by Ragga Twins , social commentary at it's rawest. In fact , a lot of the Shut Up And Dance music.

As has already been pointed out , Romanthony. King Britt. 4 hero.

Come on folks ; it's not all e's and cheese !
 
This is the worst thread there has ever been .. every post is a wrongun :cool:
The drunk lady .. the concerned partner for alcoholic missus, Autechre :-/ .. a packet of peace :] The Aphex Twin lol .. Buggles ..heh heh Faithless .. that's not funny that one :mad:
 
Fluke
Meat Beat Manifesto
Audio Bullys
Underworld
bits of the Prodigy, Spiral Tribe, Lionrock, Bandulu etc etc

- all proper dance music with decent lyrics.:)
 
Chemical needs said:
My version is called 'Tardis to Hackney' on Getafix records. What's SUF?:confused:
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Ah yes, that's what it's from. I think i've managed to miss the last 4 getafixes, must really start buying records again instead of spending it all on studio kit and drugs :o :rolleyes:
 
loud 1 said:
lamb-gorecki

candi stanton-youve got the love.
Click to expand...

Snap, about to say the same. Gorecki is also the best tune to make love to :p

'You Got The Love' is essentially a gospel and religious one.

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you

Sometimes I feel like saying, "Lord, I just don't care"
But you've got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes I see that the boy is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now it feels like life is just too much
You've got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you

Sometimes I feel like saying, "Lord, I just don't care"
But you've got the love I need to see me through

Time after time I say, "Oh Lord what's the use?"
Time after time I say, "This just won't do"
But sooner or later in life the things you love you lose
Just like before, I know I call you

I can't believe my palms, degrading friends of you
I can't believe my fire, oh Lord, what must I do
I can't believe what I caught up, master made me new
But you've got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you

Sometimes I feel like saying, "Lord, I just don't care"
But you've got the love I need to see me through
Click to expand...
 
disclaimer: not Dub's thread :D :p

foo said:
the mcs would add the meaning, even if a lot of the meaning they were adding was directed at messing with the crowds heads - bringing them up and down with the es. some would be chatting about topical or political/militant stuff like the reggae toasters used to.
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actually - I hadn't really thought about MCs mainly because I thought they ad libbed the whole time and in my tiny mind didn't equate it with lyrics :o

The stuff that I was complaining about seems to be chart music these days - it originally started with the parties you're talking about, foo, where the new music, drugs, rebellion, kids and a fuckload of fun made it special and I imagine qualified those lyrics. What we have now is the inevitable drip into the mainstream where the sentiment is dated and cheesy.

I guess the lesson is not to listen to radio on friday nights and to get some better stations.

And I love my dance music but I tend to keep it for dancing - I'm off to the Glade this weekend! Can you get more *dance* than that?

Actually if I hear any of the bollocks I'm talking about I'll go and punch them on the nose :mad:
 
I've never really found that techno and meaningful lyrics go together. House sometimes does, maybe, in a Joe Smooth "Promised Land" kind of way, because it can be more soulful... but techno doesn't really lend itself well to deep thoughts, in my experience.

Shouty MCs giving it some over drum and bass/dancehall has possibilities – like that Bug/Warrior Queen "Dem a Bomb We" single from last year, one of the few things I can dance to and whose lyrical content sends a shiver down my spine.

But I just don't want songwriters meddling in techno, for some reason. I want techno pure and unfettered, without someone trying to put in words where they're not needed. If I'm dancing to techno, words are too much – it's about rhythm and bass and loops and sequences for me, not lyrical content.
 
Skim said:
But I just don't want songwriters meddling in techno, for some reason. I want techno pure and unfettered, without someone trying to put in words where they're not needed. If I'm dancing to techno, words are too much – it's about rhythm and bass and loops and sequences for me, not lyrical content.
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hmmm... i don't disagree completely, but i do like the occasional vocal - UR's 'transition', dropped in the middle of a night sounds fantastic... same with all green velvets early stuff, dj rush, etc, etc - when the voice comes in after a while of pounding instrumental shit, it can really kick your arse.
 
killer b said:
hmmm... i don't disagree completely, but i do like the occasional vocal - UR's 'transition', dropped in the middle of a night sounds fantastic... same with all green velvets early stuff, dj rush, etc, etc - when the voice comes in after a while of pounding instrumental shit, it can really kick your arse.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I dont dispute that some lyrical content can be welcome sometimes, it's just that I rarely find it's that meaningful. And it doesn't really need to be for me – I'm shallow like that. I'm happy with "hur hah, feel the acid in yo' brain" most of the time :cool:
 
Barking mad said

[QUOTE Snap, about to say the same. Gorecki is also the best tune to make love to :p
QUOTE]

Um...its a bit long for me.

:eek:
 
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