4 ms·

I spent a lot of time in the early 2000s on discussion forums and songmeanings.net learning about and contributing to interpretations and meanings of songs. Th

I spent a lot of time in the early 2000s on discussion forums and songmeanings.net learning about and contributing to interpretations and meanings of songs. This is an interesting concept (AI lyric interpretation) and my comment is something a bit deeper than this concept itself. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but what makes lyric interpretation so cool is that it's the intersection of two people's life experiences - the song writer and the listener. There's often no single meaning of a song. It may mean one thing for the writer and something completely different for the listener. What happens in online communities where people talk about what song lyrics mean to them is the creation of actual community. That's both interesting and impactful.

lexx 4y ago
I like that. Something similar that I am thinking is that I don't really listen to genres. I listen to artists. I listen to a song and the start to explore the artist's world.
personjerry 4y ago
Isn't that true of all art interpretation, not just song lyrics?
- cooperadymas 4y ago
  That's subjective.
  - JadeNB 4y ago
    Art interpretation is subjective, but the claim that art interpretation is subjective (which is the one to which you are responding) is not, itself, I think usually regarded as subjective.
another-dave 4y ago
We often hold AI to the bar of a highest submission in a field (critique this song to the level of a music/English verse critic) but if you think about the average quality it's performing much better in that context. (Just get it to output "this song is really about drugs" and you're now up to the bar of "average Song Meanings" submission!)
- notahacker 4y ago
  The hyper literal interpretations feel very Songmeanings too. Even when it's broadly on target, you have to love sentences like "The chorus makes it clear that if someone wants to be the Spice Girls' lovers, they have to get with their friends and make the relationship last forever." much like this https://www.songtell.com/craig-david/7-days https://www.songtell.com/craig-david/7-days reminds me of the greatest paragraph ever deleted from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7_Days_(Craig_David_song)&diff=prev&oldid=533001293 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7_Days_(Craig_Dav... Some of the misses are great too... https://www.songtell.com/pulp/help-the-aged https://www.songtell.com/pulp/help-the-aged https://www.songtell.com/the-kinks/lola https://www.songtell.com/the-kinks/lola https://www.songtell.com/nirvana/frances-farmer-will-have-her-revenge-on-seattle https://www.songtell.com/nirvana/frances-farmer-will-have-he... https://www.songtell.com/the-rolling-stones/brown-sugar https://www.songtell.com/the-rolling-stones/brown-sugar Still, I thought the seriousness of the description of https://www.songtell.com/boney-m/rasputin https://www.songtell.com/boney-m/rasputin was a hilarious fail until I realised there were actual Wikipedia editors that think a song with lyrics like "Most people look at him with terror and with fear / But to Moscow chicks, he was such a lovely dear" should mostly be summarised with historical analysis Similarly this one is funny https://www.songtell.com/village-people/y-m-c-a https://www.songtell.com/village-people/y-m-c-a but not as funny as an actual human being without a trace of irony insisting it's a song with a great conservative message... https://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Songs#YMCA.3F https://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservati...
- bloaf 4y ago
  I agree, just think about how many people play Leonard Cohen songs (esp. Hallelujah) in religious/spiritual contexts and completely miss the heavy eroticism. I checked out "Show me the place" which is incredibly erotic. Leonard asks to be shown "where the suffering began" (painful childbirth is the first punishment God mentions for Eve) and "where the word became a man" (i.e. where Jesus was conceived-Mary's womb) because "his head is bending low." The AI, just like a lot of people, can't get past that use of religious terminology to realize the sexual innuendo. https://www.songtell.com/leonard-cohen/show-me-the-place https://www.songtell.com/leonard-cohen/show-me-the-place
- 4y ago

lexx 4y ago

I like that. Something similar that I am thinking is that I don't really listen to genres. I listen to artists. I listen to a song and the start to explore the artist's world.

personjerry 4y ago

Isn't that true of all art interpretation, not just song lyrics?

cooperadymas 4y ago
That's subjective.
- JadeNB 4y ago
  Art interpretation is subjective, but the claim that art interpretation is subjective (which is the one to which you are responding) is not, itself, I think usually regarded as subjective.

another-dave 4y ago

We often hold AI to the bar of a highest submission in a field (critique this song to the level of a music/English verse critic) but if you think about the average quality it's performing much better in that context. (Just get it to output "this song is really about drugs" and you're now up to the bar of "average Song Meanings" submission!)

notahacker 4y ago
The hyper literal interpretations feel very Songmeanings too. Even when it's broadly on target, you have to love sentences like "The chorus makes it clear that if someone wants to be the Spice Girls' lovers, they have to get with their friends and make the relationship last forever." much like this https://www.songtell.com/craig-david/7-days https://www.songtell.com/craig-david/7-days reminds me of the greatest paragraph ever deleted from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7_Days_(Craig_David_song)&diff=prev&oldid=533001293 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7_Days_(Craig_Dav... Some of the misses are great too... https://www.songtell.com/pulp/help-the-aged https://www.songtell.com/pulp/help-the-aged https://www.songtell.com/the-kinks/lola https://www.songtell.com/the-kinks/lola https://www.songtell.com/nirvana/frances-farmer-will-have-her-revenge-on-seattle https://www.songtell.com/nirvana/frances-farmer-will-have-he... https://www.songtell.com/the-rolling-stones/brown-sugar https://www.songtell.com/the-rolling-stones/brown-sugar Still, I thought the seriousness of the description of https://www.songtell.com/boney-m/rasputin https://www.songtell.com/boney-m/rasputin was a hilarious fail until I realised there were actual Wikipedia editors that think a song with lyrics like "Most people look at him with terror and with fear / But to Moscow chicks, he was such a lovely dear" should mostly be summarised with historical analysis Similarly this one is funny https://www.songtell.com/village-people/y-m-c-a https://www.songtell.com/village-people/y-m-c-a but not as funny as an actual human being without a trace of irony insisting it's a song with a great conservative message... https://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Songs#YMCA.3F https://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservati...
bloaf 4y ago
I agree, just think about how many people play Leonard Cohen songs (esp. Hallelujah) in religious/spiritual contexts and completely miss the heavy eroticism. I checked out "Show me the place" which is incredibly erotic. Leonard asks to be shown "where the suffering began" (painful childbirth is the first punishment God mentions for Eve) and "where the word became a man" (i.e. where Jesus was conceived-Mary's womb) because "his head is bending low." The AI, just like a lot of people, can't get past that use of religious terminology to realize the sexual innuendo. https://www.songtell.com/leonard-cohen/show-me-the-place https://www.songtell.com/leonard-cohen/show-me-the-place
4y ago