4 ms·

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 aver

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
jmathai 4y ago
Perhaps the difference is that I'm much less interested, perhaps not at all, in learning about a song's meaning as much as I am interested in connecting with others and learning more about myself through their experiences. There's definitely a place for ingesting information purely for the sake of learning. That's rarely been my relationship with music though.

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

jmathai 4y ago

Perhaps the difference is that I'm much less interested, perhaps not at all, in learning about a song's meaning as much as I am interested in connecting with others and learning more about myself through their experiences. There's definitely a place for ingesting information purely for the sake of learning. That's rarely been my relationship with music though.