Opera has some of the the most wildly overblown librettii imaginable, not to mention some of the most absurd and convoluted plots known to humanity and in most cases no real sense of narrative, pacing, character development or even the least shred of plausibility or poetry. However, it is largely saved by the music, which is really the point being made.
Maybe that sums the whole issue up; that music addresses some inner part of us that longs for tension, resolution, cadence, crescendo and surprise, whereas you'll alway be aware that the person singing on the stage is just another fat guy in tights warbling without end about where the love of his life has fucked off to. Or some other equally absurd prat hopping about a stage, dressed as a flower, dribbling on about Musical Boxes.
Mike
Rick Blechta wrote:
On Mar 17, 2008, at 3:04 PM, Mike Dickson wrote:
"But at least prog lyrics generally aren't as bad as pop
lyrics (IMO, that is)."
Do you *really* want to go down this particular route?
When looked at globally in music, almost all lyrics are weak, if not downright bad. Check out some very famous operas for trite, stupid and silly lyrics. Fortunately, there are always exceptions in all kinds of music.
Rick
-- Mike Dickson, Edinburgh