Talking about music, meaningful and impactful lyrics do not only entertain the listeners but also give inspiration, teach lessons, and uplift the spirit for the good of the society.
A few days ago, I wrote a post titled When Lyrics Speak. I am more of a music lover with a focus on the lyrics rather than the beats. I do love nice beats anyways, as the melody is always catchy, but the place of lyrics shouldn't be overlooked if we desire music in our society today with impactful messages for the good of everyone.
Nowadays, the majority of our artists in the entertainment industry have shifted in lyrical content and now focus more on the beats and all kinds of pleasures rather than working on meaningful messages through their songs. Of course that's the trend now; people want to do what moves well in the society in terms of making more money; unfortunately, in the music industry, it's gradually affecting the main purpose of music. The other day, I watched one pop song, and the singers and dancers were almost naked doing their live performance. And we see these songs selling very fast and disseminating negative messages to the listeners. When I listened to the lyrics, I was hearing words like;
Baby, let's do it tonight
I go crazy crazy for you tonight, baby.
You are my favorite damn disease.
Maybe just a little finger... and lots more of meaningless wordings in that music. Then watching what they do as they sing, oh...father lord!
As much as I listen to gospel artists more than others, every song should have a good message to pass to the listeners. It doesn't matter the genre of the song, but the lessons people should get listening to you. I believe that our society thrives better when we add value to it. A good message from a song can restore a dying soul; it can comfort a brokenhearted person; it can encourage someone who is on the verge of giving up to reflect and realize that there's still hope. There are one thousand and one lessons we can learn from impactful lyrics in a song, but then, we are gradually losing it and relying on trends rather than the message.
Of course it wasn't like this in the past; however, not all modern music lacks impact today. There are still many artists who never stopped producing thought-provoking music with meaningful messages to take home with. I have talked so much in this space about some of my favorite artists; the likes of Mercy Chinwo, GUC, Chidinma, and others are excellent examples of artists who balance beats and impactful messages. I can't go wrong listening to the lyrics of their songs carefully, as value must be added.
However, I feel artists can be made to put more effort into writing songs that will have more impactful messages through the following suggestions: Firstly, creating an avenue to celebrate publicly those artists who always prioritize meaningful lyrics seems encouraging and could make others want to emulate them. The purpose of this celebration will be made public, and streaming their music live during those periods using all social media platforms shouldn't be left out. The world will know them; they will become very visible and motivated to keep adding value to their music.
Just like the music industry gives awards more often, artists who do well with their lyrics should be recognized always, and I tell you that this step will encourage them the more. I don't know if there's something like music seminars that these singers normally host for a kind of self-improvement, but making such seminars available, especially for the upcoming singers with the focus on lyrics training, sounds like a great option for improvement in this sector.
There are other actions that can be taken, but I believe that these few suggestions, when implemented, will go a long way to encourage more meaningful lyrics in our society today.
This post is in response to the #HiveLearners community contest on the topic titled Lyrics On The Go.
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