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View Poll Results: Do you like or dislike spoken passages in songs?
Like 3 30.00%
Dislike 1 10.00%
Not bothered; neither like nor dislike 6 60.00%
Voters: 10. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-15-2014, 08:28 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Default How do you feel about spoken passages in songs?

You know the sort of thing: Elvis in "Are you lonesome tonight", Godley and Creme's "Under your thumb", Johnny Mathis' "When a child is born." That moment when the singer stops singing and starts talking, or narrating, over the backing vocals or just the music. Do you think it affects your enjoyment of the song, and if so, does it do so in a negative or a positive way?

Feel free to quote or post examples of why certain songs suffer or are enhanced by including spoken passages if you wish.
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Old 09-15-2014, 08:36 PM   #2 (permalink)
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It really depends on how well it's used. It's not a dealbreaker for me in either direction, because it could be used to the benefit of the song or it can detract from it. Frank Zappa uses it well on Stink-Foot and Tom Waits does it well when he delves into one of his mini-rants. Dave Mustaine ruins the tracks when he does it, specifically on Megadeth's recent material. So yeah, could go either way.
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Old 09-16-2014, 06:09 AM   #3 (permalink)
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I think they can be quite sexy actually. There are some songs that have excellent spoken parts in k-pop/j-pop that usually change up the pace and give you some insight into the tone of the song beyond the catchy beats/melodies.

Not sure how long you meant when you say "passages" but I think one or two lines of spoken words in songs can be effective if the words themselves are meaningful to me. Yep.
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Old 09-16-2014, 06:31 AM   #4 (permalink)
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It just depends. Sometimes I get tired of music that only has spoken vocals, but a strategically placed spoken passage can be cool.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:04 AM   #5 (permalink)
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What's with the dumb poll?

You already said in the original post they can be good or bad so why create a poll question which asks you to judge all of them as being all good or all bad?
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:07 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Maaaaybe TH is trying to get a feel for how other people see things. Sometimes it's hard to tell if your perspective is widely shared or not. It's entirely possible that everyone could vote "like" or "dislike" and then he'd be like wow, I guess this is really black and white. Far fetched, but hey who knows what goes on in the mind of TH...

But yeah a very vague question. I voted "like" cuz I couldn't think of any time spoken words detracted from a song.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:11 AM   #7 (permalink)
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It's like asking do you like chocolate with other foods?

Well clearly it depends on what that other food is. Ice cream is going to get a very different answer to brussel sprouts.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:15 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Wait... do you not like chocolate with brussels sprouts?

So do you have a song with a spoken passage that doesn't work then? I'm curious. =D

Also I think this thread should renamed to "William Shatner: like or dislike?"
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:28 AM   #9 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misspoptart View Post
Also I think this thread should renamed to "William Shatner: like or dislike?"
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:44 AM   #10 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frownland View Post
Dave Mustaine ruins the tracks when he does it, specifically on Megadeth's recent material. So yeah, could go either way.
Oh god, yes. No one cares that he's found God and Rush Limbaugh at the same time and quite possibly in the same person. Although, to be fair, his singing, guitar-playing, and songwriting also ruin Megadeth's newer music.
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