What's the Deal with Leslie Bricusse?

[Tom 4,661]

Not sure what's with my 90's phrasing, but I find his lyrics to Williams's songs cringeworthy.  Somewhere in My Memory is serviceable, as with some of Hook, but the other three HA pieces are somewhere between okay to painful.  Can You Read My Mind causes me to convulse.  

 

Not sure what my question is--maybe just a rant.  Perhaps I just don't have that "gingerbread feeling" at the moment.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,534]

Personally, I don't mind them. At worst, they are mindless pap, at best, they convey, adequately, what the characters are thinking/feeling.

They are not the best lyrics ever written, nor are they the worst. They are a shoulder shrug.

They wash over me, and fly, headlong, into my dim and distant.

Don't sweat the small stuff, @Tom 

[midgemania 54]

It may well be sacrilege to say it on this site, but I find every lyric to Williams’ music to be anodyne and unnecessary. I just don’t think his melodies lend themselves to vocalisation, and it always feels shoehorned in. 

[Fabulin 3,514]

32 minutes ago, midgemania said:

 I just don’t think his melodies lend themselves to vocalisation

his love themes certainly do

[pete 907]

He's sure written some great lyrics over the years, but strangly, I thought he wrote the lyrics for many more songs that it seems he did.  One surprise.,,,I just saw on Wiki that he wrote...

 

"What we need in the world today
Is a guide for the married man"

 

Had no idea they went that far back! Thankfully, when I listen to songs, unless I make an effort to, I tune out the words and just enjoy the musical elements.

[crocodile 8,017]

9 hours ago, midgemania said:

It may well be sacrilege to say it on this site, but I find every lyric to Williams’ music to be anodyne and unnecessary. I just don’t think his melodies lend themselves to vocalisation, and it always feels shoehorned in. 

Agree. And same for Horner.

 

Karol

[Thor 7,508]

Some of them are a bit hokey, yes, some are fine. Interestingly, I find Williams' own lyrics for a gospel song like "Look Down, Lord" surprisingly good.

[crocodile 8,017]

13 minutes ago, Thor said:

Some of them are a bit hokey, yes, some are fine. Interestingly, I find Williams' own lyrics for a gospel song like "Look Down, Lord" surprisingly good.

Of course, everything about Rosewood score is great.

 

Karol

[Andy 4,138]

You guys are all Scrooges! 

 

Seriously, I don’t mind any of the Bricusse lyrics. They do what they’re supposed to do with a little charm and endearment. 

[midgemania 54]

On 5/12/2023 at 10:08 PM, Fabulin said:

his love themes certainly do

Can you name one? That’s a genuine question, because I can’t immediately think of any that don’t simply feel like someone has pasted lyrics over the top of a pre-existing theme. 
 

Perhaps “For Always” from A.I, but if that’s the gold standard example then I think it rather proves my point. 

On 6/12/2023 at 6:51 AM, crocodile said:

Agree. And same for Horner.

 

Karol

Generally agreed, although there are at least SOME examples from Horner where it works - Titanic and An American Tale being 2 immediately obvious examples. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

15 minutes ago, midgemania said:

Can you name one?

 

Love Theme comes to mind.

 

On 05/12/2023 at 10:35 PM, midgemania said:

It may well be sacrilege to say it on this site, but I find every lyric to Williams’ music to be anodyne and unnecessary. I just don’t think his melodies lend themselves to vocalisation, and it always feels shoehorned in.

 

Song composing just isn't one of JW's greatest strengths. 

[midgemania 54]

7 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

 

Love Theme comes to mind.

 

If you’re talking about “Can You Read My Mind” - the lyrics set to the Love Theme from Superman - then thank you for picking the archetypal example of exactly what I’m talking about. 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

Some of John Williams' 60s song are really good.

For Always is... 

[Thor 7,508]

23 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Some of John Williams' 60s song are really good.

For Always is... 

 

What's wrong with "For Always"? I adore that song, just as I love the instrumental version itself. When it hits that low note, it hits me every time. I think Cynthia Weil's lyrics are quite good too, especially the use of all those open vowels that allow the singers to soar.

[Brónach 1,302]

i hate the songs! everything else from A.I. es pretty good. a bit temp-tracky perhaps.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

11 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

What's wrong with "For Always"? I adore that song, just as I love the instrumental version itself. When it hits that low note, it hits me every time. I think Cynthia Weil's lyrics are quite good too, especially the use of all those open vowels that allow the singers to soar.

I don't know, where to start. Using words like "eternity" in such a chorus of a song is a stylistic no-go. The chorus melody has too many to far jumping intervalls. And each note is one syllable of the lyrics. That sounds too constructed and unnatural for a vocal line for my taste. 

[Thor 7,508]

Interesting. Those jumping intervals are my favourite part of the song (and the score, for that matter).

[GerateWohl 4,370]

4 minutes ago, Thor said:

Interesting. Those jumping intervals are my favourite part of the song (and the score, for that matter).

I like it too, when playedby Instruments. Even the vocalized version is ok, not forcing a syllable of these cheesy lyrics into each note.

[pete 907]

I'm another who loves the melody, but the song.... The duet I prefer over the version with just Josh Groban. I just find it more listenable for the variety in the singing, but I really don't like the song. And just Josh's voice. I don't feel it's a good match for the song. Ha, Was Bryan Adams unavailable???

[Thor 7,508]

Whatever one thinks of it, it's strange to think that it's the last pop-infused song Williams wrote (if I'm not mistaken; I wouldn't count the Harry Potter songs in this context).

 

And in either case, the lyrics of "For Always" are on a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL than some of those cheesy 60s efforts. I absolutely adore those songs as musical compositions, but some of the lyrics are very awkward ("A Guide for the Married Man" or "Daddy's Gone A-Hunting", for example -- the latter now readily available to hear for everyone in the new 20CD set).

[Edmilson 7,466]

I'm not a fan of the song (though I love the theme), but I always wondered: was a pop song something that the studio demanded? I don't think A.I. is the kind of movie that should have a pop song, it'd be kinda like making a song for Empire of the Sun or Amistad.

 

Can You Read My Mind is extremely corny.

[Jay 37,369]

3 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I'm not a fan of the song (though I love the theme), but I always wondered: was a pop song something that the studio demanded? I don't think A.I. is the kind of movie that should have a pop song, it'd be kinda like making a song for Empire of the Sun or Amistad.

 

 

The song isn't in the movie.  It was made for the soundtrack album.