Dumb it down????
I had a debate with an acquaintance about poetry,and music lyrics.He told me that when writing poetry or song lyrics I should "dumb it down" so everyone could understand what I'm writing...I argued that an artist/writer,writes to express their own emotions to let them out in their own way...He used the example of the band creed vs the band the killers...He said that Creed was the style of writing I should aim for instead of writing in a way where people have to decipher the lyrics like the lead singer of the killers...I think it's bullshit,and I prefer people having to think about what you're trying to say..It makes the reading or listening far more exciting in my opinion...That's just my style...What do you think?...Have you ever dumbed it down?Or do you prefer reaching only a handful?
Some of us write, in love with words, stretching into the lost valleys of the obscure and fleeting. The readership establishes itself based on the work. Anyone trying to alter the work to capture a demographic is not in the full flow of creativity, but in the science of marketing.
Why would you want dumb readers?
Why would you want dumb readers?
Anonymous
Only dumb it down if you are writing a parody from perspective of a Beevis/Butthead character.
(That's not your style, I know.)
Both simple and complicated lyrics have their audiences. Write what you will, and your own people will respond in kind.
(That's not your style, I know.)
Both simple and complicated lyrics have their audiences. Write what you will, and your own people will respond in kind.
If you write so that the average person can understand what you are communicating in one pass, they are more likely to read it a second time and third and fourth and so on.
Said reader can become aware of the greater dimensions of a poem during additional passes, again fueling the desire to read again and again. There is an unfolding process.
An intentional lack of information meant to illicit a variety of answers or reactions forces readers into a position of having to read again and again out of necessity rather than enjoyment.
When it becomes necessary to understand what a poem is about, the average person is apt to bail. The remainder of your readers are likely then other poets or those who enjoy solving riddles.
If you establish a pattern of the latter type of poetry, then the average reader will not bother themselves with your work. It becomes a chore.
Now, take the above arguments and compound them with poorly crafted poems.
Despite attempts to dumb it down, the average person is still unlikely to understand what your poem is about if it is poorly crafted. The opposite rings true. The better composed the poem is, the more likely more people will grasp what you intended to communicate.
Meanwhile, a poorly written poem meant for the general audience to draw its own conclusions is like a double whammy.
Said reader can become aware of the greater dimensions of a poem during additional passes, again fueling the desire to read again and again. There is an unfolding process.
An intentional lack of information meant to illicit a variety of answers or reactions forces readers into a position of having to read again and again out of necessity rather than enjoyment.
When it becomes necessary to understand what a poem is about, the average person is apt to bail. The remainder of your readers are likely then other poets or those who enjoy solving riddles.
If you establish a pattern of the latter type of poetry, then the average reader will not bother themselves with your work. It becomes a chore.
Now, take the above arguments and compound them with poorly crafted poems.
Despite attempts to dumb it down, the average person is still unlikely to understand what your poem is about if it is poorly crafted. The opposite rings true. The better composed the poem is, the more likely more people will grasp what you intended to communicate.
Meanwhile, a poorly written poem meant for the general audience to draw its own conclusions is like a double whammy.
If your poetry is just about expressing how you feel, then it really doesn't matter if anyone else comprehends it or likes it or thinks it is well executed or poorly crafted. Either they do or they don't.
You might label it poetry, but it may be the furthest thing from poetic in the same way that a refrigerator falling from a high rise building onto a piano salesman is not ironic.
You might label it poetry, but it may be the furthest thing from poetic in the same way that a refrigerator falling from a high rise building onto a piano salesman is not ironic.
Anonymous
i prefer to use words that everyone can understand, but use them in a way that creates layers. so if that means, i dumb it down. well i guess i dumb it down.
but i am of the opinion that just because i don't need my reader to stop every five seconds to look up a word in a dictionary, does not mean that i have dumb-ed it down.
(what is the past tense of dumb it down? because dumbed isn't a word. dumb it downed?)
but i am of the opinion that just because i don't need my reader to stop every five seconds to look up a word in a dictionary, does not mean that i have dumb-ed it down.
(what is the past tense of dumb it down? because dumbed isn't a word. dumb it downed?)
Anonymous
and I'm wondering why they didn't spell this song "stupefied"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVcY--XzeIc
Yeah, bringing you another disturbing creation
from the mind of one sick animal who can't tell the difference
and gets stupified
I've been waiting my whole life for just one fuck
And all I needed was just one fuck
How can you say that you don't give a fuck
I find myself stupified, coming back again
All I wanted was just one fuck
One tiny little innocent fuck
And when I feel like I'm shit out of luck
I find myself stupified, coming back again
Why, do you like playing around with
My, narrow scope of reality
I, can feel it all start slipping
I think I'm breaking down
Why, do you like playing around with
My, narrow scope of reality
I, can feel it all start slipping away
See but I don't get it
Don't you think maybe we could put it on credit
Don't you think it can take control when I don't let it
I get stupified
It's all the same you say
Live with it
But I don't get it
Don't you think maybe we could put it on credit
Don't you think it can take control when I don't let it
I get stupified [x2]
All the people in the left wing rock
And all the people in the right wing rock
And all the people in the underground rock
I find myself stupified, coming back again
All the people in the high rise rock
And all the people in the projects rock
And all la gente in the barrio rock
I find myself stupified, coming back again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVcY--XzeIc
Yeah, bringing you another disturbing creation
from the mind of one sick animal who can't tell the difference
and gets stupified
I've been waiting my whole life for just one fuck
And all I needed was just one fuck
How can you say that you don't give a fuck
I find myself stupified, coming back again
All I wanted was just one fuck
One tiny little innocent fuck
And when I feel like I'm shit out of luck
I find myself stupified, coming back again
Why, do you like playing around with
My, narrow scope of reality
I, can feel it all start slipping
I think I'm breaking down
Why, do you like playing around with
My, narrow scope of reality
I, can feel it all start slipping away
See but I don't get it
Don't you think maybe we could put it on credit
Don't you think it can take control when I don't let it
I get stupified
It's all the same you say
Live with it
But I don't get it
Don't you think maybe we could put it on credit
Don't you think it can take control when I don't let it
I get stupified [x2]
All the people in the left wing rock
And all the people in the right wing rock
And all the people in the underground rock
I find myself stupified, coming back again
All the people in the high rise rock
And all the people in the projects rock
And all la gente in the barrio rock
I find myself stupified, coming back again
Musicality and music can compensate for nonsensical lyrics.
Having no music shifts the burden onto musicality.
If all your readers end up singing different versions of a song, you really don't have the musicality you thought you had.
If readers don't end up singing the lyrics, you really have nothing more than a poem.
Having no music shifts the burden onto musicality.
If all your readers end up singing different versions of a song, you really don't have the musicality you thought you had.
If readers don't end up singing the lyrics, you really have nothing more than a poem.
Anonymous
Magnetron said:Musicality and music can compensate for nonsensical lyrics.
i would argue that music can sometimes help to make sense of the nonsensical.
unless you are wanting to convey a feeling of vertigo/trippy-ness/otherworldly, then words should make sense when writing a poem. or, like you said earlier, you reduce your audience to basically other writers.
i would argue that music can sometimes help to make sense of the nonsensical.
unless you are wanting to convey a feeling of vertigo/trippy-ness/otherworldly, then words should make sense when writing a poem. or, like you said earlier, you reduce your audience to basically other writers.
in fairness, I myself dumbed down my vocabulary years ago. I found that my readers were far too common and uncouth to understand the complex ...complexities that I was writing.
I can understand why people would be put off or annoyed at the revelation, but it aint my fault y’all are too dumb to understand me
I can understand why people would be put off or annoyed at the revelation, but it aint my fault y’all are too dumb to understand me
lepperochan said:in fairness, I myself dumbed down my vocabulary years ago. I found that my readers were far too common and uncouth to understand the complex ...complexities that I was writing.
I can understand why people would be put off or annoyed at the revelation, but it aint my fault y’all are dumb.
Somebody really needs to ban fuck outta this guy.....
(dumb it down and risk a condescending tone...what you do have to do is keep it accesible...most here alienate their readers with unconscious jargon and lazy skills at framing and scene-setting....you have to be pretty fucking good to worry about this topic. Good example is 'the oddessy'...story is a couple thousand years old, explores the deepest themes, and demands much of the reader....if you get that good, dumb down. For everyone else, worry about learning to communicate clearly...ps, i'm a talentless tool, pontificating on inconsequential shit on a free poetry site...... you get what you pay for...nihil bone sine labore....no potatoes without digging)
I can understand why people would be put off or annoyed at the revelation, but it aint my fault y’all are dumb.
Somebody really needs to ban fuck outta this guy.....
(dumb it down and risk a condescending tone...what you do have to do is keep it accesible...most here alienate their readers with unconscious jargon and lazy skills at framing and scene-setting....you have to be pretty fucking good to worry about this topic. Good example is 'the oddessy'...story is a couple thousand years old, explores the deepest themes, and demands much of the reader....if you get that good, dumb down. For everyone else, worry about learning to communicate clearly...ps, i'm a talentless tool, pontificating on inconsequential shit on a free poetry site...... you get what you pay for...nihil bone sine labore....no potatoes without digging)
