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Vol.88 Which Came First: The Chicken or the Egg? |
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Jul.05,2025 |
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A few years ago, I suddenly started wondering which comes first—music or lyrics, regardless of its genre. It was just out of curiosity for me, who is not a layman, although the answer may be well known to people who are in the music business, play music, or sing.
After listening to various kinds of music, I found something in common. In most cases, it seems to me that composers write music to match the intonation of words written by lyricists.
This is what an amateur thought, and composers must use their masterful skills to complete the whole music. Of course, there are some cases where lyrics are written after tunes are composed, but this may be significantly difficult.
When I attended a Buddhist memorial service for my relative more than 50 years ago, I listened to a pilgrim's hymn for the first time. I still remember how I was shocked by the song. I became convinced that the rhythm of hymns turned into local folk songs, enka songs, and popular songs.
My history of music started with rokyoku (naniwabushi) songs and stuck in the 1980s when popular songs, including enka music, were in their prime. Hence, I do not know most of the recent songs performed in the popular annual TV program Kohaku Uta Gassen, which is aired on New Year's Eve. I sometimes welcome the coming year alone watching another TV program on a BS channel or reading a book in a different room.
By the way, do you know that different kanji characters are used for "tamago" ("egg" in English): "卵" before cooking and "玉子" after cooking? I am not so smart that I learned it recently.
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