Canadian vocal shredders show a voice is OK, but lyrics are better. I recently wrote a music column without citing any Canadian artists, so I'll make up for that right now.
The kids these days are growing up with music talent shows broadcast nightly, from Canadian/American Idol, The Voice and all the other Got Talent shows that feature multiple kinds of acts, including a regular dose of singers.
The winners of these talent shows are handed record deals, and sure the winners and even losers can sing, but they have very polished voices, sometimes lacking in personality. I've only ever seen small snippets of any of these shows, but I don't recall ever seeing participants show off their songwriting talents. I think the talent shows miss this point completely, instead, trying to find someone who is popular and marketable.
Geddy Lee is not winning a singing competition, not ever. But he is a huge part of what makes Rush, Rush.
Gord Downie would not the make the final showcase of Canadian Idol, but his voice has character and fits perfectly with the Tragically Hip.
Emily Haines might not place on any of these shows, but Metric isn't brought down by her voice, it's elevated by her vocal style.
These people are songwriters, with the exception of Lee who has a brilliant lyricist in the band's drummer Neil Peart, and that's what makes them great. From Gordon Lightfoot's folky tales, to Downie's expressions of Canadian life and Lee's mystical metaphors, it's more about what these guys are saying than how they're saying it.
I mean: "Tame the trackless waste, no virgin land left chaste; all shining eyes but never seeing." Those are some powerful words, but I'm not sure they'd fit in with Michael Buble.
A nice voice is one thing, but if it's not singing something meaningful even the purest of vocals ring hollow. Powerful lyrics are what drive music, as much as any instrument and far more than any voice. Lyrics make a voice great, even if the voice isn't first-place worthy.
Today's youth growing up on talent shows and Bieber fever are being misled as to what the true meaning of music is. That is what is within music. It's art, and isn't meant to be enjoyed in passing, but to evoke thought and emotion.
Nobody would mistake Leonard Cohen for having a beautiful voice, but the man wrote Hallelujah, a song covered, admittedly often better than the original, by hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. It wasn't Cohen's voice that made the song great.
Steven Page has one of the best voices in music, and I'm never going to say a great voice is undesirable. It's just a small piece of the very large puzzle that is great music. Certainly the Barenaked Ladies will never be the same without him.
As my office mate, who doesn't recognize any of the names I've dropped in this column save for Bieber, will argue, music is simply a matter of taste. One man's rich, lyric-laced epic is another's shrill cry and bleeding ears. And she's right; music is all a matter of taste. Being a bit of a stubborn guy who absolutely likes his own view of the matter, I feel my taste is better than hers. I expect she believes the opposite.
I just hope my fears are unfounded that songwriting is being pushed to the fringes of importance by popular television shows that showcase all voice and no verse.
