Lyrics, Voices, and the Stories they tell

Abstract

Situated within the field of Popular Musicology, this thesis takes a discursive approach to the relationship between lyrics and representations of the voice. Drawing on personal experience with lyrics and voices as a singer, performing songwriter, and researcher, it takes on several discourses of academic thinking, such as musicology, literary studies, and voice and performance studies. Interdisciplinary lines are drawn between these related fields to explore their discursive interactions. The thesis advances an approach suggesting that people's lifelong relationship with voice contributes to the development of a "Voice Recognition, Use, and Listening Competence". This competence is argued to be intertwined with individuals' lifelong relationship with voice and performance traditions within popular music genres, enabling them to identify coded meanings in the voice. Furthermore, this thesis investigates whether our knowledge and experience with voice and its everyday function as a means of expression and communication is transferred to how we write, perform and understand lyrics. It thus aims to highlight how somatic and semantic meaning contribute to different understandings of lyrical meaning. To address these and related issues, the thesis introduces an analytical framework labelled "Four Approaches to Lyrics and Voices". This framework is designed to encompass experiences as a listener, reader, singer/performer and lyricist/songmaker, offering a broad perspective on how lyrical meaning is constructed and understood. These four approaches are applied to explore how the relationship between lyrics and the performativity and coded meanings of the voice contribute to our understandings of lyrical meaning. The thesis studies a selection of songs, lyrics, songmakers and performers, avoiding focus on specific genres or artists to provide a broader perspective. The examples also underscore the universal nature of coded meanings in the voice and the versatility of "The Four Approaches to Voices and Lyrics" as an analytical framework applicable to lyrics across various genres and artists. In this way, the thesis makes a case for how lyrical meaning emerges and lives on in its interactions with performers and listeners, implying that our understanding of lyrics is never fixed. Moreover, it addresses how experiences of external and internal listening and auto-listening inform experiences and understandings of iii lyrical meaning. Additionally, the thesis highlights the relationship between lived experiences, personal narratives and song narratives and how they are interwoven in the tapestry of our lives. The primary objective of this PhD project is to start a new conversation within Popular Musicology about lyrics, voices and the stories they tell.