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Lyrics

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For other uses, see Lyrical.

Lyrics are the words to a song. A person who writes lyrics is called a lyricist. The meaning conveyed in lyrical verses can be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are so abstract as to be completely unintelligible. In such cases, there is a tendency to emphasize the form, articulation, meter, and symmetries of the expressions.

There are many websites that feature lyrics to songs. This is, however, a controversial area since many web sites include copyright lyrics without permission from the copyright holder. The US Music Publishers' Association (MPA), which represents sheet music companies, launched a campaign against such sites in December 2005. MPA president Lauren Keiser indicated that the sites are "completely illegal" and that he wanted to see some site operators jailed.

Etymology and usage

"Lyric" is from the Greek; a lyric was originally a song sung with a lyre.

A lyric poem is one that expresses a subjective, personal point of view.

I would be the Lyric
Ever on the l\hip,
Rather than the Epic
Memory lets die.
—Thomas Bailey Aldrich

The word lyric came to be used for the "words of a popular song"; this meaning was recorded in 1876 . The plural lyrics was used only in referring to the words of multiple songs; to refer to the words of a single song as its lyrics instead of its lyric was considered erroneous. Even so, such usage became increasingly common (probably because of the association between lyrics and the plural form words), and is predominant in modern usage of today's society. Use of the singular form lyric is still grammatically acceptable; it is still considered erroneous to refer to an individual word in a song as a lyric.

References

  1. "Song sites face legal crackdown" BBC News, 12 December 2005. Site accessed 7 January 2007
  2. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lyric

See also

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