Take care of the sounds, and the sense will take care of itself

[kateorman]

Now this is interesting. I have the Death Note anime theme stuck in my head. It's a terrific little rock song. The thing is, my Japanese is practically non-existent (I have pretty much the same handful of words as any gaijin otaku, desu). So what the heck is my grey matter actually playing? As I "listen" to the earworm, I can pick out a few

Comments

[ashamel]

Whereas I have this song stuck in my head, for better or worse.

[eponymous_rose]

I've managed to get songs stuck in my head that were in totally unfamiliar languages! I've got a slow memory when it comes to music (I need to hear things a ridiculous number of times before I can so much as hum along, a fact that has scandalised many music teachers), but once I do have a song down, every instrument is pitch-perfect, note-by-note. I like your suggestion about the lyrics getting memorised as instrument-sounds, because it's always kind of mystified me that I could reproduce the lyrics in a language I couldn't speak. It's utterly bizarre how that works.

I wonder how far we attach meaning to lyrics, in a casual-listening sort of way? And how do those wacky misheard lyrics fit into the whole thing?

(And hurrah, Alexander Pope reference in title FTW)

[qthewetsprocket]

I can usually only remember bits of Yes lyrics,

and quite right too. i mean, how the hell is one's poor grey matter supposed to retain a total mass of random verbage like turn round tailor assaulting all the mornings of the interest shown presenting one another to the cord all left there blind redisovered of the door that turned round to close the cover on the interest shown to turn one another to the sign at the time float your climb?

maestro anderson, darling, whatever you were smoking back then...share.

[jblum]

Did Kate ever tell you the story of hearing where "In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky" came from?

[qthewetsprocket]

no'um, didn't. whassis?

*rests head in hands and listens intently*

[jblum]

Heard it on a radio documentary, IIRC. Basically it boiled down to "well we were on the tour bus and we were driving around the edge of this lake in Europe and it was foggy and we were all really stoned..."

[alryssa]

Japanese is very big on inflection and intonation, and easy on the brain. The South Welsh accent is similar in effect, with its lilt, and some employers back in the UK got into trouble, IIRC, a few years ago, for favouring those with SW accents over others, because people immediately warmed to those people on the phone over other, more "harsh" dialects.

[pbristow]

NOOOOOOOO!!!! *Stomach* is for porridge; Head is for *bees*! (See illustration)