Editing Lyrics

{{short description|Set of words that accompany an instrumental}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Adeste Fideles sheet music sample.svg|thumb|350px|Lyrics in [[sheet music]]. This is a [[homorhythm]]ic (i.e., [[hymn]]-style) arrangement of a traditional piece entitled "{{Lang|la|[[Adeste Fideles]]|italic=no}}" (the original Latin lyrics to "O Come, All Ye Faithful") in standard two-staff format for mixed voices. {{audio|Adeste Fideles sheet music sample.mid|Play}}]]
'''Lyrics''' are [[word]]s that make up a [[song]], usually consisting of [[Verse (poetry)|verses]] and [[Refrain|choruses]]. The writer of lyrics is a [[lyricist]]. The words to an extended musical composition such as an [[opera]] are, however, usually known as a "[[libretto]]" and their writer, as a "[[librettist]]". [[Rap song]]s and [[grime music|grime]] contain '''rap lyrics''' (often with a variation of rhyming words) that are meant to be [[rapping|spoken rhythmically]] rather than sung. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes [[Musical form|form]], [[Articulation (music)|articulation]], [[meter (poetry)|meter]], and [[symmetry]] of expression.

==Etymology==
[[File:Ur lyre.jpg|right|thumb|175px|A [[lyre|lyrist]] on the [[Standard of Ur]], {{circa|lk=no|2500}}&nbsp;BC]]

The word ''lyric'' derives via [[Latin]] ''{{wikt-lang|la|lyricus}}'' from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{wikt-lang|grc|λυρικός}} (''{{grc-transl|λυρικός}}''),<ref name=oed>{{OED|lyric|access-date=2014-01-15}}</ref> the adjectival form of ''[[lyre]]''.<ref>[[Liddell, Henry]] & al. ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]'' 9th ed., "[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=λυρικός&la=greek#Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=luriko/s-contents {{lang|grc|λυρικός}}]". [[Clarendon Press]] ([[Oxford, England|Oxford]]), 1996. Hosted at the [[Perseus Project]]. Accessed 15&nbsp;Jan&nbsp;2014.</ref> It first appeared in English in the mid-16th century in reference to the [[Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey|Earl of Surrey]]'s translations of [[Petrarch]] and to his own [[sonnet]]s.<ref>Sidney, Philip. ''An Apologie for Poetrie'' op.&nbsp;cit. ''OED'' (1903).</ref> [[Greek lyric|Greek lyric poetry]] had been defined by the manner in which it was sung accompanied by the [[lyre]] or [[cithara]],<ref>Miller, Andrew. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=80MpjrOfTH8C Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation]'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=80MpjrOfTH8C&pg=PR12 pp.&nbsp;xii&nbsp;ff]. Hackett Publishing (Indianapolis), 1996. {{ISBN|978-0872202917}}.</ref> as opposed to the chanted formal [[Greek epic poetry|epics]] or the more passionate [[elegiac couplet#Greek origins|elegies]] accompanied by the [[aulos|flute]]. The personal nature of many of the verses of the [[Nine Lyric Poets]] led to the present sense of "[[lyric poetry]]" but the original Greek sense of "lyric poetry"{{mdash}}"poetry accompanied by the lyre" i.e. "words set to music"{{mdash}}eventually led to its use as "lyrics", first attested in [[Sir John Stainer|Stainer]] and Barrett's 1876 ''Dictionary of Musical Terms''.<ref>Stainer, John & al. ''A Dictionary of Musical Terms'', p.&nbsp;276. (London), 1876.</ref> Stainer and Barrett used the word as a singular substantive: "''Lyric'', poetry or blank verse intended to be set to music and sung". By the 1930s, the present use of the [[plurale tantum]] "lyrics" had begun; it has been standard since the 1950s for many writers.<ref name=oed/> The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song by authorities such as Alec Wilder,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilder |first=Alec |date=1972 |title=American Popular Song |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195014457 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanpopulars00alec }}</ref> Robert Gottlieb,<ref>{{cite book |last=Gottlieb |first=Robert |date=2000 |title=Reading Lyrics |location=New York |publisher=Pantheon Books |isbn=9780375400810}}</ref> and Stephen Sondheim.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sondheim |first=Stephen |date=2011 |title=Finishing the Hat |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |isbn=9780679439073 |url=https://archive.org/details/finishinghat00 }}</ref> However, the singular form is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics.

==History==
{{Empty section|date=February 2025}}

==Poems==
{{Original research|section|date=March 2008}}

The differences between [[poem]] and [[song]] may become less meaningful where verse is set to [[music]], to the point that any distinction becomes untenable. This is perhaps recognised in the way popular songs have ''lyrics''.

However, the verse may pre-date its [[Melody|tune]] (in the way that "[[Rule Britannia]]" was set to music, and "[[And did those feet in ancient time]]" has become the hymn "Jerusalem"), or the tune may be lost over time but the words survive, matched by a number of different tunes (this is particularly common with [[hymn]]s and [[ballad]]s).

Possible classifications proliferate (under [[anthem]], [[ballad]], [[blues]], [[Carol (music)|carol]], [[folk song]], [[hymn]], [[libretto]], [[lied]], [[lullaby]], [[March (music)|march]], [[praise song]], [[round (music)|round]], [[spiritual (music)|spiritual]]). [[Nursery rhymes]] may be songs, or [[doggerel]]: the term does not imply a distinction. The [[ghazal]] is a sung form that is considered primarily poetic. See also [[rapping]], [[roots of hip hop music]].

Analogously, verse [[drama]] might normally be judged (at its best) as [[poetry]], but not consisting of poems (see [[dramatic verse]]).

In Baroque music, melodies and their lyrics were prose. Rather than paired lines they consist of rhetorical sentences or paragraphs consisting of an opening gesture, an amplification (often featuring [[sequence (music)|sequence]]), and a close (featuring a [[cadence (music)|cadence]]); in German ''Vordersatz''-''[[Fortspinnung]]''-''Epilog''.<ref>Kelly, Thomas Forest (2011). ''Early Music: A Very Short Introduction'', p.53. {{ISBN|978-0-19-973076-6}}.</ref> For example:
 ''When I was a child,''                                  [opening gesture]
 ''I spoke as a child,''                                  [amplification...]
 ''I understood as a child,''                             [...]
 ''I thought as a child;''                                [...]
 ''But when I became a man, I put away childish things.'' [close]
 ''- 1 Corinthians 13:11''

==Shifter==<!--[[Shifter (popular music)]] redirects directly here.-->
In the lyrics of [[popular music]] a "shifter"<ref>Durant (1984). Cited in [[Richard Middleton (musicologist)|Middleton, Richard]] (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Music''. Philadelphia: Open University Press. {{ISBN|0-335-15275-9}}.</ref> is a word, often a [[pronoun]], "where reference varies according to who is speaking, when and where",<ref>Middleton (1990), p.167.</ref> such as "I", "you", "my", "our". For example, who is the "my" of "[[My Generation]]"?

==Copyright and royalties==
: ''See [[Royalties#Music royalties|Royalties]]''
{{As of|2021}}, there are many websites featuring song lyrics. This offering, however, is controversial, since some sites include copyrighted lyrics offered without the holder's permission. The U.S. [[Music Publishers Association]] (MPA), which represents sheet music companies, launched a legal campaign against such websites in December 2005. The MPA's president, Lauren Keiser, said the free lyrics web sites are "completely illegal" and wanted some website operators jailed.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4508158.stm |title=Song sites face legal crackdown |work=BBC News |date=12 December 2005 |access-date= 7 January 2007}}</ref>

Lyrics licenses could be obtained worldwide through one of the two aggregators: [[LyricFind]] and [[Musixmatch]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} The first company to provide licensed lyrics was [[Yahoo!]], quickly followed by [[MetroLyrics]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} Several lyric websites are providing licensed lyrics, such as [[SongMeanings]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Advertising on SongMeanings |url=http://www.songmeanings.net/about/advertising/ |publisher = [[SongMeanings]] |quote=All of our lyrics are legally licensed through LyricFind. |access-date = 21 July 2012}}</ref> and [[LyricWiki]] (defunct as of 2020).

Many competing lyrics web sites are still offering unlicensed content, causing challenges around the legality and accuracy of lyrics.<ref>{{cite news| last = Plambeck| first = Joseph|title = Lyrics Sites at Center of Fight Over Royalties| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]| date = May 9, 2010| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/business/media/10lyrics.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=lyrics%20royalty&st=cse| access-date = May 9, 2010}}</ref> In an attempt to crack down unlicensed lyrics web sites, a U.S. federal court has ordered LiveUniverse, a network of websites run by [[MySpace]] co-founder [[Brad Greenspan]], to cease operating four sites offering unlicensed song lyrics.<ref>{{cite web| title = Court Orders LiveUniverse to Shutter Unlicensed Lyrics Sites| publisher = Digital Media Wire| date = August 11, 2010| url = http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2010/08/11/court-orders-liveuniverse-shutter-unlicensed-lyrics-sites| access-date = September 5, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100815055718/http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2010/08/11/court-orders-liveuniverse-shutter-unlicensed-lyrics-sites| archive-date = August 15, 2010| url-status = dead}}</ref>

==Academic study==
Lyrics can be studied from an academic perspective. For example, some lyrics can be considered a form of [[social commentary]]. Lyrics often contain political, social, and economic themes—as well as aesthetic elements—and so can communicate culturally significant messages. These messages can be explicit, or implied through metaphor or symbolism. Lyrics can also be analyzed with respect to the sense of unity (or lack of unity) it has with its supporting music. Analysis based on [[tonality]] and [[contrast (vision)|contrast]] are particular examples. Former [[Oxford Professor of Poetry]] [[Christopher Ricks]] famously published ''Dylan's Visions of Sin'', an in-depth and characteristically Ricksian analysis of the lyrics of [[Bob Dylan]]; Ricks gives the caveat that to have studied the poetry of the lyrics in tandem with the music would have made for a much more complicated critical feat.

==Search engines==
===Search risk===
A 2009 report published by [[McAfee]] found that, in terms of potential exposure to [[malware]], lyrics-related searches and searches containing the word "free" are the most likely to have risky results from search engines, both in terms of average risk of all results, and maximum risk of any result.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/local/docs/most_dangerous_searchterm_us.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/local/docs/most_dangerous_searchterm_us.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The Web's Most Dangerous Search Terms |publisher=[[McAfee]] |last1 = Keats |first1 = Shane |last2=Koshy |first2 = Eipe |year=2009 |access-date=21 July 2012}}</ref>

===Google===
Beginning in late 2014, Google changed its search results pages to include song lyrics. When users search for a name of a song, Google can now display the lyrics directly in the search results page.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jose|first1=Pagliery|title=Google now displays song lyrics in search results|url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/12/23/technology/google-lyrics/index.html|access-date=23 December 2014|work=CNN.com|date=23 December 2014}}</ref> When users search for a specific song's lyrics, most results show the lyrics directly through a Google search by using Google Play.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store?hl=en|title=Google Play|website=play.google.com|access-date=2016-04-15}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
* [[Lyricist]], a writer of lyrics
* [[Libretto]], the "little book" of an extended musical piece, written by a librettist
* "[[Singing in the Spirit]]", vocal improvisation in a [[glossolalia|spiritual context]]
* [[Scat singing]] & [[Vocalese]], vocal improvisation in [[jazz]]
* ''[[Bol (music)|bol]]'', ''[[kouji]]'', [[beatbox]], forms of [[vocal mimicry (disambiguation)|vocal mimicry]] or [[vocal percussion|percussion]]
<!-- do not add any lyrics sites in a future 'External links' section: see discussion page-->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author=Moore, Allan F.|title=Analyzing Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSufe6ZDxI0C|date= 2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-43534-5}}

==External links==
<!-- Note: Before adding a links, please FIRST read the page [[WP:LYRICS]] (related to copyright violations on Lyrics websites). -->
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|lyrics|lyric}}

{{Music topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lyrics| ]]
[[Category:Poetry]]