Beyond Rhyme or Reason: Understanding the Meaning of Lyrics

Je me souviens pas du moment précis à Cabo. “I don't remember the precise

moment in Cabo”. This is duo Pomplamoose's 2023 song À Cabo.

Despite listening to it since its release, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I’ve looked at the English translation of the lyrics. I’ve spent the past 14 months happily accepting the foreign language it’s in, and never once has it crossed my mind to find out the meaning of this song. We tend to think that it is the lyrics that give meaning to a song. After all, most of us communicate through spoken word. But when your favourite song is in a language you don’t understand a word of, the previous assumption is in doubt.

The global phenomenon of K-pop has embedded itself deeply into popular culture worldwide. It’s safe to say not everyone who listens to K-pop understands Korean, so how do these songs stay in the ears of non- Korean listeners? What exactly are people listening to, if not the lyrics? One interesting, if perhaps slightly bold, suggestion to make here is that the industry feeds into parasocial relationships between fan and idol. If the Hallyu wave popularised South Korean media, then it is the industry that has anchored K-pop onto international shores. K-pop culture is more than music; it entails watching music videos, dance practices, and other forms of media surrounding the ‘idols’. K-pop is much more than music or lyrics.

One enters by listening to the songs, but stays in the rabbit hole for the variety of content produced. The same can be said for J-pop (Japanese popular music). Although a slightly more niche community globally, it has gained more traction due to anime. After all, a large majority of J-pop songs that have gained global attention are title songs from popular anime series, and it is anime that has made a bigger impact within non-Asian culture.

But why am I so touched by À Cabo despite it being devoid of any cult-like fanbase? It is true that bossa nova isn’t an entirely hidden genre. Frank Sinatra’s cover of The Girl From Ipanema has been floating around the popular music sphere, and more recently From the Start by Laufey. But these are both in English. Does the use of French in À Cabo, then, heighten its attractiveness? Romance languages have always been aestheticised, and bossa nova already has its roots in the Portuguese language. Maybe the use of another Romance language has allowed the song to be more firmly rooted in its origins, creating a more ‘organic’ atmosphere when listening.

I don’t speak French or Portuguese, so who am I to draw conclusions about the authenticity a song can carry through language? The musician in me wants to say that the voice is just another instrument, and there is no hierarchy when it comes to the instrumentation of the song. Ultimately, Nataly Dawn is singing words I don’t understand, and language is, very simply put, sound with associated meaning. It lines up with why K-pop fans are so fixated on idols' vocals. Whether a singer can hit a high note, execute a vocal run, or smoothly switch their tone are all ideas that lie closer to technique rather than songwriting skills. What draws me to À Cabo isn’t what Dawn is singing, but how she’s singing it.

Not all meaning is lost to language barriers. The lack of understandable lyrics allows me to focus on the emotion the song depicts. I may not know the intended narrative of the song, but I definitely understand the tone of it. Dawn’s intimate vocals paint a picture of calm and relaxation. The backing vocals scatting, as well as horn solos provide a variety of sonic textures. There is always something to pick out even after multiple listens.

Maybe lyrics aren’t as important as we make them out to be. To quote Dawn, ‘I don’t remember the precise moment where I stopped focusing on the lyrics and started listening to the music’. À Cabo has a mystery to it, a certain je ne sais quoi even, to use my limited French vocabulary.

Sue Min Tan

Edited by Romy Brill Allen