By ajostu
“It’s easy to make a million. It’s more difficult to put a phrase into the English language.” Apparently this was said by Dale Carnegie, who used a book title to do both. I wonder how many friends he really had?
If you want your phrase to be remembered, an acronym’s a good way to go. They can be imposed by those in power in the form of government departments or business names (C.I.A., I.B.M.). They might be created by scientists to describe that fancy thing they’ve just discovered – and if it really takes off, it’ll be decapitalised and unpunctuated (radar, laser, and many others as mentioned in this week’s topic introduction). Or it might be one of those linguistic viruses which propagates through the populace (YOLO, which, pleasingly, hasn’t made a comeback). For a songwriter looking for a catchy hook, they can use a known acronym to signal what the song’s about, or make up their own with the intent to pique interest.
This week there were acronyms galore, along with a few initials, some not-quite-sures, and some “soundalikes” – speaking the initials sounds like a phrase – where I’m not sure what the correct word is. Homophone? Oronym? Apparently “oronym” is a word coined by the writer Gyles Brandreth in The Joy of Lex (1980), so well done him for getting a a word into the English language.
Pedant note: tracks are punctuated (or not) as per their YouTube listing, which I assume is the “official” title.
“F.E.A.R” is more than one acronym. It’s a whole bunch. I think it wins the award for Most Acronymed Song and so leads the A-list.
I chose “OMG” because it’s a song set in the world of mobile devices where acronyms are ubiquitous. And I like how the chorus shifts gear from the verse.
Acronyms are often impersonal; with “A.L.A.” the opposite is true: a deeply personal song surrounded by a rich musical arrangement.
I tried to resolve the mystery of the acronym “ASR”. I dug through a few interviews but had no luck. I even looked through an Omnichord manual (the instrument was an inspiration for the album). Urban Dictionary suggests “Age Sex Race” which might be right but doesn’t really fit. My best guess is that it stands for “Attack Sustain Release”, which comes from the world of synthesisers, and if correct would be a good reflection of the structure of the song.
I remember ROYGBIV from high school. All the colours of the rainbow in an evocative track.
My hot take is that “A.D.H.D” is the best of Kendrick Lamar’s “acronym” tracks. One of the most interesting things listening to the nominations this week was how the title fitted in with the lyrics, and this track was one of the most compelling.
Song titles such as “STFU!” might pretend to play coy to hide naughty words from the public, but really it’s a form of advertising, a bit like “Parental Warning” stickers. Fs promised, Fs delivered. Funny how the song verse almost feels like a throwback to 00s numetal. There’s also an acoustic version which is worth a listen.
A slight change of pace with “L-O-V-E”, a D.I.Y. acronym given an A1 vocal performance.
“Q4” is our shortest acronym this week and, like all finance/ business acronyms (in this case publishing), has an impersonal vibe. It’s an ironic pivot in a song which describes the friction between the author who writes with vulnerable honesty and an industry which only cares if it sells.
For a song with a title like “D.N.R.” you might suspect something that that’s maybe a bit emotionally confronting. And you’d be right.
“UFOF” – a meta acronym! It stands for “UFO Friend”. I don’t pretend to understand this song but the vibe is otherworldly and maybe that’s all I need to know.
And then a song with a title that’s, I don’t know, would you call it an anti-acronym? Our protagonist’s girlfriend is leaving for another town, and he uses the letters of its name to create the song’s title. The contraction is up to us. It would have been a very different track if she were leaving for Vladivostok.
I really don’t want to say too much about the final track, “M.I.A”. The lyrics are compelling and deserve your attention.
The Acronymous A-List Playlist:
Ian Brown - F.E.A.R (happyclapper)
The Streets - OMG (bluepeter)
Wunmi - A.L.A. (African Living Abroad) (TatankaYotanka)
Meshell Ndegeocello - ASR (Loud Atlas)
Public Service Broadcasting - ROYGBIV (MussoliniHeadkick)
Kendrick Lamar - A.D.H.D. (@tincanman)
Rina Sawayama - STFU! (magicman)
Nat King Cole - L-O-V-E (LoudAtlas)
Father John Misty - Q4 (ParaMhor)
Jesca Hoop - D.N.R. (barbryn)
Big Thief - UFOF (vanwolf2)
Prefab Sprout - Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone) (pejepeine)
Emmy The Great - MIA (Noodsy)
The Spelling B-List:
Bis - PPCC (TarquinSpodd)
Daryl Hall & Robert Fripp - NYCNY (Fred Erickson)
Peter and the Test Tube Babies - TQGGBJ's (Carpgate)
Brakes - Heard About Your Band (vanwolf2)
Wire - Ambitious (Carpgate)
Peter Gabriel - D.I.Y. (happyclapper)
Zeca Pagodinho - Spc (Nicko)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - PPA (Suzi)
Train - AM Gold (florian7)
Steely Dan - FM (Altra Ego)
Serge Gainsbourg - S.S. in Uruguay (TarquinSpodd)
Everyone Was In The French Resistance... Now! - G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N. (You Know I've Got A) (vastariner)
Young Marble Giants - N.I.T.A. (Uncleben)
Scotch Rolex - U.T.B. 88 (severin)
M.I.A. - U.R.A.Q.T. (Shoegazer)
“PPCC” for “pero pero chuu chuu”, onomatopoeia for the sound of kissing in Japanese. And possibly every other language.
“NYCNY” is one of the odder paeans to New York, from the album that record executives hated because they thought it would kill Daryl Hall’s “white soul” image.
“TQGGBJs” because maybe the whole thing about her commitment to duty was rubbish. Maybe she just liked lording it over people.
“Heard About Your Band” because nothing portrays a boring individual better than accountancy acronyms.
“Ambitious” packs its acronyms in at the end. They take a while to appear but then they come in a rush.
An alternate “D.I.Y.” to dodge the region blocks is a delight. Comparing with the original shows how PG loved playing with his voice.
With “Spc” I loved the vibe and the story (it’s worth reading the original nomination). I did enjoy the non-English noms this week, pretty much all of them were contenders.
“PPA” felt like a natural follow-on, what a great feel this track has.
Couldn’t resist the pairing of “AM Gold” and “FM.”
My French is only mediocre, but when I checked the lyrics of “S.S. in Uruguay” they meant exactly what I thought they would.
“G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N.” is one of the not-really-an-acronym songs. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out that it’s very much tongue-in-cheek.
“N.I.T.A.” is for sure a great song, but I loved the moody sonics in particular.
With “U.T.B. 88” I have no idea what the acronym stands for – if indeed it is one – but it had the sound I wanted for this point in the B-list. What I did learn from searching is that “Scotch Rolex” is one of several pseudonyms used by Japanese producer Shigeru Ishihara, who normally resides in Berlin but was inspired to make this album after travelling to Uganda. It’s on Hakuna Kulala, a Ugandan label (on Bandcamp).
“U.R.A.Q.T.” is one of these phonetic-sounds-like-things rather than an acronym. But it’s a great track and a great way to end. And you can say her name as “Mia” or “M.I.A.”
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
Hitsujibungaku - OOPARTS
SABA - GPS feat. Twista
Cornelius - Typewrite Lesson
“OOPART” stands for “Out Of Place Artefact” – an example is the Antikythera mechanism – an archeological relic that is found in an unexpected place (an Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery, described as the oldest known example of an analogue computer). In the Hitsujibungaku song it’s used as part of a metaphor comparing an individual life with all of human civilisation – who knows what weird relics we’ll leave behind when we’re gone? From the excellent 2022 album our hope.
“GPS” isn’t an acronym used directly in Saba’s track, it’s more of a signal to the song’s discussion of people losing their moral satnav. He’s one of several artists I discovered because of their work with Noname. This is from his debut album, 2016’s Bucket List Project
“Typewrite Lesson” is a Cornelius B-side from the Fantasma era where the repeated use of the Three Letter Acronym (T.L.A.) creates a mesmerising effect.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Brief notes: songs inventively using acronyms. The next topic will launch on Thursday at around 1pm UK time.
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