Songtell
songtell.com
songtell.com
It saddens me that we're entering into an age of infinite machine-generated bullshit (and here I mean "speech produced without regard for truth"). A lot of it has negative information value, kind of like how misshapen molecules can block cell receptors. I hope somebody is working on tools to detect AI-generated content so I can give it zero attention without having to dig through it.
People are not any different from transformer models in this regard even if they are well-intentioned. Every time there is a physics or finance thread on HN, a lot of well meaning software engineers transformer out absolute nonsense with all of the same "confident, language that signals an intelligent author, completely wrong" qualities that we see in these AIs.
Do you have some examples here?
There are only two useful interpretations for the meaning of a song:
1. What the artist intended
2. What a listener interprets through their lens
Both can be valuable and True. Note that neither of these is "what a mechanical parrot spews out based on a crude imitation of human speech".
What a remarkable engine for converting energy and money into bullshit.
> "B.Y.O.B." by System of a Down is a protest song criticizing the government for sending the poor to fight wars instead of enlisting wealthy people. The chorus and refrains are calling people to "party" and "dance in the desert" to protest the lack of governmental action to keep the poor out of wars. Furthermore, the song discusses how the government lies to people and hands them over to obsoletion. The song is ultimately a call to arms for those in power to take responsibility for their actions and to end the exploitation of the poor.
A whole lot of nonsense except for the last sentence, which pretty much summarizes the song.
Most of it is bland grist and filler that elaborates and associates adjacent words to create a "cold reading". There is the occasional "spot-on" moment, barely above chance, that seems significant mainly because you never though of it before. And an equal crop of the apocryphal and dangerously wrong. That's worrying because unless examined and corrected this stuff will spread like weeds.
When it comes to song lyrics there's plenty pure nonsense, and words the writer by their own admission claim not to have any significance. I wonder how the algorithm would fare with the "Ning Nang Nong" by Spike Milligan, or something subtle but exquisitely ambiguous like Bowie's "Bewlay Brothers"?
You're right, the whole thing as it is right now is something light hearted. I spent no more than 2-3 hours of development on this before launching and didn't expect it going so viral at all. In order to make it more reliable than it is right now I think of implementing upvote/downvote buttons and a comment system.
I'm open to ideas if you think of any other ways to improve it!
What was going on my mind, I think, was a sense of amusement at how wrong it all is - but also how "uncanny valley" right. This is important stuff, what you've done, because it showcases applications of emerging tech - and how they don't quite hit home.
Part of me would like it to work. Part of me is horrified that it might. And another part knows deep down it never really can.
But yeah, the feedback you gather on why it isn't working may be the most important outcome here - for everyone. Enjoy the moment.
On the other hand...this one was totally a swing and a miss.
https://www.songtell.com/g-nther/ding-dong-song
Edit: quoted cause server is getting overloaded:
> "Ding Dong Song" by Günther is a dance-pop love song about searching for love in the night. The chorus and verses repeat the phrase "you touch my tralala," which is a playful and affectionate way of expressing affection for someone. The song's title, "Ding Dong Song," refers to the phrase that is repeated in the chorus: "Mmm, my ding ding dong". This could be interpreted as a representation of the feeling of joy and excitement that comes with finding and expressing love for someone. The song is about the longing for a connection with a special person and the joy that comes from having that connection.
I searched Ben Folds Five's "Brick," which is avowedly a song about abortion. Songtell has no idea, of course, because the allusions in the song are too oblique to be deciphered out of context.
I wish people wouldn't use AI to drown out the real information available on the web. At the very least, these pages should come with a disclaimer and meta tags/robots.txt preventing search engines from picking them up as facts.
"Beware the purveyors of instant wisdom." -my (dead) Grandpa, born in the 1910's.
CALLING FOR: AI ethicists need to publicize critical-reading / critical content-consumption HOWTO guides.
Similar experience with Hozier - Take me to church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjiKRfKpPI | https://www.songtell.com/hozier/take-me-to-church. The AI misses the "forbidden love" aspect of the song. It's still an amazing advancement in technology, however we are all willing to accept what is put in front of our faces, as humans. We are what we eat.
And so we risk being misled.
Kind of a treat to read through the meanings. They nailed most of my songs — sometimes even articulating the meaning better than I could myself.
A few meanings didn't "feel" right but those were songs with ambiguous lyrics. Likely more the fault of the songwriter than a poor interpretation :p
Would you say it's looking to be entirely lyric-based interpretation?
"Kill Dash Nine" by Monzy is a rap song in which the artist compares himself to a computer programmer. The lyrics tell a story of a battle of words between the artist and a "fool" who is challenging him and boasting about his own skills. In computer lingo, kill dash nine is a shorthand way of saying "Kill Process 9" - a command that is used by a system administrator to end a task or process that is causing a problem on the system. In the song, Monzy is using this analogy to warn his audience that if they challenge him, they will be shut down. He is using his intelligence and technical knowledge as a way to prove his superiority, constantly reminding the other challenger that he is the one in control, and that if they step out of line, he will not hesitate to "kill dash nine" them.The AI came up with the idea that the joker is a skeptic and the thief is a believer, which I can’t find reference to anywhere else and which I found quite strange.
Also interesting that it ascribes quite different meanings whether it is the Hendrix version or the Dylan version which suggests it must be drawing its meaning from something other than the lyrics, like it must be drawing the meaning from things that other people have said about the songs online, but it’s not just directly quoting them.
It’s exquisitely incorrect.
To quote the AI:
Meaning of the song "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa
"Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa is an upbeat, danceable song about embracing one's own sexuality and being willing to see it as a positive. The lyrics tell listeners to “push it good” and “show the guys that we know how to become number one in a hot party show.” This is a call to women to take control of their sexual power, to own it and show it off with confidence. The song celebrates the freedom to do whatever one wants with their body, regardless of societal expectations and rules. The chorus includes themes of empowerment and self-acceptance, telling listeners to “push it good,” “push it real good,” and “get up on this.” The song has become popularly associated with female empowerment, and has served as an anthem of sorts for many women.
The song "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim featuring Bootsy Collins is about personal empowerment and strength. The song encourages the listener to find their own individual weapon of choice—that is, whatever resource they find to fight their inner battles and make their way in life—rather than relying on provocation and violence. The song also encourages self-reflection and awareness of the struggles of those around us, and reminds the listener to be careful in challenging situations and to watch out for those they don't know. Ultimately, the song is a passionate and empowering anthem that encourages standing up for one's own self-determination and respecting the journeys of others.
The lyrics are notably Dune references, which the bot completely misses. Not even mentioning the worm, which is one of the most prominent words. It seems like the interpretations fall into one of a few categories:
- Very well known songs with a large corpus of direct discussion on the lyrics, and basically just summarizing what people said (Bohemian Rhapsody)
- Songs with relatively straightforward meanings and it just summarizes directly from the lyrics (insert most pop songs)
- Songs that are too obscure to have widespread discussion but slightly opaque lyrics (Weapon of Choice, Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz)
- completely fabricating from insufficient data (Around the World by Daft Punk)
Still a really cool concept!
This is an interesting concept (AI lyric interpretation) and my comment is something a bit deeper than this concept itself.
Perhaps I'm showing my age, but what makes lyric interpretation so cool is that it's the intersection of two people's life experiences - the song writer and the listener.
There's often no single meaning of a song. It may mean one thing for the writer and something completely different for the listener.
What happens in online communities where people talk about what song lyrics mean to them is the creation of actual community. That's both interesting and impactful.
(Just get it to output "this song is really about drugs" and you're now up to the bar of "average Song Meanings" submission!)
Some of the misses are great too...
https://www.songtell.com/pulp/help-the-aged https://www.songtell.com/the-kinks/lola https://www.songtell.com/nirvana/frances-farmer-will-have-he... https://www.songtell.com/the-rolling-stones/brown-sugar
Still, I thought the seriousness of the description of https://www.songtell.com/boney-m/rasputin was a hilarious fail until I realised there were actual Wikipedia editors that think a song with lyrics like "Most people look at him with terror and with fear / But to Moscow chicks, he was such a lovely dear" should mostly be summarised with historical analysis
Similarly this one is funny https://www.songtell.com/village-people/y-m-c-a but not as funny as an actual human being without a trace of irony insisting it's a song with a great conservative message... https://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservati...
I checked out "Show me the place" which is incredibly erotic. Leonard asks to be shown "where the suffering began" (painful childbirth is the first punishment God mentions for Eve) and "where the word became a man" (i.e. where Jesus was conceived-Mary's womb) because "his head is bending low." The AI, just like a lot of people, can't get past that use of religious terminology to realize the sexual innuendo.
There's definitely a place for ingesting information purely for the sake of learning. That's rarely been my relationship with music though.
“My Lovely Horse” is pretty spot on. https://www.songtell.com/father-ted/my-lovely-horse
“You’re Gorgeous” less so https://www.songtell.com/babybird/you-re-gorgeous
Still. What a time to be alive.
The song "Big Car" by Severed Heads is about struggling with questions
of identity and where one fits in the larger world. [...] The narrator
seeks solace and reassurance and the presence of a "Big Car," which
appears to represent a symbol of success, support or protection.
The other songs I tried were pretty good. If one looks carefully, it is noticable that the interpretations are related more to typical themes related to the words, rather than the specific meanings of the songs.
Most of them are just funny, and the whole thing is fascinating, but I cannot see much more use or value other than that at this point.
>> The song "Rebirth of the Nemesis (Enuma Elish Rewritten)" by Melechesh is a reimagining of the ancient Babylonian poem Enuma Elish, which tells the story of the creation of the world by the god Marduk. The song focuses on the mythical figure of Tiamat, a primordial god often associated with chaos and destruction, and the forces arising from her return. The lyrics describe a powerful storm that stomps out the weak and leads to a million lost souls, symbolizing Tiamat's destructive power. The lyrics also depict her as a "Serpent Nemesis" who asserts her reign and links the polarities of conjecture from the celestial and terrestrial realms. As she ascends "with wings of liquid fire," the lines proclaim "Enuma Elish is re-written" and "Fate was never sealed in stone", emphasizing the power of Tiamat to rewrite destiny and exert her chaotic power. In the end, a powerful refrain warns, "Don't fear, don't, this deity, don't/Rebirth of the Nemesis has been foretold". Through the lyrics, Melechesh evokes the ancient legend of Tiamat as an intimidating figure of chaos and destruction— one to be feared and respected at the same time.
https://www.songtell.com/melechesh/rebirth-of-the-nemesis-en...
Hmmm... maybe. It lacks a certain je-ne-sais-quoi as an explanation. It's nice that it captured the bit about "wings of liquid fire" that the vocalist clearly loves repeating (I get goosebumps every single time) but it doesn't seem to really feel what this is all about. Enuma Elish is rewritten, man. Tiamat is back. Don't you get it? The Serpent Nemesis has returned! Returned with wings of liquid fucking FIRE!
OK, I guess I can't explain it either.
But I get goosebumps, every. single. time.
Edit: Btw, Tiamat identifies as a woman. Not "god" but "goddess".
Yo dawg… I heard you’re just one step closer…
Either way? Entertaining at least.
I tried it on American Pie and it seemed to match my understanding of the song, but this line stood out a bit:
> Additionally, the line “Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey ‘n’ rye/ Singin’ ‘This’ll be the day that I die’” is a direct reference to Buddy Holly’s song “American Pie” which features the same line.
I wasn't aware Buddy Holly wrote a song literally called "American Pie" as well. Did some searching and I suspect it likely meant to refer to the Buddy Holly song "That'll Be the Day", which absolutely does not feature the line "Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye".
"Visions of Johanna" is another epic that combines personal memoir, social commentary and political manifesto, and it's even more opaque. The legendary discussions around the meanings of these songs have gone on for 50 years.
One issue is this appears to only process the lyrics of the song. But the actual audio matters a lot too in conveying emotion and meaning: the tempo, the vocal subtleties, the chords, the notes, etc. etc.
This also just doesn't look very deeply into relevant background. It doesn't look for references to other songs or works, nor does it use information about the life of the author at the time they wrote it, etc.
But, not to be too negative, in principle some of those things could be improved on eventually. I think it could be useful some day.
https://www.songtell.com/genius-english-translations/yoasobi...
Though granted, the metaphor in the lyrics "racing into the night" is probably lost on this AI
[1]: https://www.otaquest.com/yoasobi-2020-breakout-japanese-act/
https://genius.com/The-beautiful-south-song-for-whoever-lyri...
Also hilarious for missing context - https://www.songtell.com/father-ted/my-lovely-horse
``` Meaning of the song "Mr. Ouija" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony The song "Mr. Ouija" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is about a person seeking answers from the supernatural through a Ouija board. The lyrics reflect a sense of urgency and fear that the person is seeking knowledge from beyond the realm of the living, asking questions such as whether they will die of murder. It is a prayer to the unknown, pleading for a response and asking for guidance. The dark and threatening tone of the song speaks to the existential threat of the unknown and the fragility of life ```
https://www.songtell.com/rick-james/mary-jane
https://www.songtell.com/tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers/las...
(not everyone thinks the Petty song is about marijuana, to be sure)
Maybe then this one can tell me what it all means.
https://www.songtell.com/death-cab-for-cutie/i-will-possess-...
is superficially accurate, yet misses the clear fact that the narrator is a stalker/controlling sociopath. So it will be if/when AIs that lack the ability to intuitively nuance are thrown at news feeds and other data sources to aggregate and interpret them, and people come to rely on those interpretations
Edit: rather a doom-laden assesment, sorry, I do still think this is amazing work
This is also pretty bad, but perhaps not quite as far from the original meaning https://www.songtell.com/r-e-m/the-one-i-love
(the key line in the song is "a simple prop, to occupy my time"...)
It's also better than a lot of Americans at figuring out that Born In the USA and Fortunate Son aren't patriotic anthems or particularly suited to political rallies, although I guess it has a lot of source material on those songs to parse https://www.songtell.com/bruce-springsteen/born-in-the-u-s-a https://www.songtell.com/creedence-clearwater-revival/fortun...
"The song "Baby It's Cold Outside" is a lighthearted duet between a man and a woman struggling to maintain their composure as their date comes to an end. In the song, the woman is hesitant to leave, while the man is encouraging her to stay. Despite their internal warnings, they both seems to be enjoying the banter and the thought of one more drink and some more time in each other's company is too much to pass up. The song is about two people feeling an attraction for each other and not wanting to let go of the moment, despite outside pressures. It serves as a reminder that it is important to experience and appreciate the beauty of a moment before it has passed, and that it is okay to make an exception and break the rules every now and then."
Tasman Keith - My Pelopolees -> Application error: a client-side exception has occurred
Search results for Not Drowning Waving - Tabaran ->
- James Joyce - Ulysses (Chap. 15 - Circe)
- Noam Chomsky - ”What We Say Goes”: The Middle East in the New World Order
- etc.
>500 | Internal Server Error.
—
The song "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan is a commentary on life, questioning the confusion and lack of meaning. The lyrics of the song evoke a feeling of hopelessness and lack of direction. The "joker" representing a skeptic and the "thief" a believer, both trying to make sense of life. The joker is trying to understand why things are the way they are and the thief provides a glimmer of hope with the understanding that life doesn't need to be lived without meaning or purpose. The song continues with imagery of the watchtower, suggesting that we should be attentive to our surroundings, looking out for the signs that might lead us in the right direction. The "two riders" could be a reference to the joker and the thief, both searching for meaning in their lives. Ultimately, the song encourages taking responsibility for our lives and making the most of our time.
all I wanna do by Sheryl Crow
saving all my love by Whitney Houston
cecilla by Paul Simon