Talk:Song

Skip to table of contents

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Song article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1: 90 days

This page is not a forum for general discussion about Song. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this article. You may wish to ask factual questions about Song at the Reference desk.

Songs

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Songs, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of songs on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SongsWikipedia:WikiProject SongsTemplate:WikiProject Songssong articles

Arts

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Arts, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Arts on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ArtsWikipedia:WikiProject ArtsTemplate:WikiProject ArtsWikiProject Arts articles

Professional sound production Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Professional sound production, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of sound recording and reproduction on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Professional sound productionWikipedia:WikiProject Professional sound productionTemplate:WikiProject Professional sound productionProfessional sound production articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Music/Music genres task force

Song is within the scope of the Music genres task force of the Music project, a user driven attempt to clean up and standardize music genre articles on Wikipedia. Please visit the task force guidelines page for ideas on how to structure a genre article and help us assess and improve genre articles to good article status.Music/Music genres task forceWikipedia:WikiProject Music/Music genres task forceTemplate:WikiProject Music/Music genres task forcemusic genre articles

more appropriate cover image?

Would some sheet music not be a more appropriate cover image than a singer? just get some uncopyrighted sheet music, like that for a nursery rhyme DParkinson1 (talk) 14:21, 8 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the current image, personally. A human singing is probably more universally understood than some sheet music—especially because understanding sheet music requires specialized knowledge that most readers lack. Just my $0.02. Woodroar (talk) 21:06, 8 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Many songs have not been transcribed into staff notation. Sheet music is notoriously incapable of specifying all the nuanced aspects of live performance; the best that can be expected is a sketch of the sound created by the singer interpreting the notes. Nothing wrong with Ms. Holiday's picture here. Just plain Bill (talk) 21:54, 8 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

About Our Lead Section Here...

So yeah, before I registered, I edited this page but got reverted.

Because, I feel like its preposterous, that EVERY SINGLE dictionary defenition of the word "Song" that I could find contains a form of the word "Sing", including Wiktionary.

Let's look at every single dictionary defenition of the word song:

Cambridge: a usually short piece of music with words that are SUNG

Merriam Webster: the act or art of SINGING

Dictionary.com: a short metrical composition intended or adapted for SINGING, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad.

OED: the act or art of SINGING; vocal music; that which is SUNG.

Google: a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be SUNG.

Wiktionary: A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices, performed by SINGING.

So WHY does this article's lead sentence not have a variation of the word "Sing" when its pretty much clear that SINGING is required to make a SONG and besides this word is used in every single dictionary defenition. Even Wiktionary knows.

Cheers, LoverOfAllAnimalsActivist LoverOfAllAnimalsActivist (talk) 16:49, 2 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @LoverOfAllAnimalsActivist! It's important to remember that Wikipedia is not a dictionary, so our articles need not (and in most cases should not) resemble one. Our Manual of Style on the lead section, particularly the section on the first sentence, says that we should write a concise overview of the subject, written for a non-specialist, and which stands by itself—which suggests we avoid anything that is circular or self-defining. Defining "song" with the gerund form "singing" does a disserve to our readers, by sending them off to read a different article rather than helping them here.

But maybe I'm wrong. If you have suggestions for ways to phrase the first sentence that keeps readers on the page, I'm all ears. I'm also interested in comments from other editors. Woodroar (talk) 17:43, 2 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]