Can the word "song" mean story and news?
I'm reading Clash of Kings and I noticed that characters use the word song even when they're not talking about music.
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This would fit better on English Language and Usage (ELL); we don't generally answer language-specific questions here.– DraconisJul 19, 2022 at 19:40
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Can you give an example?– Hot LicksJul 19, 2022 at 20:09
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Same type: The "real" title of Game of Thrones is "A Song of Fire and Ice". In this context, a song is indeed a (long) story. This appears in other languages as well, e.g. there is a well-known German poem titled "Das Lied von der Glocke" (The Song of the Bell), which is but never sung to a melody. Nevertheless, reciting (long) stories (as a way of non-written information tradition, say) is easier if they rhyme and perhaps even easier if you enforce the meter by means of a melody. That's perhaps how you may consider the two concepts connected.– Hagen von EitzenJul 19, 2022 at 20:24
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cf. Song of Roland.– TaliesinMerlinJul 19, 2022 at 20:47
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1@JohnLawler In BE "song and dance" is a fuss, and nothing else.– GreybeardJul 19, 2022 at 23:54
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2 Answers
Song has an archaic meaning of "poem". The OED says:
A combination of words and music sung with or without instrumental accompaniment; a composition, typically relatively short, consisting of lyrics, melody, and usually other elements of musical arrangement, (sometimes) esp. a poem set to music; (hence also) an instrumental piece or passage having structural or other characteristics suggestive of a song. Also occasionally: a poem, esp. one in rhymed stanzas, resembling a song. (emphasis added)
So, no, it doesn't mean "story", or "news"; but it can refer to a story which is told in verse.
answered Jul 19, 2022 at 22:14
Can the word "song" mean story and news?
In some contexts - but you give no context...
OED
To change one's song (idiom) -> to change one's statement, attitude, or position.
1913 G. B. McCutcheon Fool & his Money 214 You've changed your song, my friend. A few weeks ago you were saying he ought to pay it.
answered Jul 19, 2022 at 23:52
