Hello,

I have recently been submitting a few reports to point out mistakes and typos in lyrics, but most of them get closed without any explanation, and the mistakes are not corrected. I have submitted evidence every time.
Since I do not have enough points to edit lyrics, am I correct to think that sending reports is the only way for me to help with lyrics mistakes?
Secondly, why do they get closed like this? It can be a bit discouraging...

Thank you very much for your answer,

Paralell

Hello,

Yes you are correct that reports is the only way... 1000 points are never given for free. Do you have an example/s of reports that were closed wrongly? I doubt I closed them, but it helps to have examples just in case.

Indeed, you were not the one to close it.
The report was:

In the lyrics of Through the Fire and Flames:
So (instead of SO)
They'll raise their hands (instead of "We'll raise our hands")

Source/Evidence:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dragonf ... lames.html
And we hear can hear in the song.

Okay. I can't explain on his behalf, though here's a link to the report for everyone's quicker access: https://www.metal-archives.com/report/view/id/622013

Also, I can confirm listening to this track, that you are correct about ''they'll raise'' instead of ''we'll raise''.

Alright, thank you for answering. At least it is reassuring to know sending reports is the way to go.

I had closed your report because from my experience, lyric sites are not the most reliable since they sometimes have guessed lyrics that weren't taken from the booklet. Plus, the scan of the album on discogs shows the lyrics as "We'll raise our hands", not "They'll raise their hands". Kind of difficult to see, yea, but if you look closely you will see the booklet says "we'll raise our hands".

Thank you for the explanation. However, contradictory to the booklet scan vs an unreliable source, I think the reporter is correct. If you jump to 2:19, he clearly said ''they'll raise their hands''. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15JCb6P60Vw

What do we do here? Believe the booklet, or what we hear on YouTube?

Now I understand, that's intriguing.
Personally, in spite of what the booklet say, I would rely on the lyrics, since it is what we will always hear. It is also what is said live, for example in this video, 2:32: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK_d5g3pBb8
But as I do not have experience in such issue, I will let you decide according to what is usually done.

Don't add lyrics based on what you hear. Go with what the booklets say, if there's no lyrics there please DO NOT add guesswork based on what you think you hear in the song.

Okay Erosion. I can understand about not adding completely guessed lyrics, but I must say I find the decision a bit surprising... in this particular case, I listened to the track on YouTube and can confirm that at this particular part of the song, the lyrics in the booklet are incorrect... but if that's not a problem, I'll leave them as they are.

I would recommend instead that you make a note in the "additional notes" field clarifying any lyrical discrepencies.

When it comes to the information we have on the site, we prefer (if not mandate) that it is verifiable and documented through official sources. This applies to lyrics, as well. We accept what is officially written, if there is an official source for that information. Any issues with what is officially written vs. what is actually true and real should be (and in fact is encouraged to be) noted in the applicable "additional notes" field. This allows the viewer, or reader, to see what is "official" and to make a judgment of that information based on any additional information clarifying points of contention, mistakes, and malicious intentions.

No matter how informed a person is, we don't wish to include guesswork as the "official" word. We will, however, gladly accept informed and verifiable information clarifying the "official" word as additional notes.

Additional notes seems like the best idea. I will leave the lyrics as they are, but write a note. Here's an example... let me know if it's okay to add, or feel free to reject it... I don't write additional notes often.


Note: In the lyrics of ''Through the Fire and Flames'', although it shows ''we'll raise our hands to the heaven above'' in the official booklet, this is likely a printing error. In the actual song it sounds like ''they'll raise their hands to the heavens above''.


Also, is it a good idea to add this note to the bottom of the lyrics for this song? I personally think it wouldn't be unfitting... or is additional notes a better idea?

That feels unnecessarily excessive to me. I don't see a reason to add trivial things like that to the additional notes field, i suppose more input should be gathered from other mods.

Additional notes does seem a bit excessive for just two words yes, so I asked if the lyrics field could be more fitting for such a note. I can understand avoiding adding unofficial guesswork and agree... but even if it's official, documenting info that's clearly incorrect without even noting the likely error doesn't seem too encyclopedic to me. That said, obviously we can have far worse misinformation than two words in a song, and I can understand if you think/we decide this issue isn't serious enough to warrant a note. Let's just see what others suggest.

As no ''final decision'' was made by anyone and the mods' answers were contradictory to each other, I have made the change myself. I think a note is a good idea for the sake of not having incorrect information, although I felt the lyrics field was a better place for something as trivial as two words. If you're not happy with what I've done/how I've done it, feel free to edit/revert.

Thank you, HouseSpiders, that is nice of you to have taken charge of it.

No problem Paralell... I hope it's solved now.

Just some future advice: if you submit reports for lyrics changes, the best source is a scan of the official booklet... a link to a YouTube video works too, provided that the error is clearly audible.