Do you care about the lyrics?

[Jerome]

Sixto Rodriguez is amazing !!!!...thanks Jerome !!! I tend to go for both lyrics and good music that's why I love the Beatles !!!!When I feel in the mood for something uptempo and raunchy the lyrics don't mean a whole lot. As for ambient and other instrumental music I go for the non lyrical content obviously but I do enjoy vocalese (vocals without lyrics) very much !!!

When I was a kid growing up in South Africa we might not have known the words to the national anthem but we could recite every line from Cold Fact. He was from Detroit - only made a handul of albums. Very big in SA and Oz but did not feature much anywhere else (as far as I know). Maybe our brains go the other way too just like the water going down the drain!!!!

[Jerome]

And some more great lyrics - John Denver - Rhymes & Reasons http://youtu.be/d9FMno9Qx8A

[Drealm]

I like this thread because I have an answer:

Importance of lyrics: 1%

Importance of music: 99%

As far as I remember, lyrics have always been the last thing I care about in music. I am always listening to the quality of the composition, the melody, the arrangements.

Sometimes it surprise me how much lyrics can be important to some people. I tend to think that they like more good texts, poems, words and rhyme than music itself; but because it would be boring to listen to these texts alone, music is added to enhance them. But basically these people don't search meaning in music, but in words.

Take for example this emotion: happiness.

Someone who prefers meaning in words will like a song with just acoustic guitar and someone singing a very good text describing the feeling of happiness with a melody that reflect what the person sing about.

Someone who prefer meaning in music will prefer an instrumental that depict very well the feeling of happiness.

Take for example Rammstein. They sing in German. I don't understand a word they say. But it's one of my favorite band. Their music just appeal to me. They are I think the most well known band from Germany so there is something more than the lyrics that the world like about them because outside Germany, German is not a common language.

Or when I listen to some black metal: I don't understand a thing they say. Try Cannibal Corpse and tell me if you can hear the lyrics; probably most fans are more interested in their music/riffs than some lyrics describing how you cut and dismember a body with pleasure.

I think most people are somewhere between words and music.

Mike Oldfield once said in an interview that he consider the human voice to be an instrument in itself, the mouth being the sound box. He has put words on what I think. I like voice, but I don't care about the lyrics it says.

Of course, some music I listened a lot to, I had no choice to listen to the lyrics and for some songs I ended up liking them. But for a good first impression, a song must please me musically.

[TraceNspace]

I do care about the lyrics but not just. There are plenty of songs I enjoy that I have never bothered to listen to the lyrics of or some I can't stand the lyrics of and I try not to hear them. When great lyrics and great music come together I'm happiest but I'll take either or.

[R_burke]

In my family it's a venus and mars thing. The women listen to the lyrics and the men ignore them. Personnaly I consider the voice another instrument so I listen to what is sounds like, not what is being said. At the same time if the lyrics are offensive I tend to shy away from the release or band. As an example I like(d) the sound of Outkast, but "slap the bitch" lyrics are offensive to me so I got rid of my Outkast CDs.

[SteveO]

Exactly, J ! That was one of my pet peeves in the forum thread (general music)...don't call it a song if it has no lyrics however J how are we gonna classify vocalese in ambient or instrumental music ? I would say it's still an instrumenatl and not a song as Drealm said Mike Oldfield considers the human voice as an instrument !!!!

Most definitely - the most important part of any song. Remember in a 'song' the music is there to support the words or to enhance a particular sentence or phrase. Pieces where the words are irrelevant are called instrumentals. BTW a pet peeve of mine is when people say listen to this song and it turns out to be an instrumental. The most original title for a song? Elton John's 'This Song Has No Title' Amazing track by the way. http://youtu.be/nZdDxR_IDgk This one too - marvellous - http://youtu.be/grYBKcuWowM

[gater]

There is a scene in the movie Eddie and the Cruisers where Eddie is talking with Frank, the keyboard player/lyricist about that very topic. He said. "Words and music", then simply crossed his index and middle fingers. That sez it all for me.

[SteveO]

If you listen to the incredible metal band Helrunar, it's in German but it adds to the ambience of their albums !!!!

I like this thread because I have an answer:

Importance of lyrics: 1%

Importance of music: 99%

As far as I remember, lyrics have always been the last thing I care about in music. I am always listening to the quality of the composition, the melody, the arrangements.

Sometimes it surprise me how much lyrics can be important to some people. I tend to think that they like more good texts, poems, words and rhyme than music itself; but because it would be boring to listen to these texts alone, music is added to enhance them. But basically these people don't search meaning in music, but in words.

Take for example this emotion: happiness.

Someone who prefers meaning in words will like a song with just acoustic guitar and someone singing a very good text describing the feeling of happiness with a melody that reflect what the person sing about.

Someone who prefer meaning in music will prefer an instrumental that depict very well the feeling of happiness.

Take for example Rammstein. They sing in German. I don't understand a word they say. But it's one of my favorite band. Their music just appeal to me. They are I think the most well known band from Germany so there is something more than the lyrics that the world like about them because outside Germany, German is not a common language.

Or when I listen to some black metal: I don't understand a thing they say. Try Cannibal Corpse and tell me if you can hear the lyrics; probably most fans are more interested in their music/riffs than some lyrics describing how you cut and dismember a body with pleasure.

I think most people are somewhere between words and music.

Mike Oldfield once said in an interview that he consider the human voice to be an instrument in itself, the mouth being the sound box. He has put words on what I think. I like voice, but I don't care about the lyrics it says.

Of course, some music I listened a lot to, I had no choice to listen to the lyrics and for some songs I ended up liking them. But for a good first impression, a song must please me musically.