Lyrics

[jayjay]

I've been thinking lately about lyrics and how much they play a role in music. When I listen to a song, I generally don't take much notice of the lyrics and think of them a little bit like an extra addition to the melody. This is probably because of how dense I am when it comes to deciphering deep meaningful lyrics, so half the time, I know the lyrics to a song, but couldn't tell you what it means (half the time, you can't really tell what the artist is singing anyway). So I've grown up by listening to how good the actual music is rather than the words.

Saying that, if there's something particularly jarring about the lyrics (read: Kaiser Chiefs), then that'll bug me.

How important are lyrics in your enjoyment of music?

 

[nealbie]

Lyrics are VERY important, like MAJORLY; but you need to be careful not to forget the music as well, which is also just as important.

You need the perfect balance of awesome, not-too-obvious, lyrics with music which sticks in your head and ties with the song (air-guitar/drum moments are an awesome bonus too). It's too easy to go along the lines of just having lyrics (which is what I tend to do), but for an AWESOME sound you need lyrics AND music - not to mention a stand-out, non-samey, vocalist to set it apart from the others.

But if I had to settle for one over the other, lyrics with minimalist music rather than minimalist lyrics and noise.

Yay for Jay Jay!

 

[marc]

I have tbh it all depends what I am in the mood for.

I like songs with words that actually mean something, like tell a story.

But other times I just want to hear a good dance song then the words simply do not bother me.

Some songs just have boring words and in that case I dont bother with them, I also do not like that fact that a number of arists always include their names in the songs! that is a pet hate of mine.

 

[Martyn]

I prefer instrumentals. Lyrics generally get in the way.

 

[kimahri]

I usually just like instrumentals as well. I like the occasional singy song but instrumental ones seem to be my favorites.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

They're important, but it has to be a mix of good lyrics and a good tune/instrumentals etc. When a song has good lyrics though, it definitely gets points in my books because today a lot of songs have the crappest lyrics ever.

 

[tomahawk]

A song has to have great lyrics in my opinion, while there are examples where it does work without, but those songs have amazing instrumentals to make up for it. There has to be a reason a song was written, not because "I Got a Feelin" that I want to yell random stupid **** every 5 seconds, but tell a story about something.

 

[furie]

I hate stupid lyrics that ruin songs. Both Led Zepplin and Biffy Clyro are prime culprits of this most heinous crime. They may seem clever to the person writing them at the time, but they're cringeworthy down the line (to be a rock, but not to roll indeed).

Personally, I think it's rare that lyrics are as deep as the songwriter wants us to believe (they often just "sound good") or people think they're much deep er than they actually are (eugh, a couple I took to see NIN were so in love with the depth of the lyrics for 'Right where it belongs', which skirts very close to the above stupid lyrics thing).
So lyrics are important, but only because they can ruin a perfectly good song...

 

[Nic]

On the whole, if a song is going to really move me, it'll be thanks to the music rather than the lyrics. That said, there are times when a lyric will strike a particular chord with my mood at the time, and play with my emotions in the same way. However, its probably less often that that happens.

Take my all time favourite song of all time ever: 'This is a Low' by Blur. Even I'll admit that the lyrics are mostly nonsense (It's essentially just a list of places from the shipping forecast strung together with some faux-soppy stuff to make a song). It's the music that gets me. Like, really gets me. Every time. Particularly Graham's epic solo. I don't know what it is.

 

[ciallkennett]

I agree pretty much with all that has been said so far, from all sides of the argument.

I'm into all kinds of genre of music - some which is heavily lyrically based in terms of meaning (like folk), some which is lyrically based to create the main sound of the songs (pop, in some ways, rock in others) and some which contains little or no lyrics at all (drum & bass in the most part, some classical).

It works for some stuff but not others. For example, my favourite bands (in case you don't know already) are Pendulum, Green Day, Mumford & Sons, Noah & The Whale and The Qemists. Let's take each one through and look at whether they use lyrics or not and whether or not it works well:

Pendulum - they use a mix of lyrics to compliment the drum & bass in some songs, but many others have none at all. They usually get it right in terms of what songs fit well with lyrics and which ones don't, but admittedly, the lyrics are not always as good as they could be. they tend to fit the theme of the album well but deeper meaning is sometimes lost. Then again, in The Tempest my favourite lyric and probably my favourite single lyric from a d&b band is very simplistic: "You must have known the storm was coming when the clouds appeared".

Green Day - Green Day uses lyrics in the most part very well. American Idiot is of course a highlight of this, with the lyrics used to create a story to which the album flows (the rock-opera style). This works well, very well in my opinion. 21st Century Breakdown attempts to create a similar story, but here I feel the lyrics are less meaningful, but still have purpose.

Mumford & Sons and Noah & The Whale - these both use lyrics incredibly well, all with purpose all to express love and emotion as well as create great music. Mumford & Sons I personally believe are the best lyricists of any band currently in the charts. The mix of pure emotion together with poetic lyrics inspired by classic poets, writers and novelists is simply amazing and the words really shine through betwixt the amaizng music. Noah & The Whale are just pure love, and this shines in the songs which match the lyrics.

The Qemists - here is an example of what I think is great music often spoiled by lyrics. The lyrics are stupid, chavvy and tend to go over songs which without them would sound great. A shame, I know, but that's grimey drum & bass for you.

So, in summary, I think it all depends on the genre of music, whether or not the lyrics are sound and give relevant meaning and whether or not they spoil the music which lies beneath them.

 

[nadroJ]

I like lyrics that are easy to sing along to, I rarely have a song that really speaks to me, I more like the way the music makes me feel.

There's a song by Enter Shikari called Keep It On Ice and the lyrics are literally just gibberish (you're ****ing noodly tangled....yes) but the music of that song really takes me back to and makes me feel very happy and relaxed.

I rarely get very into a song to match my mood like some people do, for example listening to angry music if I need to vent or happy music if I am feeling happy. I just like songs and will listen to them, regardless of my mood and regardless of what the lyrics are trying to say to me.

 

[Ben]

Green Day - Green Day uses lyrics in the most part very well. American Idiot is of course a highlight of this, with the lyrics used to create a story to which the album flows (the rock-opera style). This works well, very well in my opinion. 21st Century Breakdown attempts to create a similar story, but here I feel the lyrics are less meaningful, but still have purpose.

That awkward moment when someone thinks Green Day have great lyrics...

I do like good lyrics, but, for me music is more important as well. Although it is fun to get some good lyrics and emote...

 

[ciallkennett]

Green Day - Green Day uses lyrics in the most part very well. American Idiot is of course a highlight of this, with the lyrics used to create a story to which the album flows (the rock-opera style). This works well, very well in my opinion. 21st Century Breakdown attempts to create a similar story, but here I feel the lyrics are less meaningful, but still have purpose.

That awkward moment when someone thinks Green Day have great lyrics...

I never said that the lyrics are GREAT, but that they serve a purpose which is to create a story, Ben

 

[Error]

Mumford & Sons and Noah & The Whale - these both use lyrics incredibly well, all with purpose all to express love and emotion as well as create great music. Mumford & Sons I personally believe are the best lyricists of any band currently in the charts. The mix of pure emotion together with poetic lyrics inspired by classic poets, writers and novelists is simply amazing and the words really shine through betwixt the amaizng music. Noah & The Whale are just pure love, and this shines in the songs which match the lyrics.

I love Mumford and Sons, but never heard of Noah & the whale. I'll check them out sometime.

To me it's how they all mix together for the final product. Sometimes, the lyrics are the most thought out, and the music is bland/boring. And then there's the opposite: where the music is wonderfully composed and the lyrics are utter crap (Prime example of the latter is Imogen Heap).

But to me, I want to be able to hear something wonderful. Either good lyrics or great instrumentals.

 

[Dave]

If you want an example of how not to use lyrics ask Nickleback.

 

[Gavin]

I can think of plenty of songs that I love that have completely sh*te lyrics. It doesn't matter because the music is good enough to cover for that.

It very, very rarely works the other way though.

 

[Will]

That awkward moment when someone thinks Green Day have great lyrics...

<3 for one of few people in this topic who hasn't been deliberately wrong. Biffy Clyro also deserved their honourable mention, they're another band who'd make great instrumentals, but can't do anything vocally for ****.

So yeah, lyrics are important, though probably not as important as the music - many of my favourite bands instrumentally have their dodgy lyrical moments ('Remember me, before the war, I'm the man who lived next door'/'And I danced, and I pranced, and I sang with them' and don't even get me started on The Count of Tuscany) in otherwise brilliant songs, attempts at outright story telling (DT can be very weak with this, sometimes) or worse still rhyming are what tend to cause downfalls.

However, they're more useful if more enthusiastic participation is called for, because if the song's actually saying something worthwhile (as one of the above mentioned is, believe it or not!) that comes from the heart, it's going to speak to an audience more clearly and be more likely to have any effect on mood. I'm going to give REM's Losing My Religion an honourable mention in this department for now. And now I'm bored of thinking.

 

[Thekingin64]

I'm not sure which one to vote for as I love good lyrics (e.g. weird al) but I also lve even more a good bit of instrumental.(e.g Money by pink ffloyd, Sweet child o' mine by Guns and roses and L7 with pretend we're dead)

I just go with the second one down

 

[kir]

I love good lyrics. Some artists out there are really good with their words, some artists "employ" people who are really good with their words, but either way I always enjoy a song with well thought out lyrics. However, I like listening to foreign music when I don't understand what the singer is saying, and just use the music itself and their tone of voice to bridge the gaps. So I guess I can do without them on occasion, but first and foremost I love listening to gorgeous lyrics and applying them to this and that situation.

 

[fishman100]

I'm a big fan of VGM (Video Game Music), and I've noticed a lot that in Japanese games, some songs have lyrics included, but when the game ships to other countries, such as North America, the sining is replaced by an instrumental track.

Such examples are Disgaea and its NA counterpart, found here.

Also, the Professor Layton series has a lyrical song at the very end, but the North American version is "instrumentalized."