Lyrics

[ECG]

Great lyrics do not necessarily make a great song nor do bad lyrics necessarily ruin one (i.e lyrics to most of the songs by Rush are crap, but most of those songs are not).
There are boat loads of great songs with fantastic lyrics (far to many to mention here), but I'm having a hard time giving an example of a crap song with great lyrics even though I'm sure Bob Dylan has written one.
I also think there are great songs that have no lyrics, including the greatest song ever - "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck.

 

[weedjam]

I'm not sure that anyone who listens to a wide range of music could deny that the range, use and importance of lyrics varies massively throughout musical genres. Just within rock, I would place much less emphasis on lyrics in shoegaze than I would for say, a lo-fi band like pavement (whose lyricism is simply beyond compare, fantastic). Across a slightly widened range, hiphop is clearly going to be completely about lyrics, whereas house/anything dancey it really doesn't matter (which is lucky, because they're always horrendous

 

[fretboardpyro]

As a part time musician lyrics rarely mean anything to me. I will admit to writing a few in my time but i'm not fabulous at it. I think the musical content is far more important than the gibbering taking place over the top!

Without a strongly composed song the whole thing is crap and unlistenable to. If you need to hear someone else's thoughts instead of having something truly emotive stirred by the music the there has to be something wrong.

I suggest for those who really don't know what i'm trying to say, try listening to joe satriani's Flying in a Blue dream. The true test of a song is whether the song stands up without lyrics. Most do not, meaning on the whole, the song is pap!

We dance to rhythm's not to lyrics.

 

[madhjsp]

I suggest for those who really don't know what i'm trying to say, try listening to joe satriani's Flying in a Blue dream...We dance to rhythm's not to lyrics.

Love that song. And I completely agree, melody and rhythm are the most important elements to make a song listenable. Satch is a great example of this.. his instrumentals are amazing, but his songs with lyrics seem pretty weak by comparison.

But the relative importance of lyric vs melody varies widely across genres. In rap, for instance, great lyrics can save a song with a monotonous or simple backbeat, but even a good beat can't make me enjoy terrible lyrics.
In hip-hop and dance pop, lyrics take more of a backseat to rhythm and melody, and for the most part it works. There's a lot of crappy pop being put out these days, but there's some good stuff too, and it all serves its intended purpose of providing background music at clubs and parties.

Then metal and rock is where it gets a little more fluid. A song can be great just by its musical virtue, with the lyrics having almost no bearing on the greatness of the song (I think Jerry mentioned Rush for this, and I think he was spot on). But when you've got a great tune and then add thoughtful lyrics (they don't have to be deep, but at least well-written and meaningful), then you've got a phenomenal song. The best example I can think of for this is "The Background" by Third Eye Blind, which I think is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVuvG4SKCf8[/youtube]

 

[furie]

Without a strongly composed song the whole thing is crap and unlistenable to. If you need to hear someone else's thoughts instead of having something truly emotive stirred by the music the there has to be something wrong.

Spoken like a true guitarist :lol:

I've seen Satriani in concert and it was the dullest experience I've ever encountered. I'm not a musician, so it meant nothing to me at all. It's all notes and no soul. To be honest, he may as well have not been there and just had a ZX Spectrum pluck the notes out. I understand the incredible skill required and the fantastically complex nature of his work, but it comes out cold and unfeeling. If you don't understand the technical complexity of his art then you can't appreciate the music it produces.

Music (for a layman, which most of us are) should just appeal to you in a very basic and natural way.

While you can convey emotion through just music, you can't convey a tale. The stories told through lyrics are usually pretty simple and bland, but that's what makes them appealing, people can relate them to their own lives. So they have the music stirring them emotionally backed up by a tale that they can relate to. It's just traditional ballads and story telling - the root of music far predates the invention of the first instruments.

I love songs that not only combine a great tune, but also overlay a fantastically woven tale into as well. Nick Cave does this brilliantly (The Murder Ballads is a superb album), but great musicians like Led Zepplin or Pink Floyd mix story telling, emotion and music together into a fantastic package with it all complementing each other.

In the end, if you're not a musician, how do you interact with music? As a guitarist, you can either pluck out the notes, or see the notes being played in your mind's eye and enjoy the experience of the music being produced. If you're not, well, everyone has a voice and therefore lyrics are the simplest way to interact with music - everyone can sing along...

Now stop being so elitist

 

[fretboardpyro]

Having just been listening to the shirehorses and the macc lads i have come to the conclusion that lyrics are of use. Mainly to crack jokes in!

 

[kimahri]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLAeUDLnxs&feature=related[/youtube]

Figaro is alway cool though.

 

[Jer]

I hate people who talk about lyrics being so important in a song. When I listen a song I couldn't give 2 **** what they're singing about it just needs to sound good as a whole. Thats why I find it so easy to listen to music in other languages. I dont care what they say, how they say it, or why they say it. All that matters to me is if it's good. Thats why I was the only person to vote for the last option.

 

[Dave]

Here's a song which I love yet I'm still totally unaware to the lyrics, except it's about how the forces of evil are unholy...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDvdgwZioKc[/youtube]

The tune is great, especially the bass and drum section. Plus Immortal are just the cheesiest metal band ever.

Plus it has firebreathing...