Music OR Lyrics?

[snowyashes]

INTPs: When you decide you like a song, or when it gets stuck in your head, or makes you feel emotional (basically anything that sets a song apart from other songs)... is it based more on the actual music, or is it based more on the lyrics of the song? When you listen to a song for the first time, which do you pay more attention to?

 

[flow]

I connect with the music before I connect with the lyrics, in most cases. There are a lot of bands with great lyrics, but terrible music. I also find myself listening to some really dumb pop songs that have catchy beats.. which can be embarrassing in retrospect.

 

[Jules]

Most of the music I listen to today don't have any lyrics.
If there are any lyrics in a song I'll be focused on both elements: the music (instruments, atmosphere) and the lyrics (subject, words, voice, atmosphere).
The whole picture of a song is what can make a song more 'special'.

 

[lupejones]

The only way I get to the lyrics is by getting used to the music. So yea, at first it's the melody that I'm attracted to but it's worth so much more when the lyrics are ingenious.

 

[Jordan~]

Both the lyrics and the music are very important to me. In a good song, they'll be nearly inseparable.

 

[Minuend]

Music comes first. Lyrics reinforce the experience.

 

[snowyashes]

I connect with the music before I connect with the lyrics, in most cases. There are a lot of bands with great lyrics, but terrible music. I also find myself listening to some really dumb pop songs that have catchy beats.. which can be embarrassing in retrospect.

Haha... yeah, that happens to me, too. Usually they're those really annoying ones that are super popular even though most people hate them... (but you can tell people don't really hate them, they just act like it because the songs are so dumb!) And, occasionally, no one else seems to realize how dumb a song is... and I'm like "Aaaahhh! My ears are bleeding!!!"

...And they just look at you all innocently, and go "...what?"

 

[Barachai]

I listen to lots of purely instrumental music, and love it.
That, and without good music a song is (...).

 

[sagewolf]

Lyrics without melody are just words.
Music is music, with or without words. I wouldn't listen to music if it weren't music.

However, my favorite songs, the ones I listen to over and over and are in nearly every iTunes playlist I have compiled, are ones where I identify with the lyrics, and the music reinforces and complements them. Both are important and neither is disposable; if there are no lyrics, the music must be capable of refined and varied expression.

 

[snowyashes]

Lyrics without melody are just words.
Music is music, with or without words. I wouldn't listen to music if it weren't music.

However, my favorite songs, the ones I listen to over and over and are in nearly every iTunes playlist I have compiled, are ones where I identify with the lyrics, and the music reinforces and complements them. Both are important and neither is disposable; if there are no lyrics, the music must be capable of refined and varied expression.

So in order to become one of your favorite favorites, a song has to have both music AND lyrics that you can identify with?

 

[Anling]

I agree with most of the other posters. I like the song to have good lyrics and good music. The ones I listen to over and over again are the ones that I can identify with in one way or another. Even if something has a catchy tune, if the lyrics are horrible, I will eventually notice and then hate the song regardless of the tune. Conversely if the lyrics are good, but the tune or mood of the song is wrong, I still don't like it.

 

[FacetiousPersona]

There are numerous classical compositions that have no lyrics and they are widely acknowledged as very good. My imagination might cause emotions to be evoked while I am listening to the classical music. The beat, melody and atmosphere create the circumstances necessary for these feelings to be produced.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Music to me is the cake. Good lyrics are a good icing. The cake is much more important.

 

[zxc]

Music to me is the cake. Good lyrics are a good icing. The cake is much more important.

I would use the same metaphor, except that I hate cake.

 

[Da Blob]

Music. Words turn on the wrong part of the brain. However, I love the sound of a Good female vocalist so I listen to women singing in foreign languages...

 

[Anling]

I really enjoy instrumental music, but if something has words, they have to be good or it ruins the song for me.
Opera songs can sound wonderful, but often I'm glad I have no idea what they're saying.

 

[snowyashes]

Music. Words turn on the wrong part of the brain. However, I love the sound of a Good female vocalist so I listen to women singing in foreign languages...

Is this common to the guys here? (Or girls, obviously, but I've noticed more that guys-- at least the ones that I know-- seem to have an aversion to music sung by females. I don't know that it's even about the music, necessarily-- it's like they think it will make them less manly or something. )

 

[Jules]

Actually if there's singing involved it's usually a female singer. Billie Holiday \o/

 

[snowyashes]

REALLY? That's awesome...

Do you just like their voices better?

 

[Jules]

I think it's just the type of music I usually listen to. Not a lot of male jazz singers compared to the amount of female vocalists.

 

[Anthile]

I usually don't like female vocalist much - just because they tend to sound all the same. Maybe it's a Nightwish/Ayreon trauma.


Well, for me the lyrics are always very important. But of course there are exceptions on both sides of the spectrum.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

Music definitely. i suck at dechiphering lyrics anyway.

 

[Ermine]

Music comes first. The lyrics are merely icing on the cake.

Well, there are actually some exceptions. If it's mainly a vocal song, I focus on the lyrics a lot more. Even the timing of certain phonetic sounds along with the music is important. This also goes for songs in languages I don't understand. For example, with Sigur Ros, I don't speak a word of Icelandic but the tone of the voice and the emphasis of certain syllables adds a lot to the music.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

Music comes first. The lyrics are merely icing on the cake.

Well, there are actually some exceptions. If it's mainly a vocal song, I focus on the lyrics a lot more. Even the timing of certain phonetic sounds along with the music is important. This also goes for songs in languages I don't understand. For example, with Sigur Ros, I don't speak a word of Icelandic but the tone of the voice and the emphasis of certain syllables adds a lot to the music.

The nail has been hit firmly on the head. absolutely agree.

the paragraph i couldn't be bothered typing

 

[snowyashes]

Okay. So, in summary: Overall sound, including how the words sound together, with the music, and how they are sung > actual lyrics.

Does that sound right???

 

[Ermine]

correct.

 

[Perseus]

Banal lyrics are pants.

 

[Kidege]

I need both.

Good music+ passable lyrics= okay song
Good music + no lyrics = okay song
Good music + good lyrics= fave. I'll lean the lyrics by heart.
Good music + bad lyrics= big no no

If the music's good and the lyrics aren't, the dissonance is unbearable to me. If a song has good music and I don't know the language the lyrics are in, I'll do some researching. If upon research the lyrics are disappointing, I'll like the song a lot less.

 

[snowyashes]

Thanks, guys, this is really interesting...

Kidege, I would have to agree. It's the same for me... thank you for putting that so clearly.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Music definitely. i suck at dechiphering lyrics anyway.

The way I see it, good lyrics are not to be deciphered.

Far more important than the lyrics being good, is that they fit the music.

 

[Sugarpop]

The melody is often what attracts me, but for great lyrics, check out some early Leonard Cohen.

 

[bdubs]

While all of my favorite songs have lyrics that work well with the music being played, lyrics are not required for me to listen to to song. I have many songs on my mp3 player that have no lyrics or contain lyrics in another language. Basically, I am simply reitterating what was already said.

 

[Sop Rizzle]

Lyrics probably.
I'd rather listen to spoken word than an instrumental most of the time.

 

[snowyashes]

Basically, I am simply reitterating what was already said.

That's okay. This is a very interesting question to me, so the more opinions I get, the better! ...Thanks for replying anyway!

 

[preilemus]

definitely the music for me first. lyrics can be good, but if the music isnt at least thought provoking, then it might as well be poetry on a sheet of paper

 

[sings2high]

I was raised on classical music. I generally prefer the music. I find most singers (of all styles of music) simply can't be bothered to enunciate their words well enough to be understood. The one genre where this does not apply is musical theater, where they understand that unintelligibility = unemployment. Despite my fondness for opera, I admit that it truly is the only musical art form where "everything too silly to be said is sung", but I suppose that's why the unintelligibility does not matter there.

 

[chocolate]

It really depends on the song and what the purposes are of the music and lyrics. Is the poetry in the words or is it in the music? (or both?)

One of my favourite bands for lyrics is U2: Cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice...that is one of my all time favourite lines.

@s2h: I love opera too. One of the things I love about it is precisely that the words are so simple. But some of them are beautiful regardless: I am thinking of the scene in La Boheme where the two leads (Mimi and her bf, I don't remember his name) decide not to break up until the spring so they don't face the winter alone (that made me cry). It's just about people and their feelings and I think that is expressed in the singing and acting and the music.

 

[meshram.alok]

The Same here with me, I like to hear the music first, and then look at the lyrics. If they are compatible, then I Love it.

But I especially love instrumental music alone, if the imagery it produces is brilliant.

P.S. I suggest you guys listen to Opeth. Brilliant Music.

 

[lindsayo09]

i am better with music then i am with written words.

 

[polarmonk]

I like a balance of both. I have a few exceptions e.g Sigur Ros, Cocteau Twins etc, where the music easily dominates the lyrics (or lack of) but most of the time I think that the music compliments the lyrics. Words can also add an irregular rhythmical component to music which keeps up my interest.

 

[echoplex]

Lyrics alone don't normally make me love a song, as melody, especially if it's deep, bassy, and dissonant is what really gets me. Lyrics, however, can make a song much better and much more memorable. I often find that I appreciate a song more once I discover exactly what the lyrics are.

 

[Madoness]

Uhmm... lyrics. As my friends tell me, I have no music taste, as they don't hear no melody
As for what I'm looking for, I'm looking for the lyrics first, but good melody always helps. But actually depends on moods. Sometimes for days I may have on the playlist purely instrumental music and other times only spoken word.

 

[Hephaestus]

Music first and foremost. Instrumental pieces often move me on a deeper level than music with lyrics. If there are to be lyrics, I prefer female vocalists. Again, probably a tonal thing more than the lyrics. IMO a woman's voice has a more musical quality to it.

 

[TheHmmmm]

REALLY? That's awesome...

Do you just like their voices better?

If it helps, I listen to mostly male vocalists. I don't particularly like the male voice better; they just happen to sing far more prominently in the genres I like.

As far as lyrics, they only really matter to me in extremes. If I really can't stand lyrics, like in System of a Down, it really turns me off to a band. If I really like the lyrics to a song, such as some of Protest the Hero's stuff, then I'll be far more likely to sing along.

 

[LifeLine]

For some reason, I enjoy listening to male vocalists better, too. It seems like they have more power in their voices. When I get a song stuck in my head, I usually pay attention to the music (guitar, piano, etc.) and the general tone of the vocalist's voice.

I pay much more attention to the power of a voice than I do the meaning of a song. For example, when I listen to Elton John's Rocket Man, the only things that pop up in my head are the general sound of his voice and the chorus of 'Rocket Man!".

 

[Philosophyking87]

Both music and lyrics are equally important, to me.
They sort of merge and combine to become something greater than they could possibly be alone. Hence, I really don't get a thrill out of either one when they aren't merged.

But when they are merged, in the form of a song, they are powerful.

 

[Alexk]

Really depends on the genre. For example Cake is one of my favorite bands, but to be honest their music really simple, and the guy's voice is pretty abrasive, but the lyrics are great. But I also love a lot of indie pop rock, where I care much more about the music. Not to mention I love trance and ambient techno, which for the most part has nothing to do with the lyrics or lack of.

 

[kantor1003]

Both music and lyrics are equally important, to me.
They sort of merge and combine to become something greater than they could possibly be alone. Hence, I really don't get a thrill out of either one when they aren't merged.

But when they are merged, in the form of a song, they are powerful.

I don't think music and lyrics in a merged form is any greater than music by itself. Have you listened to classical music? Jazz? I mean, history has shown that music is more than able to hold it's own as far as artistic expression is concerned.
It greatly depends on what the composer/artist want to express wether a melody in the form of a human voice is needed or not.. and when it's used, the melody, the contour of the line and how it flows through the harmony, the intrinsic vocal quality (speaking for myself), not the lyrics is what's important.
Also, I am not too found of an artist supplying meaning to a music piece in form of lyrics, as I prefer to derive meaning from the piece by itself.. but again, that is just my viewpoint..
I am not arguing though that poetry and music can't be merged to a beautiful co-existing artistic expression, only that music is perfectly able to stand by itself if it is composed without poetry/lyrics in mind.

 

[Mary]

I don't think music and lyrics in a merged form is any greater than music by itself. Have you listened to classical music? Jazz? I mean, history has shown that music is more than able to hold it's own as far as artistic expression is concerned.
It greatly depends on what the composer/artist want to express wether a melody in the form of a human voice is needed or not.. and when it's used, the melody, the contour of the line and how it flows through the harmony, the intrinsic vocal quality (speaking for myself), not the lyrics is what's important.
Also, I am not too found of an artist supplying meaning to a music piece in form of lyrics, as I prefer to derive meaning from the piece by itself.. but again, that is just my viewpoint..
I am not arguing though that poetry and music can't be merged to a beautiful co-existing artistic expression, only that music is perfectly able to stand by itself if it is composed without poetry/lyrics in mind.

I like good poetry.
I like good music. (With or without vocals)

Good Poetry (lyrics) + Good Music = Happytime

 

[s0nystyle]

me likes the rhythm of music more than its lyrics