Music or Lyrics?

[RubberDucky451]

Do you find yourself listening to the music or lyrics concerning songs? I'm always concentrated on the music and even when I sing the lyrics I'm not really contemplating what I'm saying. Could this be an INTP trait?

 

[Sparrow]

Always the music .. .lyrics don't really matter to me...

 

[Firehazard159]

Music for me sometimes I will comprehend lyrics but typically they are irrelevant.

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

Both, unless I'm listening to music without words or I'm reading poetry. It's the combination that makes it.

But what do you mean by the value of lyrics? Often it's the sound the words make for me vs the meaning- I guess I often hear the words as yet another instrument... but probably the most important one.

It really depends on the music/musician. And I love words.

 

[shoeless]

yeah, pretty much both. i can't focus on just one of either. the lyrics are important to me,because it determines how i relate to the song; the music is important because it determines the emotion the song evokes.

 

[Wish]

Neat, I was thinking about making a topic on this a while back. When I listen to music (specifically songs that are new to me) it's pretty difficult for me to pay attention to the lyrics, or at least, the music is what first becomes recognizable to me. It takes many listens before I start acknowledging/paying attention to the lyrics in a song. I chalked this up to lyrics being details in a song, the actual language and it's correspondence to ideas I mean. Remembering the pitch and changes in the sound aspect of the lyrics is easier to recognize but my main trouble is making the effort to understand the meaning of the words over all of the music.

 

[Firehazard159]

Often it's the sound the words make for me vs the meaning- I guess I often hear the words as yet another instrument... but probably the most important one.

It really depends on the music/musician. And I love words.

This, I say the same thing almost word for word.

 

[sporeza]

Hi,

I love a good beat so music is important, but I also have to love the lyrics. Often the lyrics can get a bit convoluted or confusing but if there is at least one line that is memorable it can work for me.

Examples of both:

Kansas - Dust in the Wind

The lyrics are pretty much saying we're all going to turn to dust and it has some nice violin music that adds to the effect as it sounds as if it is going to echo into eternity.


The music but not the lyrics - Leva's polka by Loituma

I have no idea what these people are singing (its not gibberish, its Finnish ) but I like the beat.


Lyrics but not really the music - Where Fishes Go by Live

The beat is okay, and most of the lines are so-so, but I find I sing along when it gets to "What you are doing is darkness baby" (at 1:56 in the video).

Leon

 

[ckm]

Music is more important for me. I regard the voice as another instrument more than a way of relaying a message. I rarely tune into the words of a song (something others seem to do with ease). That said, I enjoy the lyrics of some artists very much, like Radiohead. It's probably worth mentioning that they're hard to understand as Thom Yorke's voice tends to be distorted in some way or other so in order to enjoy the lyrics, I look them up.

 

[Wish]

Music is more important for me. I regard the voice as another instrument more than a way of relaying a message. I rarely tune into the words of a song (something others seem to do with ease). That said, I enjoy the lyrics of some artists very much, like Radiohead. It's probably worth mentioning that they're hard to understand as Thom Yorke's voice tends to be distorted in some way or other so in order to enjoy the lyrics, I look them up.

This is exactly what I think (and I definitely have to agree on the Radiohead part ).

I suck at saying what I actually mean

 

[ckm]

I caught you edit the Radiohead part in! Didn't quote it though.

Anyway, that's my line. As soon as I read something that expresses some opinion/feeling that isn't completely alien to me I tend to think that it's exactly what I wanted to say. When I'm not being all passive and stealing other people's arguments (i.e. when it's actually expressing an opinion I had) I get kind of frustrated and think, "damn, why couldn't I say it like that?" INTPs are (in)famous for their precise use of words, but, eh, I don't think it describes me well.

 

[Agent Intellect]

I listen to music while doing pretty much every activity, and in those cases, it's mostly about the music. If I'm just listening to music (not as background noise) then it's all about the lyrics.

 

[ohrtonz]

I'll sort listen to the lyrics but not really pay attention. The lyrics are part of the song as if the sound of the singing and the style is part of the overall beat (well i guess it is but yea). The flow the the lyrics i guess. I may listen to a song several times but if at some point I usually hear one line that has to do with how I'm feeling and suddenly I get online look up the lyrics and start playing the song over and over.

 

[echoplex]

It's hard for me to describe exactly was makes me appreciate music. The only way I can think to describe it is that every song has a certain "theme" in my mind. It's not so much any particular facet of the music, but the overall feel of it. In every song is a little world with it's own unique rules and environment, and everything contributes to that.

Really, I'm just looking for something, anything, in music that I'm able to appreciate. Anything I can identify as powerful, meaningful, inspiring, etc.. A song can be musically mediocre to me and have awesome lyrics and I'll probably love the song. Vice versa would also work, so long as the lyrics aren't obnoxious in some way.

I've noticed It's more rare that I find lyrics I really like, so most of the music I like is liked for the overall feel of the music, which includes the way the vocals sound (but not necessarily the words). That doesn't mean lyrics aren't important to me, just that I'll lower my standards if I like the music.

Ultimately, music is more crucial, but great lyrics can make a mediocre song seem great.

 

[Slyphee]

For me it's the music over the lyrics although a good lyric can really enhance a song. I'm more likely to listen to the lyrics when I'm wearing headphones too.

I'll rarely listen to an acappella (a capella?) but I can spend hours listening to an instrumental. Something about the different instruments used allows me to tune out the voice sooner or later and get absorbed into the music while trying to pick out different instruments.

 

[Jaico]

The music, definitely. It might be that I was classically trained, but I find it exceedingly difficult to concentrate on the lyrics. I do appreciate good lyrics, but whenever I think of a song or sing it aloud, I always sing (or try and sing) the instrumental parts instead of the vocal part. Like ckm said, I think of the voice as another instrument - the lyrics are secondary to the instrumentation for me.

 

[Gather_Wanderer]

wow, this really could be an INTP trait. i thought i was the only one who felt this way but....wow i'm surprised. i usually don't pick up on lyrics right away but any tune or melody that resonates i will always remember. i'm always tapping on something imitating drum patterns (really wish i could drum) and i have a pretty good understanding of rhythm...

 

[RubberDucky451]

wow, this really could be an INTP trait. i thought i was the only one who felt this way but....wow i'm surprised. i usually don't pick up on lyrics right away but any tune or melody that resonates i will always remember. i'm always tapping on something imitating drum patterns (really wish i could drum) and i have a pretty good understanding of rhythm...

I do the same thing. I also seem to move my teeth back and forth, for some odd reason. When I'm really into the music I'm bobbing my head, tapping my foot and grinding my teeth

I actually tried listening to lyrics yesterday. It was strange... I think I'll stick to music.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

I believe I answered the question in this thread of the exact same name

http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=2092

 

[mfratt]

There are some bands which I listen to often enough to know that their lyrics are worth paying attention to; Tool and Rush come to mind. Generally, though, I pay attention to the music until I heart a lyric which catches my attention enough to listen to it.

 

[RubberDucky451]

I believe I answered the question in this thread of the exact same name

http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=2092

Game on!

 

[ktp]

I can listen to any lyrics as long as they are honest and heartfelt.

 

[Maniceureka]

Music can have meaning without lyrics, but music cant be music without music if you know what i mean. Lyrics are nice tough.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

The music is of greater importance to me than the lyrics but I pay enough attention to the lyrics that they'll bother me if they're fucking stupid.

 

[Words]

If I wanted meaningful words, I'd be listening to a philosopher explaining things like paradoxes and new stuff. Music is sound. To me. Their words are ok but not enough to even slightly waste my focus on.

 

[dbtng_thomas]

I focus on the lyrics, but the music has to be interesting enough in the first place. I've never been big on poetry, but a clever lyric, poised right in the middle of tension and release in a song, can have a profound impact on me. I also enjoy singing, although I'm not very good at it.

- dt

 

[Metsuki]

For me, lyrics are the most important thing in the song. However, if the music doesn't fit the lyric, I will probably dislike the song altogether.

 

[Emil]

Music is much more important to me than lyrics. Whenever I listen to a song I know well, I experience an urge to sing with it. And whenever I sing, I don't care about the meaning of the words I sing, I just care about the tune.

 

[Mary]

Both. If the music is bad but the lyrics are great, I like it. If the lyrics are bad but the music is great, I also like it,

 

[Metsuki]

Music is much more important to me than lyrics. Whenever I listen to a song I know well, I experience an urge to sing with it. And whenever I sing, I don't care about the meaning of the words I sing, I just care about the tune.

Ok, imagine this lyric "B***es be suckin' mah dick all night long, etc..." in other language (one that you enjoy) and the instrumental part was great. Would you be fine with it?

 

[Gather_Wanderer]

Ok, imagine this lyric "B***es be suckin' mah dick all night long, etc..." in other language (one that you enjoy) and the instrumental part was great. Would you be fine with it?

sadly i can say i've liked songs like that in the past because the instrumentals were good.
just for a point of reference, if someone came out with a song with foreign (to me) lyrics along the lines of, "i'm going to kill all americans, minority groups come first, evil is good..."..... i mean, yeah that would be terrible but as long as it wasn't completely overt and i didn't notice it right away (which might very well be possible), someone could catch me nodding my head to the drum patterns while my car window was down on a summer afternoon....

come to think of it, i am just the guy this could happen to.

 

[kantor1003]

If the vocal line is cool, then lyrics don't really matter.

 

[Emil]

Ok, imagine this lyric "B***es be suckin' mah dick all night long, etc..." in other language (one that you enjoy) and the instrumental part was great. Would you be fine with it?

I am mostly oblivious to the lyric of the song I am listening to... mostly... The mood of the lyric of the song I'm listening to does not reflect my state of mind at that moment in any way, but music and tune of the words does. At least, that's how it is now. But, I don't want anybody to see me listening to the song with the above lyric although I don't care about it.

 

[citrusbreath95]

Yeah, I usually only pay attention to the music of a song, unless I have heard it many times before then I will start to pay attention to the lyrics, but for me the music is the most imaginative part of the song. The lyrics can sometimes be hints (as even if the composer intended it to mean something, doesn't mean that's the song's only meaning, depending on the individualllistening) yet if the lyrics are obvious, and tell a story or something, it takes away from the imaginative, abstract ambience of the song, and replaces it with actual meaning. In other words, It takes away from analyzing the song personally. Yet, lyrics can be just as beautiful as music itself, both come together to make pure poetry