Lyrics - How Important Are They?

[Farmer Reil]

How important actually are lyrics to you, when you listen to music?

I was wondering this after finding the lyrics to a Rammstein song and roughly translating them, laughing at my "botched attempt", then finding out he really DOES say "I am the voice of the pillow"

To me, lyrics are pretty important. I mean, if a song has a great tune, it doesn't really matter if the lyrics aren't great. Rammstein prove that often enough. But songs with great lyrics can make up for the fact that the tune isn't all that special (as proven many times by Hammerfall and Sonata Artica).

On the other hand, without lyrics I'd probably hate it. Loads of people have wondered why I adore Rhapsody but can't listen to a Beethoven concerto. Without lyrics it seems meaningless.

And worse than having no lyrics at all is dance music, where you often have one lyric repeated 20 gabillion times throughout the song. Either that or no lyrics at all and a series of meaningless computer generated "noises" that I could've made myself on a computer with £30 worth of software.

What about you?

Edited May 7, 2005 by TheReilDeal

[Skummy]

Well, it depends on the song. If it's a ballad, then the lyrics are important, because they need to express real emotion. If it's a more upbeat song, then the lyrics are less important than the music.

I was going to write a lengthy response to this, but that pretty much sums it up

[Liam]

How important actually are lyrics to you, when you listen to music?

I was wondering this after finding the lyrics to a Rammstein song and roughly translating them, laughing at my "botched attempt", then finding out he really DOES say "I am the voice of the pillow"

To me, lyrics are pretty important. I mean, if a song has a great tune, it doesn't really matter if the lyrics aren't great. Rammstein prove that often enough. But songs with great lyrics can make up for the fact that the tune isn't all that special (as proven many times by Hammerfall and Sonata Artica).

On the other hand, without lyrics I'd probably hate it. Loads of people have wondered why I adore Rhapsody but can't listen to a Beethoven concerto. Without lyrics it seems meaningless.

And worse than having no lyrics at all is dance music, where you often have one lyric repeated 20 gabillion times throughout the song. Either that or no lyrics at all and a series of meaningless computer generated "noises" that I could've made myself on a computer with £30 worth of software.

What about you?

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I think lyrics are important as well, but a lot of the Power Metal and such lyrics are really cheesy, and pretty awful IMO. In those cases, I think for me the music makes up for it.

[Darloboy]

I prefer a catchy tune over meaningful lyrics, but lyrics are definitely important to an extent.

[Docpepper]

It's all about the lyrics for me , it could have the worst tune ever but if the lyrics are good I'll listen to it

[FunkAsPuck]

Im the same as Dochappy actually, i've taken a much bigger interest in lyrics over the last year or so, and find them to be fundamentally important to a song, most of the time determining whether or not I actually like it.

That said, I can listen to songs with crappy lyrics, just provided I can ignore them. For instance, I find it difficult to avoid Kris Roes shitty lyrics in pretty much any Ataris song because you can hear them so clearly, but theres a ton of 80s songs on my computer with shitty lyrics, and I never really notice them until I bring them up and read them as I listen through.

[Docpepper]

thats one reason I avoid listening to rap because msotly the lyrics are the same , I'll listen to rap sometimes but its rare

[K]

My names Eazy-E, I got bitches galore. You might have a lot of bitches but I got much more.

[Death Before Dishonor]

My names Eazy-E, I got bitches galore. You might have a lot of bitches but I got much more.

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[MalaCloudy Black]

My names Eazy-E, I got bitches galore. You might have a lot of bitches but I got much more.

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It is almost entirely about lyrics in rap. While I do enjoy listening to the instrumentals (beats), just listening to them can get really old, really fast without some lyrics over the beat.

However, it can go both ways in rap, some artists wouldn't be anything without their voice/lyrics and others wouldn't be anything without the beats.

[apsham]

The first listen through, the music is what does it for me.

The second time and the rest, the lyrics are what keeps me listening.

[sirdavinator]

The lyrics don't matter all that much, but I can sing along if I really like the song if there's lyrics in it (which makes up 98% of my songs). I listen more for the music than the lyrics anyway.

[Lord Nibbler]

It can go either way. Really good lyrics can make a song, really bad lyrics can break it.

In terms of hip-hop, the lyrics determine whether I like an artist or whether I just like his music. However, great lyrics with no flow and awful production can render a song unlistenable.

Examples:

I enjoyed The Game's album because of the production and his flow. The lyrics were, on the whole, generic West Coast gangsta rap but the beats and his flow made up for it.

I enjoyed Canibus' earlier albums because of the incredible lyrics, despite the fact that the production was often poor.

I don't enjoy the work of Aesop Rock despite the lyrics purely because his voice is awful, so awful that I can't overlook it.

[Underage Politician]

Lyrics are 50% of the song. You can't have a great song without good lyrics, but you can have an average song without good lyrics.

[Guest Muthafawkkinmatt]

Lyrics are the song, you can have good beats or whatever but if you have to say something. I mean I know alot of people like the loud banging club shit music, such as Lilttle John but I am more into the lyrists, such as Talib Kweli, Canibus, and etc.

[Jukeboksi]

I mostly listen to music without lyrics, but when I do hear a song with lyrics I never even try to listen to them. Lyrics don't interest me at all and have no effect on my liking of the song usually. That's why rap is pretty meaningless for me, for example.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

It really depends. With, for example, American Idiot, or Tommy or a lot of the rap I like or songs like The Ghost of Tom Joad, the lyrics are the key element. Without the lyrics, the music wouldn't be nearly as good.

Then again, I listen to a significant amount of Japanese music, and I can't understand most of the words, even when they're trying to speak english, so the actual lyrics are a non-issue, and yet X-Japan's Silent Jealousy and Dragon Ash's Under Age Song are two of my favorite songs ever.

[GoGo Yubari]

Of the choices, I go with "Very." For example, Weezer's new album sucks entirely because the lyrics are absolutely horrid. The music's fine, but the lyrics almost always completely bite.

[DMN in the House]

In rap, some people you listen too for the beats and the flow, such as Game, even if his lyrics are lacking. For instance, I love Hate It or Love It, but no one would say its a lyrical masterpiece, it just flows well. Some people you listen too for the lyrics, Sage Francis and Canibus, and some people you listen too for both, like Atmosphere and Eminem.

As for rock, the harder it is, the less lyrics matter, in my opinion. Someone like Slayer or Slipknot can get away with 'worse' lyrics than a band like Incubus.