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Lyrics

post #1 of 18
1/2/10 at 7:25am
Thread Starter 
I find Lyrics to detract from the music. I personally think they are the least important part of music, sometimes they hit a nice stride with a good melody, otherwise I feel like they take too much prominence (and generally age horribly if the words spoken are the focus)

Tone, melody, pace, and intricacy are the most important parts of music. Lyrics are the occasional icing on the cake, but if great songs used vocals (human voice as an instrument instead of words spoken), in place of lyrics, I still think they would be all time great songs.
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post #2 of 18
1/2/10 at 10:23am
How can you say they are the least important? For a lot of listeners, the lyrics is what makes or breaks the band. Writing lyrics can be as hard as writing melodies and it's a form of art by itself.

Human voice would always be an instrument regardless of whether it has lyrics or not. Can humming or scatting relay descriptive stories the same way singing can? I think not, unless you are that good.
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post #3 of 18
1/2/10 at 10:50am
Redo I think that (generally speaking) you are absolutely wrong, but I'd like to know what kind of music you usually listen to or if you are referring to any specific genre.
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post #4 of 18
1/2/10 at 1:38pm
A-f***ing-men. This is exactly what I've been telling people for several years now. People seem to care more about whatever the person is saying than the music. That just annoys me. Lyrics can be important, but they are often unnecessary and just get in the way.
But then again, there are some lyric-heavy bands that I really like. Made Out Of Babies very effectively uses lyrics to set the mood. The music by itself, although good, isn't spectacular, but the singing (I use the word very loosely) really gives life to the music. This usually isn't the case, but it's a decent argument for lyrics.
I think the problem isn't the lyrics themselves, but the fact that it's all that people care about, so that it's the only thing that really gets any attention in the song, and they are overused in many cases.
Well at least that's my take. Obviously I've had too much time to think about this.
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post #5 of 18
1/2/10 at 1:50pm
Depends on the music.
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post #6 of 18
1/2/10 at 3:28pm
Lyrics are very important to me.
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post #7 of 18
1/2/10 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcpk View Post
Depends on the music.
This.

DSOM without the great lyrics would just be an album to get stoned to. With them its an album to get stoned ON.

Yet other genres don't need lyrics so much.
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post #8 of 18
1/2/10 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hardRAWKR View Post
A-f***ing-men. This is exactly what I've been telling people for several years now. People seem to care more about whatever the person is saying than the music. That just annoys me. Lyrics can be important, but they are often unnecessary and just get in the way.
But then again, there are some lyric-heavy bands that I really like. Made Out Of Babies very effectively uses lyrics to set the mood. The music by itself, although good, isn't spectacular, but the singing (I use the word very loosely) really gives life to the music. This usually isn't the case, but it's a decent argument for lyrics.
I think the problem isn't the lyrics themselves, but the fact that it's all that people care about, so that it's the only thing that really gets any attention in the song, and they are overused in many cases.
Well at least that's my take. Obviously I've had too much time to think about this.
that's because the majority of people who right metal music have no brains/growling is an unintelligible way to transfer lyrics.

In rap, alternative, rock, progressive metal, jazz metal, some post rock, folk, pop, new wave, etc. lyrics allow the listener to fully understand what the artist is trying to convey in their music.

But if you don't care about lyrics that's ok, you don't have to.
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post #9 of 18
1/2/10 at 4:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gbacic View Post
that's because the majority of people who right metal music have no brains/growling is an unintelligible way to transfer lyrics.

In rap, alternative, rock, progressive metal, jazz metal, some post rock, folk, pop, new wave, etc. lyrics allow the listener to fully understand what the artist is trying to convey in their music.

But if you don't care about lyrics that's ok, you don't have to.
I think the same of a lot of mainstream music too. I wasn't specifically referring to metal, although it is true.
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post #10 of 18
1/2/10 at 5:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hardRAWKR View Post
Obviously I've had too much time to think about this.
You're not alone with that one. Ever since my early concert experiences I've been aggravated with the entire crowd singing the song. I want to hear the performing artist, not the crowd's rendition of the song. One of many things that drives me away from emphasizing lyrics in music as anything meaningful.

When it comes down to lyrics, most of the time it's just words put together that sound nifty with the song. People then try to read and interpret the artist's intentions, when much of the time the intentions were never there there or have long been lost in the wordsmithing process.
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post #11 of 18
1/2/10 at 6:24pm
Don't listen to artists that just add words for the sake of it, neh.
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post #12 of 18
1/2/10 at 7:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redo View Post
You're not alone with that one. Ever since my early concert experiences I've been aggravated with the entire crowd singing the song. I want to hear the performing artist, not the crowd's rendition of the song. One of many things that drives me away from emphasizing lyrics in music as anything meaningful.
Blame the fans. On the other hand, if you're a Blind Guardian fan, you would create something awesome.

YouTube - Blind Guardian - Valhalla
Watch the entire video. Alternatively, watch from 4:30 onwards to see my point.

And this
YouTube - Blind Guardian - The Bard's Song
Let the people have their fun and it would be quite flattering for the artist if their fans knew every word to their song
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post #13 of 18
1/9/10 at 5:08am
I agree that melody is usually more important than lyrics across multiple genres, but to say that lyrics are the least important aspect of music, that's a big stretch in my opinion. Sure, you can find many genres where lyrics take a backseat, but when you look at songs that have defined generations, songs that strike a chord with people, they often involve lyrics that people could relate to emotionally. Songs like Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth", or Bob Dylan's "Hurricane", would be nothing without their poignant lyrics, which tend to resonate with people far more than any melody could. Honest lyrics are a window into a musician's soul, and music is just one of many ways people use to communicate their stories.
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post #14 of 18
1/9/10 at 6:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcpk View Post
Don't listen to artists that just add words for the sake of it, neh.
this.
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post #15 of 18
2/1/10 at 10:18am
Imo the melody line of the vocal plays a huge part. A big chorus with a great melody is catchy.

BUT, how long before the listener, once they have absorbed the tune many times then starts to inspect the lyrics?
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