Do you pay attention to song lyrics?
Oct 22, 2012 at 10:28 AM Post #16 of 30
It depends on the song. It goes about 50/50.
 
What's funny is there are songs that I have heard for years than I have no idea what the lyrics are to. I know the bass line and guitar solos perfectly, but couldn't write out the lyrics pass the chorus. Then there are the songs where no one knows the correct lyrics to. It reminds me of the Volkswagen commercial that came out a year or so ago...
 

 
Oct 22, 2012 at 10:46 AM Post #17 of 30
Quote:
flyinginabluedream said:
It depends on the song. It goes about 50/50.
 
What's funny is there are songs that I have heard for years than I have no idea what the lyrics are to. I know the bass line and guitar solos perfectly, but couldn't write out the lyrics pass the chorus. Then there are the songs where no one knows the correct lyrics to. It reminds me of the Volkswagen commercial that came out a year or so ago...
 
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Yeah, there are some bands like Tool that don't release lyrics.
 
Also, as you say, there are some (few) songs in which I didn't even notice I got the lyrics wrong until I checked them up.
 
Oct 22, 2012 at 8:35 PM Post #18 of 30
Great question!
 
Depends - I usually just get some phrases at a time - I seldom care about "what a song is about" - but the individual phrases can be essential for me. Usually I interpret them differently from time to time I listen - so the song can be a happy or a sad one depending on my mood. As I moved into headfi I have been listening more and more to instrumental music. 
 
Oct 22, 2012 at 8:56 PM Post #19 of 30
I've never been able to figure out why some vocalists decide to drown their voice in those of the instruments around them. Are they not confident? Or they don't want the lyrics to be the highlight?
 
Oct 22, 2012 at 9:39 PM Post #20 of 30
Quote:
proton007 said:
I'm particularly bad in this regard.
 
I can listen to a song multiple times, but everytime I find I don't know or remember the lyrics, I was enjoying other things in the song.
I do remember the tone and emotion, the articulation of the singer's voice, but won't pay attention to lyrics.
I need to read the lyrics along with the song if I have to remember it.
 
That said, songs can sound pretty boring to me if they're not musically interesting.
Its weird because most ppl I know can easily relate to songs with lyrics.
 
Has anyone else had the same experience?
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I have the exact experience.    I've even stopped listening to one band once I knew what they we saying.  The music was great but the lyrics were dreck.  Once I knew what they were saying I couldn't even take the music seriously.  
 
That said, I did vote for "depends on the song" as the other choices are a little too absolute.  But it's always music first then lyrics.  The vocals are treated, in my mind, like and instrument. 
 
Oct 22, 2012 at 11:14 PM Post #21 of 30
Quote:
vid said:
Don't care about the lyrics. Prefer to not know what's being sung about. Much more interesting to hear the human voice as an instrument rather than as a letter. The total lack of knowledge about the song's linguistic contents keeps it open for you to interpret rather than being guided towards what the lyricist preferred.
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Yar, this would be me now more so then when I was younger.
 
I didn't used to care for lyrics when I was younger [seeing as most of the crud on public radio was full of disgusting slang and what not] but as with most things, I've discovered songs with well much better lyrics..
 
One of my favorites for mostly the pure joy of HEARING this women speak 
 

 
I of course did not fall in love with her [poor woman has a YouTube page full of love letters lol]
 
Still though I do prefer spoken word over sung...SO many people sing well I suppose, but very few people have voices that are ear gasmic 24/7 *melts*
 
That being Said Instrumentals on Open cans are nice <3
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 12:09 AM Post #22 of 30
I love a good vocalist, but i could do without most of the lyrics out there.  You can only hear so many love songs about the depth of someone's (temporary) feelings, or raps about asses, money, and controlled substances before it all gets old and to be honest, kind of cheesy.  I never get tired of good music though.
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 12:14 AM Post #23 of 30
Quote:
opr8r said:
I love a good vocalist, but i could do without most of the lyrics out there.  You can only hear so many love songs about the depth of someone's (temporary) feelings, or raps about asses, money, and controlled substances before it all gets old and to be honest, kind of cheesy.  I never get tired of good music though.
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I feel you there, I really love OST, from Video Games and Movies. That kind of music that tells a dynamic story without any words! Espically in Older video games, b4 we had voice reocording! Those tunes are so expressive and always wonderful imo! 
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 12:42 AM Post #24 of 30
Quote:
opr8r said:
I love a good vocalist, but i could do without most of the lyrics out there.  You can only hear so many love songs about the depth of someone's (temporary) feelings, or raps about asses, money, and controlled substances before it all gets old and to be honest, kind of cheesy.  I never get tired of good music though.
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Very well put. It seems like most music these days is about the same half a dozen or so things, or else it tries to be purposefully enigmatic, which I find pretentious. It's a hard line to draw between being blunt (and cliche/cheesy) and being cryptic, and the very best vocal music is that which finds the correct balance between the two for both the subject and mood of the song.
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 7:06 AM Post #25 of 30
Must say I've always been more of a tune man rather than words. There are very few songwriters that really grab my attention with their words. But one of them is Bob Dylan, my fave all time song is "Idiot wind" and the words to that song are just amazing. Genius! I also quite like Micheal Stipes ramblings too, also Thom Yorke. Think I like abstract lyrics more... gives you something to think about.
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 7:20 AM Post #26 of 30
Quote:
lugbug1 said:
Must say I've always been more of a tune man rather than words. There are very few songwriters that really grab my attention with their words. But one of them is Bob Dylan, my fave all time song is "Idiot wind" and the words to that song are just amazing. Genius! I also quite like Micheal Stipes ramblings too, also Thom Yorke. Think I like abstract lyrics more... gives you something to think about.
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Good man.
 
Have you heard this bootleg version? I think it's better than the studio version, since it's an absolutely incredible performance, but it also makes some nice changes to the lyrics.
 
One verse in particular I like is this one:
 
Quote:
Code: 
 I threw the I-Ching yesterday, it said there'd be some thunder at the well. I haven't tasted peace and quiet for so long it seems like living hell. There's a lone soldier on the hill, watchin' falling raindrops pour. You'd never know it to look at him, but at the final shot he won the war After losin' every battle.
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Oct 23, 2012 at 7:34 AM Post #27 of 30
Quote:
kukuk said:
 
Good man.
 
Have you heard this bootleg version? I think it's better than the studio version, since it's an absolutely incredible performance, but it also makes some nice changes to the lyrics.
 
One verse in particular I like is this one:
 
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Aww man nice one! never heard this version. Its not as angry as the original but I've still got goosebumps haha
I first heard it on the radio when I was 16 (I'm 41 now) and its still my go to song now when I'm angry with the world.
 
"We are idiots babe, its a wonder we can even feed ourselves"
 
beerchug.gif

 
Oct 23, 2012 at 11:10 AM Post #28 of 30
Quote:
mshenay said:
I feel you there, I really love OST, from Video Games and Movies. That kind of music that tells a dynamic story without any words! Espically in Older video games, b4 we had voice reocording! Those tunes are so expressive and always wonderful imo! 
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I realized this after I started listening to Tune-in Radio at work. There's a channel called "World's Greatest Melodies", they play OST and Classical. Its all 128kbps MP3, but better than many other stations.
At first I didn't understand symphonies, but after repeated listening, I started to see the structure. Now I'm listening to it for almost 3+ hrs daily!
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 2:07 PM Post #29 of 30
Quote:
proton007 said:
 
I realized this after I started listening to Tune-in Radio at work. There's a channel called "World's Greatest Melodies", they play OST and Classical. Its all 128kbps MP3, but better than many other stations.
At first I didn't understand symphonies, but after repeated listening, I started to see the structure. Now I'm listening to it for almost 3+ hrs daily!
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Welcome to the story of my life! That stuff is great isn't it.
 
I just slammed 12gbs of Flacs onto my Hifiman of mostly Instrumentals. I dabbled in a little bit of Classical, my step dad has a 9 CD collection that I might Rip and Burn if there's a need... but I'll dig some classical on Sonic Tap every now and then ^^
 
But yea that structure is the magic of it!
 
Oct 23, 2012 at 7:07 PM Post #30 of 30
Quote:
lugbug1 said:
Aww man nice one! never heard this version. Its not as angry as the original but I've still got goosebumps haha
I first heard it on the radio when I was 16 (I'm 41 now) and its still my go to song now when I'm angry with the world.
 
"We are idiots babe, its a wonder we can even feed ourselves"
 
beerchug.gif
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I think one of the things that makes it great is that it's largely the same song, but a whole different emotion involved.
 
The first time I heard it... I think it was just a few years ago. I was floored by how absolutely scathing the song was. Idiot Wind and Like a Rolling Stone both seemed really weird to me at the time because they weren't really shouty, and didn't rely on swear words to get their point across. They were just a really calculated anger, with is infinitely more effective than something like, say, rap, which is just yelling and swearing and threatening death.
 
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