For me, I’m very lyric oriented, and I listen to lyrics first. Part of that is my musical upbringing: I started out with Broadway showtunes (yes, there were actually radio stations that used that as a format), where the lyrics are essential. But also, I prefer words to other forms of art.
However, I’ve known people who were just the opposite. I actually think they are in the majority – people who listen to the beat and the tune and only begin to focus in on the lyrics only fifth or sixth hearing.
I’m interested in and appreciate lyrics, though they aren’t the most important part of a song to me. What I absolutely don’t care about is the artist’s intended meaning of the song. I need to feel free to interpret the song’s lyrics to fit my own life. For example, if I start paying attention to the lyrics of a song and realize it’s intended to be an anti-Bush rant, I’m going to be disappointed. Regardless of my own views on that subject, such rigid lyrics leave no room for personal interpretation, so I’m going to ignore them when I listen to the song. Similarly, if I find out that an artist wrote a certain song about a nasty breakup with a girlfriend, I don’t give a crap. Maybe I don’t see it as a breakup song. Maybe, to me, the lyrics are about change, or forgiveness, or something much more optimistic than the artist intended. Whatever my interpretation is, that’s what I’ll be thinking about when I listen to the song, even if I know it’s not what the lyrics are “supposed” to mean.
I have absolutely no interest in the lyrics. For me, it is all about the melody, the arrangement, the instruments (including vocals ironically), etc. In other words it’s about the music, not the words.
For me it’s all about the lyrics. No, that’s not true: I need a listenable melody as well. But if I think the lyrics are stupid or incoherent, it’s over. The fresher the lyrics, the more imaginative, the more metaphorically dense, the better. If you can change the order of the lines in a rhyming couplet without affecting the sense, then I generally can’t stand the song.
Now, that doesn’t mean I have to AGREE with the lyrics. There’s plenty of songs of which I’d say the character singing is a jackass or a moron. But I still must be able to think of the lyrics as a poem if I’m to appreciate the song as a whole.
I always listen to the lyrics. Most of my favorite artists are those whose lyrics are thoughtful and intelligent, or at least clever. I especially like it when the accompaniment enhances or musically illustrates the meaning of the lyrics. Rush’s music is a good example of this.
I’m really into certain Japanese pop/rock artists, though I don’t understand Japanese. In this case, the appeal is different from the appeal of English-language music. I enjoy having music on as “background noise” when I’m working on something, but because I’m so lyrics-focused, I find that a song with engaging lyrics can distract me from whatever I’m working on. I have a rather limited library of instrumental music, but Japanese music accomplishes much the same function as instrumental music — because I can’t understand the singer, the voice becomes simply another musical instrument and I’m thus not distracted by it. Then again, when I’m “actively” listening, my inability to understand the words actually helps me to appreciate the music on a whole different level.
My favorite Japanese singer is a woman named aiko (she writes it lowercase like that). She captivated me the very first time I heard her several years ago with her ability to make me feel the emotions suggested by the lyrics, even though I couldn’t understand them (for that to make sense, I should explain that I sought out English translations of some of her lyrics, and was quite astonished when I discovered the words expressed almost perfectly the emotions I had felt while listening to those songs).
Is there a term for this technique? ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic uses the technique brilliantly on a number of his original songs.
I was once out dancing with a friend when she turned to me with a look of shock and horror on her face and said “did you hear he just said?”
well. yes. and it was kind of sick - but up until that moment, it was one of her favorite new songs.
I can’t tune out the lyrics. To me, songs with words have words for a reason. If the voice was just supposed to be like any other instrument, the songwriter wouldn’t have bothered with lyrics and just have written “da-da-ba-ba-lalalalalala-ooooooooooooooooh!” and let the voice just add another rhythm or melody or harmony to the sound. But if the song has words, then those words are a necessary part of the song.
I have a hard time with world music (with lyrics) unless I’ve read a translation of the lyrics. I feel like I’m missing something and that bothers me to the point that I can’t enjoy the music.
If I speak the language, I have to like the lyrics to love the song. My favorite artists combine good music and good lyrics. If the lyrics are crap, then I won’t love the song. I might listen to it and enjoy it, but I won’t usually buy the album.
In Spanish, I love Juanes, La 5a Estación, Celia Cruz, Olga Tañón, Shakira and Julieta Venegas. Great lyrics, great music, fantastic stuff. However, while I like Paulina Rubio’s music, I don’t like most of her lyrics – this means I don’t listen to her much. Paulina is not alone in that, either. There are many groups I hear on the radio that make listenable music with bad lyrics.
English is the same way: All of my favorite artists have good lyrics to go with good music. Aimee Mann comes immediately to mind as a standout. Oddly enough, though, I don’t like Shakira’s English stuff. The music is fine, but the lyrics tend to be pretty bad, probably because it’s her third language.
The music I listen to in a language I don’t speak (mostly J-pop, but also some other world stuff), the words obviously don’t matter, but they have to flow well with the music.
Other than a few very prominent exceptions (I make sure to listen to the story woven by every single song of The Decemberists) I not only ignore most of the lyrics, I’m half-incapable of understanding them. Which is odd because I’m spot on remembering every other part of the music, as well as the vocal melody, and I love to sing.
I guess this can end up being an advantage because I relish in hearing the flow of different languages, especially in the context of the same song. That's how I found out about foreign language groups such as [Noir Desir](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXzsAyu5QU) and (sort of) [Gogol Bordello](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yKycX78_bs&feature=related) .
'Scuse the semi hijack, but I’d always assumed that Red Barchetta came from the RUSH song of the same name, indicating that the poster is a RUSH fan. Aren’t the lyrics a big part of RUSH’s appeal? It just struck me ironical is all
Back on topic, the lyrics are generally every bit as important to me as the music. Maybe that’s one of the many reasons American Idol contestants piss me off. They have no clue what they’re singing about and it detracts from the performance.
I’m glad to know I am not the only one who subordinates the lyrical content of most songs. I’ve never been one to sing along with my favorite music, and you’d never catch me dead onstage at a karaoke event. I listen to music primarily for the instrumentation, which is probably why a lot of pop music doesn’t appeal to me; the singing is more significant and the music is secondary. I enjoy music whose playing is technically skillful and intricate, which is why heavy metal, progressive rock, jazz, classical and most instrumental music appeals to me a great deal more.
