Not to say that I can’t enjoy a song if I think the lyrics could simply be better; og knows there are plenty of songs with kind of crappy lyrics that I like anyway. I’m talking about lyrics that 1) I can’t understand (either because the singer is mumbling or they’re singing in a language I don’t know) or 2) I disagree with (songs about God, intolerance, misogyny, certain politics, etc.).
Are there songs or styles of music that you find enjoyable even though you don’t understand/agree with the words?
(Please note that my use of the word “you” is meant to refer to you, the reader, specifically – not “you” in the sense of “anyone.” I have no doubt that there are people in the world who pay no attention to lyrics – in fact, I’m friends with one of them – but I’m interested in your answer. :))
I’m pretty tolerant, but some songs/artists are deal breakers. I enjoy much of Paul McCartney’s solo work despite many of the lyrics being absolute crap. Well, not so much crap as just meaningless silliness. However, I really can’t abide most of, say, America’s popular hits; this has been debated before, I know, but those guys really wrote some stupid fucking words, and their music isn’t good enough to enable me to ignore the likes of “there were plants and birds and rocks and things.”
I guess it boils down to what kind of bad you’re talking about. Dumb-but-harmless (like “Monkberry Moon Delight”) I can take. Pseudo-profound-and-dumb (“Horse With No Name”) drives me up the wall.
I have a hard time understanding lyrics in tons of songs but love them anyway. The human voice is just another instrument to me and isn’t necessary to enjoy a song unless it’s some sort of ballad with meaning in my opinion.
I rarely care about lyrics, and the cases where I can’t understand them or are in a different language spare me from caring. There are a couple cases where I either misunderstood or mis-heard lyrics that made the difference for me:
R.E.M. “Losing my Religion” - the words were non-specific enough for me to make up my own meaning, mainly a song about struggling with one’s faith. When I learned it was about sex, I couldn’t listen to the $*@! thing anymore (which, unfortunately, was after I bought the album).
Nickelback “How You Remind Me” - I first heard this song after a close relative died, and probably as a result I mis-heard the lyrics as one as dealing with the loss of a loved one. When I made the effort to determine exactly what the lyrics said and discovered that it was just a trite love ballad, I couldn’t listen to the $*@! thing anymore (fortunately, this time I did not buy the album).
D
For the most part, I can deal with bad lyrics if the song is good enough. But I just can’t listen to “Trouble” by Coldplay because everytime I hear the lyrics “here I am in love in a bubble” I find it so freaking stupid I can’t stand it. It’s just one of those things, I guess.
I’m not sure if my trouble with Huey Lewis’ discography is only the lyrics, or also the blandness of the music, but I am sure it’s the lyrics that make my blood pressure go up.
Fortunately, one doesn’t run into too much Huey Lewis anymore.
I recently realized that growing up, I almost never paid any attention to the lyrics unless it was some slow song or ballad of some kind. And in a lot of rock songs I like, I could never understand what the hell they were saying even when I tried.
So, lyrics don’t bother me one way or the other…(well, except for that godawful Don McLean American Pie torture to eardrums).
If the main focus of a song is the lyrics, then yes, I need to like the lyrics to like the song. But I tend to prefer stuff that’s not lyric-oriented anyway.
Well, since I listen to hip-hop and rap, but at the same time am not too keen on things like murdering cops, smackin’ hos, and rims on cars that cost more than the house the driver is living in, I’d say yes.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by “don’t like its lyrics,” however. I mean I don’t rationally like the lyrics, but I am often amused by their primitive nature, so maybe I “like the lyrics” under your system.
I enjoy listen to operas and I don’t understand much German or Italian.
Actually none.
I also have recordings of Mongolian throat singing, as well as Rapa Nui (Easter Island) folk music.
So, I think I can get past the lyrics.
Now if someone wrote a great melody and then joined it up with some English language lyrics glorifying Hitler or something like that, then I might have some problems.
Someone once told me that people are either lyrics people, or music people.
(1) Can’t understand lyrics – enjoy, no problem. Spanish stuff, Gaelic, and, as mentioned, some opera. And English when you can’t make it out clearly. Sometimes it’s better that way.
(2) Disagree with – I’d rephrase that is “distasteful/nasty” – no, don’t enjoy.
But a lot of songs have a major elements that I disagree with, but taken as a whole, in context, they’re part of the art, and I still enjoy the song.
For example, technically, I disagree with prisoners escaping from prison, but Blake Shelton’s “Ol’ Red” is a fun song. Good music, tight lyrics, clever well-told story, ending with a perfect punch line. “Gallo del Cielo” (English, not Spanish) is a great story song about someone risking it all for a big score. It’s also about cockfighting, which I disagree with, but it’s still enjoyable; it’s part of the story. Though I’m not terribly religious, Nicole Nordeman’s religious songs are very fine. Come to think of it, I like “Come all ye faithful” too.
(3) I’d add a Third category – music you enjoyed until you found out what the lyrics supposedly meant, and now you feel kind of stupid listening to it, even though you still like the music. I’m thinking of that Violent Femmes (?) song.
I guess it depends on how bad the lyrics are. Some songs I can never understand the words and I’ll like it because of the music, then I find out what the lyrics are and end up very disappointed or hating it. What I really hate are the ones with the really catchy tunes and lyrics which you absolutely loathe but can’t get out of your head because of the tune.
Even foreign languages aren’t safe. I used to love to sing “Alouette” until I took French class and we learned what the lyrics meant. They’re singing about eating a little bird!
The first band I thought of when I saw this thread was Limp Bizkit. I like the music a lot. I can listen to about ten seconds of any Limp Bizkit song. Then Fred Durst has to piddle all over it with lyrics that could have been obsessed by any swear obsessed ten year old.
Once upon a time, I would have said that good lyrics are absolutely important, otherwise I just can’t listen to the song. But one of my current favorite songs open with
That doesn’t even make sense. I have no idea what he’s talking about. But I sing along very loudly.
I do listen to lyrics instead of music though, so if the lyrics don’t grab me for whatever reason, I won’t be interested in the song at all.
If the tune is great and the emotion behind the delivery is strong, then no.
Best example?
“A mulatto, an albino, palomino, a mosquito - a denial, a denial…”
Nirvana, Smells like Teen Spirit - I mean, what dreck, but he delivered it perfectly…
Having said that, for the most post, lyrics really matter, but sometimes I can, what, overcome them?
The best example is the Toadies’ song - what’s it called? Something like “Possum Park” or something like that. “I will treat you well, my sweet Angel - so help me Jesus” Great song. It just so happens to be about a guy luring a naive girl to a park so he can kill her because he doesn’t want to share her.
Once I learned what the song was really about, I was disturbed profoundly. Still am. Yet, dammit, the song works. I have to respect it at that level…
I mostly get the tune stuck in my head first. I find most songs that have offensive themes tend to have melodies that I’m not interested in (or are in rap, which I don’t listen to).
Back when my brother was on his System of a Down kick, I was able to enjoy most of the songs despite some of the lyrics. (It helped that I thought the lyrics were clever socio-political commentary.) Ditto Linkin Park, but that might have been because I was in the middle of my deep blue funk and their depressing songs resonated with my feelings.
