# Who listens to lyrics anyways?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 8, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116 "2005-08-08T15:40:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/21 "2005-08-08T19:46:59Z")
I’m primarily an instrumentalist when it comes to music. I don’t pay much attention to lyrical content and the vocals are just another “instrument”. I vastly prefer artists who play long instrumental sets with complex rhythms (Rush, ELP, Dream Theater), which is why progressive rock appeals to me. I’m also big on hard rock/heavy metal, which is also instrument-heavy.
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### Author:  [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/22 "2005-08-08T20:15:01Z")
I love the lyrics, they are what makes a song for me. Lines from songs keep whirling around in my mind and I sometimes see the connections in my everyday life.
A friend of mine one quoted a line from a song to me, which is how I found out we both liked the same artist.
My favourite songwriters are people like Al Stewart, who can put together erudition with some great melodies.
Which is not to say I do not like instrumental music. I love the music of Bach. I love solo acoustic guitar, especially Laurence Juber. My favourite instrumental is Hocus Pocus.
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### Author:  [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/23 "2005-08-08T20:18:39Z")
Only if someone’s chatting at length about lyrics do I make an effort to listen, my hearing isn’t so good (or at least my brain couldn’t be bothered listening) so most of them go over my head. I was as surprised when I read that the lyrics to Jethro Tull’s “Budapest” was about a fumble with a young groupie at a gig 😛
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/24 "2005-08-08T20:51:12Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#):
>
> Another one who listens to lyrics. I have to be able to sing along in the car. 🙂 I’ll even go so far as to try and learn the lyrics for non-English songs if I can.
You could be me! I will also learn the words to songs in languages I don’t understand, and I will go on the Internet and look up what they mean. I prefer songs to which I know the lyrics.
Not that I can’t enjoy songs I don’t, but they are rarer.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/25 "2005-08-08T20:54:42Z")
> [@rayh](#):
>
> Which is not to say I do not like instrumental music. I love the music of Bach. I love solo acoustic guitar, especially Laurence Juber. My favourite instrumental is Hocus Pocus.
You should do a search on “guitarists put up shut up” or something like that - one of our very own Dopers posted a cool cover of Hocus Pocus with some really interesting vocals and instrumentation…
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/26 "2005-08-08T21:08:07Z")
I listen - often the lyrics are what hook me on the song.
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### Author:  [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/27 "2005-08-08T21:17:50Z")
> [@WordMan](#):
>
> You should do a search on “guitarists put up shut up” or something like that - one of our very own Dopers posted a cool cover of Hocus Pocus with some really interesting vocals and instrumentation…
Yes, very cool. I am working on an acoustic version of Hocus Pocus myself, without the vocals though.
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### Author:  [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/28 "2005-08-08T21:30:13Z")
The lyrics are how I remember songs. I sing so badly that often the lyrics are the only way someone else knows what song I’m singing. I can let a song whose lyrics don’t meake sense pass, but only if I try not to think about it too much. Otherwise, I’ll be singing along to it, thinking, “What the hell does that even mean?” Then I’ll sit there trying to puzzle it out.
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### Author:  [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-listens-to-lyrics-anyways/316116/29 "2005-08-08T22:04:23Z")
Uh, you kinda gotta
otherwise when you sing along
people might give you strange looks!
_Mother Superior jump the gun,
Mother Superior jump the gun…_ :wally
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