[SubAtomic]

(Original post by sexbo)
Rap now is a weird one because sometimes the beat is great and I love the song but everyone else will say that the song is rubbish because the lyrics are. I showed a friend this rap song once (Big L) and while I was there with him chilling out to the beat he said "I don't like it because the guy is chatting ****" I was like FUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! WHO CARES??? MOST RAPPERS CHAT **** ABOUT ROBBING, KILLING AND ****ING BITCHES ANYWAY. At least this one was good enough to sample some old skool beats

Haters gonna hate. Some of my mates have a very negative opinion of Rap and voice it, could slap em, the question is what do they know about Rap to have that opinion? The answer is NOTHING lol so I let it slide.

[Staceycake]

Ah i couldn't listen to music without lyrics. I only tend to like songs with lyrics I can relate to.
People who listen to just music are odd

[Ra Ra Ra]

I never really listen to the lyrics; it's the melody that moves me. Often I find lyrics get in the way. (I'm a movie score/classical kind of person myself, so...)

That said, when lyrics are done well, I'll have them on repeat for days. John Lennon, Kate Bush, hello!

[SophiaKeuning]

(Original post by ArcadiaHouse)
I was talking to my mum about this the other week. I discovered she doesn't listen to a song's lyrical content, just the way it sounds. I am the complete opposite. The lyrics provide the sentiment of the song so my favourite ones aren't necessarily the best-sounding, it's the song as a whole.

'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right' by Bob Dylan is one of my favourite songs, not because Dylan is the best singer in the world, but because the lyrics make the song so beautiful and melancholic.

I'd normally completely agree. Yet since I've been on my gap year I've become increasingly preoccupied with the sound of a song, how the instruments make me feel. I noticed this earlier when I realised I couldn't recall hardly any lyrics of new music I've been listening to.

Maybe It's just 'cause I've become stupid in my lack of education and my pathetic lazy excuse for reading. S'all gonna spiral down from here.

[flowermaster91]

Same, the way the music sounds attracts me more to a song

[KCosmo]

(Original post by sexbo)
All my life I have been a purely "instrumental" person. I never ever listen to what the person is saying in a song. But recently I have noticed that when most people listen to music what the singer is saying is all they seem to care about I just don't understand that way of listening to music. Surely concentrating on the lexical content of the singer's monologue will detract from concentrating on the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic content of the song as a whole? And what if you are listening to a song from another language? I personally listen to vocals as if it was another instrument so the only difference singing in another language would make to me is that it becomes a "differently tuned vocal instrument" . Maybe this is because I listen to Jazz where a large proportion of the singing is meant to be total nonsense that just sounds good. I find modern popular music (that is based around vocals) to be dull as all I hear is basically just a person talking with feeble instrumental backup i.e. some guy behind the singer just banging out a couple simple chords on the keyboard or guitar, then everyone is like "omg amazing such deep lyrics", but to me it's nothing more than a glorified poetry recital.

I'm exactly the same! I don't know whether it's because I started playing my instrument before I started listening to music regularly, but the actual music always sticks out rather than the lyrics. I often get weird looks from my band when I say that I don't know any of the lyrics to our songs, but still know the songs note for note musically

[ThaChronic]

When I listen to hip hop music 90% I will listen to it for its lyrics, but when I listen to some rock music the lyrics sometimes make no sense but they still make ****ing sick music.

[S4INTY]

I guess people listen to some music because it speaks to them and some just because it sounds good. To some extent I think peoples' opinions are quite polarised regarding this. I'm not sure how many people out there listen to some music because its a bit catchy but also speaks to you a bit, although I'm sure they are out there.
If any of you think rap is just singing about sex and drugs etc. don't give up on it there are plenty of rappers whose heads are not in their rectum Any of you guys listened to Macklemore before? I heartily recommend him

[ThaChronic]

(Original post by ugk4life)
the RZA!!

LOL that was Masta Killa not RZA.

[Evangelica]

I like the music I listen to to mean something. I like to feel that the artist went on a journey writing a song or that the song has come from an emotional place - not necessarily a sad place, it could be happy but it's nice to think it's been inspired by something and not just been written for the sake of it or just for making money.

Of course I like a lot of meaningless songs. It was just the other day I actually decided to look up the lyrics to the following song. My reaction was lolwut? Here's a snippet

Gotta go, I've blown another name
Boy, take a seat, let me explain
Don't break the chain
Come get your beat back in the game
Gotta put my foot down, switching lanes
Sensation pumping through my veins
Let's go again
I got your back so let it rain

I'll meet you on a Friday night
Play the game, we're gonna keep this tight
Listen up, we'll get 'em on your side
Reel it in, then, baby, then you play it back
Undercover, keep your head
Kinda like a bit of infra-red
Just remember, no, you won't forget
Baby, blow it, bang bang you're dead

What? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

On the other hand, some songs can really impact me emotionally when it's almost as if I can feel what the artist's feeling:

I never ever cried when I was feeling down
I've always been scared of the sound
Jesus don't love me, no one ever carried my load
I'm too young to feel this old

Like I said, the message doesn't have to be depressing; Darwin Deez's 'Up in the Clouds' or ELO's 'Mr Blue Sky' never fail to make me feel bouncy and happy, I just like for there to be a message.

[internetguru]

I always find that I never hear the lyrics correctly when listening to songs. They need to speak more clearly.

[Drapetomanic]

I'm the complete opposite. I've always been very lyrically minded, which is probably why I like rap and 70s/80s punk, yet dislike electronic music especially things like dubstep. It probably stems from my lack of any technical musical knowledge or music playing abilities.

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasher]

(Original post by sexbo)
Surely concentrating on the lexical content of the singer's monologue will detract from concentrating on the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic content of the song as a whole? And what if you are listening to a song from another language? I personally listen to vocals as if it was another instrument so the only difference singing in another language would make to me is that it becomes a "differently tuned vocal instrument".

You're doing it wrong, basically.

There are many more aspects to music than melody/harmony and rhythm although that is a completely different debate. Good songsmanship is in the crafting of music and lyrics that are inseparably intertwined so that both mutually convey a certain feeling/emotion/atmosphere or tell a certain story. If you concentrate solely on music you often miss out on what 'completes' a song. The music is definitely the first thing I pick up but I always listen back again and again for lyrics where I can tell the artist has put a lot of effort into writing them.

I use this example time and time again but it really is the best damn thing I've ever heard:

[Kenan and Kel]

[Mo-Amin]

(Original post by sexbo)
Surely concentrating on the lexical content of the singer's monologue will detract from concentrating on the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic content of the song as a whole?

I rarely can appreciate the full experience of a song the first time I listen to it. So yeah, sometimes I'll focus on some aspects more than others - not just vocals vs. instruments, but between all the different layers too.
Sometimes I'll even go through phases of which part of that song I'm listening to. It's not unusual for me to discover parts of a song only after listening to it many times.
But if the song is good enough, I'll have listened to it enough to be familiar with all it's aspects, hearing different instruments' layers while naturally singing or rapping as well - it all culminates in one beautiful moment of audible incredibility.

And what if you are listening to a song from another language? I personally listen to vocals as if it was another instrument so the only difference singing in another language would make to me is that it becomes a "differently tuned vocal instrument".

Definitely agree with this - A couple of years ago I realised vocals are just another layer of instrument. Whether you can understand it is irrelevant.
Some might say vocals are a special case because it gives the listener a way to connect and sing along to the song, but there are other aspects that may be more vital to that connection, such as the beat itself.

Obviously it's more difficult to pay attention to lyrics as speech, not just an instrumental layer, when you can't understand it but even then there are cases where people still sing along eventually.

but to me it's nothing more than a glorified poetry recital.

Well this comes down to what you define as music I guess. Personally, there is some music I listen to which is essentially spoken word with some minimalistic synths but it's all still music to me, and most importantly, it sounds good to me.


Thing about lyrics though, is that when written well they can add that extra dimension to a song. Not every song should have lyrics, but they can be a more tangible way of touching the listener in many cases. While you do have to treat them as an extra instrumental layer IMO, you still have to recognise you're being told something so you listen from that aspect too.

[saachi]

I listen to both, where it matters. For example, I love the song 'Slow Motion' by Third Eye Blind, I find the melody beautiful, but the lyrics are disgusting, he talks about how he enjoys watching a girl's nose bleed, how beautiful it was when he saw his neighbor beating his wife... very disturbing lyrics. But somehow I manage to focus on the tune and ignore the lyrics.

On the other hand, when I listen to Owl City songs his lyrics are one of the most whacky, fascinating things about the song! They're so fantastical that they just complement the electronic nature of his music completely, and I think there, if he changed his lyrics and made them more realistic, the songs wouldn't sound as nice.

So I think it depends from song to song, but the sound of the music is the most important thing to me.

[Converse Rocker]

Alex Turner pretty much gave me a new standpoint on lyrics. Even if you don't like Arctic Monkeys, his lyricism is incredibly observant and witty.

Depends on the band and how interested in it I am when it comes to picking out lyrics.

[Stray_talk]

If I don't understand the lyrics because of lack of clarity, I'll make my own ones up.
This makes me a lyricist.

[Nice Marmite]

(Original post by PurpleMonkeyDishwasher)
You're doing it wrong, basically.

There are many more aspects to music than melody/harmony and rhythm although that is a completely different debate. Good songsmanship is in the crafting of music and lyrics that are inseparably intertwined so that both mutually convey a certain feeling/emotion/atmosphere or tell a certain story. If you concentrate solely on music you often miss out on what 'completes' a song. The music is definitely the first thing I pick up but I always listen back again and again for lyrics where I can tell the artist has put a lot of effort into writing them.

I use this example time and time again but it really is the best damn thing I've ever heard:

Perfect example and a great song.

[Bellissima]

i find people who bang on about "deep and meaningful lyrics" pretentious because usually they look down on you if you like songs that DON'T have great lyrics on par with shakepeare.. it's ONE element of the music and you can like different things for different reasons!