Music vs Lyrics

[poului]

6re7vdthdxg

I've often noticed how little musicians pay attention to lyrics when hearing a song for the first time. Might have something to do with the fact that you often can't bloody make out what the singer's words are.

 

[kyser_soze]

Heard Orishas?

Cuban equivalent of a manufactured boy band according to a Cuban I met...

 

[Eva Luna]

But what if it's all 'Look at the bitches, whores haven't got no brains and they are fit only to suck my cock and hoover my sitting room la la la la' all the way through? Like, nastier than that?

My Spanish does not rock.

Hmm yeah OK. Lyrics like that are crap obv. But that said, I can allow for 'signs of the times' I guess you'd call it.

 

[MooChild]

Music first, lyrics second. I do love the flow of sounds in songs, and that includes the vocal melody, its why i love a lot of world music, i have no idea what the hell they are singing about, but it sounds lovely. I rarely notice the lyrics until several listens in.

 

[5t3IIa]

My Spanish does not rock.

Hmm yeah OK. Lyrics like that are crap obv. But that said, I can allow for 'signs of the times' I guess you'd call it.

Now, Sign of the Times is excellent both lyrically and musically



Keyser_Soze - I heard that too but it doesn't stop it being quite teh funky and actually better than a boy band because I can't tell that the lyrics are all 'moon spoon June'

 

[DotCommunist]

Nick Cave's pretentious now?

I give up

quoting Kant in your lyrics is a bit.....

 

[El Jefe]

quoting Kant in your lyrics is a bit.....

Not if it's done with style and humour.

 

[foo]

Bit silly trying to divide the two tbh.

agreed.

well i can't do it anyway.

 

[Reno]

Music first, good lyrics are a bonus. My first language isn't English, so growing up a barely understood the lyrics to most of the music I was listening to. There are some artists where I really appreciate the lyrics, but for the first few listens of something new I barely pay attention to the words.

 

[Roadkill]

Let's put it this way. I find it easier to forgive trite lyrics than a crap tune, although really sixth-form-standard poetry does ruin the enjoyment of pretty much anything. A truly great song has to have intelligent lyrics and a fantastic tune, though.

 

[MightyAphrodite]

A truly great song has to have intelligent lyrics and a fantastic tune, though.

yeah


but im a lyrics 1st tune 2nd person at the end of the day.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Music first then lyrics. I don't mind if the lyrics are nonsense but it does irritate me if there are only two or three words in the whole song that just get repeated over and over again especially if they are emphasised as if they were important when they have little meaning. I would prefer it if they were inaudible or just scat type sounds.

 

[Kaka Tim]

By 'music' are we including the vocal melody and the sound of the voice?

If so then the lyrics are sort of secondary in a lot of music. Although the sound and rythm of the words are still very much part of the 'music'.
In rap and a lot of folk and country music the instrumentation is secondary and its all about the singers delivery and what they are saying.

Lyrics have to fit the rest of the song - they don't have to be great literature, they jsut have to be 'right' . The greatest pop song in the world ever - 'you really got me' by the kinks - has lyrics which are almost braindead in their simplicity, even banal - but perfect for the song and the singer's delivery.