• Mamie said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I am with ya on the lyrics part! I really like to read through them and get the real meaning of the song. Even better, those shows like "Unplugged" where the artist tells what the songs mean and where they came from. It is usually far and beyond in meaning from what I may have thought it to be. Have a good day! m

• MissMimi said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I always pay attention to the lyrics.  So often, I find myself moved, sometimes to tears by a line in a song. 
   
  Then of course there's always the Barney song... 

• evil_twin said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I love lyrics. Sometimes I'll just look at lyrics websites and that's how I found new music to listen to. If a song has a really meaningful set of lyrics for me, I'll listen to it. I don't care who sings it or what type of music it is.
  
  Sometimes I'll hear songs on the radio and the music doesn't grab me. And if the lyrics are hard to decipher, I'll just sort of tune it out. But occasionally I'll finally hear what they're saying, and suddenly I like the song. Even if I've heard it a hundred times before and wasn't impressed, if the lyrics are good, I'm hooked.
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• namyogrl said on Oct 02, 2007....

  Lyrics, are the main reason I listen to music, I will hear a phrase and that will move me to listen even harder. I heard and India Arie song the other day and the lyric was good morning to this pain in the center of my chest, It was right where I was at that moment and I sat down and cried.

• the_infernal_optimist said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I'm not sure anything can move me the way music does, and I'm no dancer. :-p E_t summed up part of it nicely (everything he said fits me, though there are seldom songs I don't understand - I translate mumblese very well since I and most of my family members speak it ;-)).
  
  There are songs I won't have heard before that'll have me in tears before the singer even begins - yes, lyrics are powerful and my mood tends to float right along with the tone of whatever I'm listening to, but the melody itself has a lot to do with how a song makes me feel. I also cherish the way an old, familiar and much-beloved song can lift my spirit with the opening notes. :)
  
  The best musical experience, imo, is when a song comes on and you think, "I could've written that! It's me!"
  
  ~Infernal
  

• beyondtheveil said on Oct 02, 2007....

  Ed- Well, it happened to me the opposite of you and the other comments here so far. During my younger years and through my thirties, the main element was the music and many of the instruments. For instance, John Bomham and Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin, or Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson of Rush.
  
  Second came the singers themselves. I could listen all day to Steve Perry of Journey or Ann Wilson of Heart without wondering about lyrics.
  
  I read, or became curious about lyrics only after I was drawn in by the other two. Look at all the music we have that is purely instrumental. Some of our greatest music has no lyrics.
  
  Don't get me wrong- I like lyrics, but I pay attention only after being drawn in by the other two. And I'm not much of a dancer.
  

• beyondtheveil said on Oct 02, 2007....

  infernal_optimist and I must have been posting at the same time. I like a lot of what was said in that comment. 

• silverwhisper said on Oct 02, 2007....

  mamie: it's hard when you hear a tune on the radio, i know, but yeah...give me good lyrics and i'm happy. :>
  
  mimie: for shame, mentioning the purple dinosaur! [hides your flogger]
  
  e_t: like i said to mamie, making out lyrics when you hear something on the radio is really tough sometimes, isn't it? but yeah, it's about the words. i'm reminded of one of my favorite scenes in eddie & th cruisers. :>
  
  namyogrl: the power of music to grab you is like practically nothing else in the world, i've always felt.
  
  infernal: hey, i'm fluent in mumblese too! :D i'm right with you with the best musical experience, too! i agree that melody is important, but to me, the melody needs to match the words, you know?
  
  beyond: i knew someone was gonna weigh in w/ something different. i suppose i ought to have known it would be you. :> out of curiosity, do you play guitar?
  
  ed

• kruuyai said on Oct 02, 2007....

  To me, the lyrics are what the song is all about.  It has to have a nice tune, too, but I'm into words.  I get really impatient with songs that have long instrumental intros.  I actually get agitated waiting for the words to begin.

• uniquely-ironic said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I confess to being more of a melody and rhyme fan.  I do like the lyrics to some songs, they are meaningful, but there are other songs that I like and DO NOT want to know what the lyrics are so that they can't blow the enjoyment I get from the tune.  I know, crazy, but then we already knew that about me.

• gingersoul said on Oct 02, 2007....

  Its not a mistery that some great songs make you exclaim "Its like poetry in music"

  At least i tend to judge in this way the ones that really touch my heart. I have recently posted a blog with some example of great lyrics and great music......and a dear friend sent me a PM with the lyrics of one song...... lyrics so beautiful that no music was necessary to dance with them....(again, thank you).

  Yet...there are musics that don't need words.....that move you deep inside only with the beauty of their melody....i listen to a lot of classical music and no need of words there....

  But is incredible the impact of a song that has poetry and great music so intertwined you can't almost separate one for another one......

  BeyBey......what about Pink Floyd and Genesis then?..:-)

• evil_twin said on Oct 02, 2007....

  kruu, I feel the same way about instrumental bits that go on for too long! I get annoyed. Some of my friends really love drums and guitar solos, but I find it just detracts from my enjoyment of the music. The lyrics mean a lot more to me.
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• Melkor said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I don't think I've ever danced to Bach, yet much of his music is lyricless. ;)

• rmuxagirl said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I'm kinda of both writer and dancer.  I love music, I'm also a singer, gotta add that into the mix of things.  I like noticing when there are lines from poetry in the lyrics of my favorite songs.  One of my friends writes his own music and I love it.  He was going to put on of my poems to a song, but moved away before we could work on it.

• CreativeWoman said on Oct 02, 2007....

  Ed,
  It all really depends on my mood.  A lot of the time song lyrics speak to me.  They seem to be what my soul needs at a certain moment.  I often refer to instrumental music as my "thinking music".  I let my mind wander while that is playing.  Other times I am just lost in the greatness of a musician such as Stevie Ray Vaughn or Johnny Lang.  The performance grabs me.
  
  CW
  

• Expendable said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I always listen to the lyrics. ^_^
  But you've been spammed. *sigh*
  -ex.
   

• pickersplock said on Oct 02, 2007....

  The story about your friend reminded me of The Smiths.
  All those bouncy happy tunes with such sad lyrics. Funny though,I guess that's why I enjoy them so much.
   
   
  
  
   
   

• hillbillygirl said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I love music it is so much a part of me. I can get so into a song that it will bring me to tears as soon as I hear the first line. I love the way music can take us back in time...just the words take you to the place you were when you first heard it.
   
  So for me its about the lyrics. I love to look them up and read them, because sometimes it is hard to hear a song and catch all of the words.  And I agree that sometimes I might hear a song and be so so about it, but then once I've looked up the lyrics realized its really a great song and I will go back and listen to it again and be hooked.
   
  But I also have some songs that I absolutly love and its not so much about the lyrics at all as it is the music itself. For example Aerosmith~Dream On....I hear this song in the car and I get so wrapped up into the music that I will look down at the speedometer and realize I need to slow down....lol.

• wombat said on Oct 02, 2007....

  When I was younger, it was the rhythm for dancing, I suppose that I paid more attention to.  Although, I really can't say I never paid attention to the lyrics--seems like that is the crux of the music to me.  Some of the new stuff, though...if I can't even  understand the lyrics, I generally don't want to hear the music at all. 

• gingersoul said on Oct 02, 2007....

  Picker.......i love The Smiths too....they are great!...:-)..thanks for reminding them..

  It the same thing i feel for some songs of R.E.M...."Losing my religion" makes you bouncing around but the lyrics are very deep...love them too....

• kelly said on Oct 02, 2007....

  I used to think I was all about the lyrics. I still think they're very important to me, but I did come to the realization that the emotional content of the instrumentals was at least as touching to me as the lyrics. For instance, Whale and Wasp by Alice in Chains used to have this incredible draw for me. No lyrics at all.
  
  
  For the most part I hate dance music.  Some commercial I keep hearing is using Funky Town by Lipps, Inc.  I always hated that song.  Couldn't it stay buried in the past?

• silverwhisper said on Oct 02, 2007....

  kruu: o, i don't mind a long instrumental intro--one of my very faves has a distinctive violin solo at the top, but i can understand how you feel about it. :>
  
  u-i: you know, i feel the same way about the videos for a couple of songs. :>
  
  GS: ah, the synthesis of great music with powerful lyrics is indeed a mighty force, isn't it? although certainly there is so much powerful classical music in which words would simply get in the way. i wonder what might have happened had beethoven or mozart also been poets, you know?
  
  melkor: actually, bach wrote a number of waltzes and polonnaises, IIRC--are you sure you haven't danced to him? :>
  
  r: i love music too and that's a shame about your friend who moved away. :<
  
  CW: instrumental music as thinking music...you know, i like that. i'm reminded of various studies that suggest that playing classical music is good for that purpose re: studying, i think it was.
  
  ex: of course you do! er...what spam? did SC already nuke it?
  
  pickers: ah yes, morrissey--deceptive music from him. the lyrics are so pained but you wouldn't know it if you didn't really listen...
  
  hbg: hiya! hey, speeding to a tune you really like is a time-honored tradition! i think we should all be given special dispensation from speeding tickets when radar love is playing! and of course, i completely get what you're saying about lyrics. :>
  
  wombat: i know what you mean about not being able to understand lyrics! and i don't think there are people who pay the lyrics no mind at all, you know?
  
  kelly: i'm unfamiliar w/ that alice in chains track you mention--what album is it on? and music w/out lyrics can be incredibly evocative, i find--ravel's bolero is to me the classic example of that.
  
  [does double take]
  
  someone is using funky town?! o good grief...
  
  ed

• kelly said on Oct 02, 2007....

  You said it. :-)
  
  
  Whale and Wasp (I'm pretty sure that's the title) is on the album Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains.

• beyondtheveil said on Oct 02, 2007....

  Ed- Thanks for the compliment (I think). I'm glad you asked about guitar in particular. That's the one I would have chosen. My parents weren't the type to squeeze out the money for an instrument and lessons. I can't blame them though. If I'd had enough desire, I would have found a way.
  
  Its one of those things I greatly regret not doing. My wife is superb on the piano and I've thought many times over the years how genuinely neat it would have been to be able to play this instrument with her music.
  
  ginsoul- Pink Floyd and Genesis are super. I wasn't familiar with Genesis until Phil Collins came aboard. There are so many I could have chosen to name. Music is so huge- its like dipping your hand into the sea and pulling out a diamond in every handful.
  

• silverwhisper said on Oct 03, 2007....

  kelly: thanks!
  
  beyond: yeah, it was. :> you know, you could take lessons now, if you wanted. you obviously have an appreciation for it, and desire counts for an awful lot, you know...just a thought. :>
  
  ed

• hotaka said on Oct 03, 2007....

  Lyrics are often a secondary thing for me. If I catch some clever lyrics or beautiful poetry I notice, but often I think of lyrics as a something you can sing while enjoying a good tune.

  Now, I am not a dancer either so for me music is something to be appreciated for sound. That can either be an emotion-stirring progression of notes or chords or the sound of the instruments themselves. I have heard great songs with well-written lyrics and an amazing musical composition and arrangement but where the guitar sound just didn't appeal to me or there wasn't enough cow bell... [wink] On the other hand, I really enjoy some songs with atrociously bad lyrics or even poor vocals if the guitar, drums, bass or some other instrument has a really cool sound or if the main riff has a cool twist.

  I particularly admire bands that experiment with sounds and instruments, thus some of the bands I admire most are groups like The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Sloan, and the Tea Party, who sadly broke up two years ago and I just found out, hence my latest post. 

• Melkor said on Oct 03, 2007....

  Silverwhisper, you've got me there, I'm not 100% sure I haven't danced to Bach! I was too busy wording it to get around what he wrote that has lyrics to remember that! But still, I think there is a third major class of music appreciation there, which has neither lyrics nor is for dancing to.
  

• silverwhisper said on Oct 03, 2007....

  hotaka: fair enough. i don't see it, but then again, who can see everything? :>
  
  melkor: as you can see from beyond's comment, he's with you on that. :>
  
  ed

• queenparanoia said on Oct 03, 2007....

  lyrics is the poetry of the a song... that's alll... =)

• silverwhisper said on Oct 03, 2007....

  as you can see, a number of us agree. :>
  
  ed

• hotaka said on Oct 03, 2007....

  Sorry, silverW, you don't see what? Sound? You don't have to. That's why we have ears. So you can hear it instead. ;)

• silverwhisper said on Oct 04, 2007....

  [trout-smacks hotaka into a different blog entry]

• hotaka said on Oct 04, 2007....

  But seriously, what don't you see? I mean, you said, "to me that by & large, there are two ways in which people tend to appreciate music: as something they can dance to, and as a vehicle for lyrics." So what about instrumentals and various classical and New Age compositions? Does anyone shake their botty to Chopin or sing along to Holst? What can be said about an acoustic guitar instrumental? No dancing and no singing to a lot of them, my friend. So I say there is a third element to music appreciation.

• silverwhisper said on Oct 05, 2007....

  i was more referring to liking a song in spite of the lyrics, to be honest. :>
  
  ed

• Expendable said on Oct 05, 2007....

  If you didn't get them, SC must have.

• silverwhisper said on Oct 05, 2007....

  cool. :>
  
  ed

• hotaka said on Oct 05, 2007....

  Did you see my post about Jump by Van Halen? That's a good example. Silly meaningless lyrics, but a catchy tune nonetheless.

• silverwhisper said on Oct 09, 2007....

  i did, but it's youtube and i don't have the bandwidth most days to check those out.
  
  still...me, i dunno, man.
  
  ed

• UnicornForm said on Jun 09, 2009....

  holy crap, thats llike i ws singing a song by bloodhound gang, foxtrot uniform charlie kilo,(f.u.c.k) and realized the whole song spoke of sex.

• silverwhisper said on Jun 23, 2009....

  i don't know that one. ?
  
  ed

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