Lyrics or No Lyrics?

RedEyedAbyss

A lot of people I've talked to seem to think that lyrics are really important in music. On the one hand, music can be a great mood supplement to the poetry of words or vice versa. Imagine trying to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody without either. Yet in most cases, I find that I'd rather just listen to the music itself. People say that lyrics are important to convey a message or story, but I think that's redundant. The interplay of melody, harmony, and rhythm tells the story quite well by itself, even if it's not as concrete. In fact, it just feels more satisfying when the message is not explicit. Maybe my bias is due to being classically trained and thus being more inclined to pay attention to the notes than the words.

Of course, so many pop songs have inane lyrics and uninspired melodies.

MillerCross

Depends on context, really.

I'll use a simple example.

This piece is perfect because it doesn't have lyrics.



This piece is perfect because it has long rambling lyrics.

captainbrass

Dylan is pretty much a classic example of a songwriter where the lyrics are probably more important/interesting than the music, which is why whacked-out old hippies still call the guy a poet. There aren't many others in that category - most lyrics sound a bit silly without the music.

At the other extreme, any sort of music where the main point is for people to dance to it doesn't need very complicated lyrics, or any at all - lots of jazz, funk, disco and house fall into that category.

glennmagusharvey

Generally speaking, if I am actually paying attention to the musical content, the lyrics if any are just a convenient set of syllables to sing the music to, at best, and a problem at worst.

Forzare

I usually find the melody of the vocals more important than the lyrics, myself.