Hi,
I've been searching for the last..few years..for music that has lyrics I deem "good". I've had trouble finding music like this so I have turned to instrumental music. I like instrumental music, but I still have a desire to listen to music with lyrics.
I admit, I'm very picky about lyrics. I've chatted with several people about this, and I've come to understand that my lyrical taste is not the most common. That's the reason I'm here--I figured it's time to ask for help.
I am seeking music with "good" lyrics. My subjective qualifications for "good" are below. My request is that if you know of music that meets these qualifications that you share it with me and the rest of the world here in this thread.
"Good" is a subjective term, here's my definition as it pertains to lyrics:
Obvious (clear) meaning
I'm looking for music with lyrics that are not poetic/metaphoric*. Good lyrics, to me, have clear meaning. They communicate ideas how ideas are presented in essays or in speech.
Most lyrics I hear are subjective and therefore meaningless. One can validly interpret them in several different ways--sometimes in unrelated or even contradictory ways. Lyrics like this are (to me) gibberish--they're sounds without meaning. Usually the gibberish sounds beautiful, but it's so vacuous!
* Metaphors are fine as long as they are easy to interpret correctly.
Single coherent topic per song
I'm looking for music with coherent lyrics. An individual song should be about one topic. All the lyrics of that song should be aimed at explaining, building up to, or otherwise staying relevant to the central idea of that song. A song should not wander off into a bunch of topics but instead stay clear on explaining the central concept.
Minimal emphasis on rhymes
Rhymes are fun, but when the lyricist builds meaning from rhyme rather than using rhyme to convey meaning, it dilutes the power of the message. If a rhyme can be squeezed in without losing meaning, great. In almost all circumstances I've encountered this is not the case which is why I listed this as such a big point.
Rhymless music isn't critical--the first two points (coherency and obviousness) are. I only listed rhymes here because when it's obvious the rhyme doesn't fit (the line was developed after the rhyme) I get very turned off to the song.
I believe music can be both an expression of emotion and mind. As it stands, I have a hard time finding music that is an expression of clear coherent thought. Most music seems to be emotionally meaningful but devoid of intellectual meaning.
Please share if you know some bands that meet these conditions.
Cheers!