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View Poll Results: How important are lyrics to you in a song?
Very: they should tell some sort of story 0 0%
I like to hear lyrics that make sense but they don't have to tell a story or be too deep 2 15.38%
It doesn't bother me; I'm more interested in the music and how the song makes me feel 9 69.23%
I prefer to listen to music without lyrics, or I ignore them 0 0%
I really don't care either way 2 15.38%
Voters: 13. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 12-23-2016, 12:21 PM   #11 (permalink)
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Sometimes I want a hamburger. Other times a hot dog does the trick.
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Old 12-24-2016, 05:40 AM   #12 (permalink)
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Sometimes I want a hamburger. Other times a hot dog does the trick.
This guys knows what's up.


Sometimes I'm in the mood for a story and other times I could care less. I tend to focus on the make up of the song more than the lyrics/story anyways.
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Old 12-25-2016, 06:34 PM   #13 (permalink)
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Old 12-25-2016, 09:48 PM   #14 (permalink)
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Tik tok is seriously a banger with high quality lyrics, I'm surprised she isn't popular yet.
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Old 12-25-2016, 10:09 PM   #15 (permalink)
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I'm a fan of folk and really like ballads that tell a story. But a story isn't a requirement.

There are songs that express themes, but don't tell a story. This Train Is Bound for Glory is an example. The words are important, but they don't tell a tale. They draw a series of images that express the theme of the song. A lot of gospel music uses lyrics this way.

Worried Man Blues is another of my favorites that isn't a ballad, but does express a theme. Similarly, Johnny B. Goode.

There are good songs that use random lyrics almost like scat. Siberian Khatru (Yes) is an example of that use of lyrics. (I find that many songwriters try use this technique to be artistic and deep, but fail.)

How important are lyrics to me, I'll say 10 out of a possible 17.
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Old 12-26-2016, 02:58 AM   #16 (permalink)
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Tik tok is seriously a banger with high quality lyrics, I'm surprised she isn't popular yet.
Haha?
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Old 12-26-2016, 05:14 AM   #17 (permalink)
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It just depends. I enjoy a good story told in a song—Nick Cave, The Decemberists, and Harry Nilsson come to mind—but I'm also fine with lyrics that are simply evocative, lyrics I don't understand, or no lyrics at all. I would say most music I listen to has no lyrics, has lyrics in a language I don't understand, or has lyrics that are next to impossible to understand because of the vocal style.
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Old 12-26-2016, 05:16 AM   #18 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Janszoon View Post
It just depends. I enjoy a good story told in a song—Nick Cave, The Decemberists, and Harry Nilsson come to mind—but I'm also fine with lyrics that are simply evocative, lyrics I don't understand, or no lyrics at all. I would say most music I listen to has no lyrics, has lyrics in a language I don't understand, or has lyrics that are next to impossible to understand because of the vocal style.
The bolded is so me when it comes to the large amount of reggaeton I listen to. I can pick out a few words here and there but most of the time I'm not sure what they are saying completely.
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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.


Quote:
Originally Posted by RoxyRollah View Post
IMO I don't know jack-**** though so don't listen to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Franco Pepe Kalle View Post
The problem is that most police officers in America are psychopaths.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Batlord View Post
You're a terrible dictionary.
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Old 12-26-2016, 10:25 AM   #19 (permalink)
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Everything is relative. On one hand, elaborate lyrics make you appreciate "the how". That is, how the idea or the story is expressed. On the other hand, lyrics that are simply evocative allow space for your imagination. Both things are interesting, if at least there is an idea behind them:

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Shadows of shadows passing. It is now 1831, and as always, I am absorbed with a delicate thought. It is how poetry has indefinite sensations, to which end, music is an essential. Since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception, music when combined with a pleasurable idea is poetry. Music without the idea is simply music. Without music or an intriguing idea, colour become pallor, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are but for a moment motionless.

The Alan Parsons Project: Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976). A passage based on some Edgar Allan Poe's writings, narrated by Orson Welles.



Sometimes, songwriters themselves want us to pay attention to the lyrics.... sometimes not. See shoegazing, for instance. Obviously, lyrics are not the most important thing here. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that a shoegaze song doesn't have a certain message.

As for non-English songs, sometimes you only need to understand the title or a few lines to "get the message". For instance, listen to the following song. All you need to know is what chorus says: "take me high, take me higher". I won't translate the rest of the lyrics (for the moment). First, because they're not that important. Second, because I'm too lazy. But it doesn't matter, you will surely "grasp the feeling":



Band Odio París (which means "I hate Paris", ): Geometría coaxial ("Coaxial Geometry", 2016).
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Old 12-26-2016, 05:14 PM   #20 (permalink)
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