To ask whether you’re a lyrics person?

[Forwardthinkingcrayfish]

Having heard various people say many times this year that Taylor Swift “is a lyrical genius”, it suddenly dawned on me that when I’m listening to any vocal music (even my favourite artists/bands) I don’t pay attention to the meaning of the lyrics!

Disclaimer: I’m a classically trained pianist (without wanting to come across as snobby… believe me I listen to cheesy pop too!). I believe my mind has been trained to focus on rhythm, chords, melody and some other aspects that, when put together, make the general “feeling” of a song for me… but lyrics really don’t fall into this list.

I genuinely think that a song could be about monkeys in a zoo or the treatment of sewage and if it’s sung with feeling, then I’ll enjoy it and wouldn’t probably pay any attention. I enjoy rap music because of the rhythmic and rhyming nature of the lyrics, but don’t especially care about the content of the lyrics themselves.

Of course, there is no right or wrong answer to this poll but I’m intrigued:

YABU - Lyrics are really important to me and I pay great attention to them when listening to a song
YANBU - I don’t/rarely pay attention to lyrics

Lyrics are so important to me that at as young as 9 I was stopping and starting my mum's cassette player and writing down the words to songs!

I can't enjoy a song properly unless I know every word and can sing along in the car. I'll repeat songs until I can sing them in full. This has proved tricky with my recent interest in Maneskin, who sing 50% of their songs in rapid Italian...

I have gone off my previously favourite bands when the quality of the lyrics and storytelling has faded. Looking at you, Kelly Jones of Stereophonics. 😭Thank God for The 1975.

just reading through some of the replies, it blows my mind how different people react to hearing music with vocals in. I always knew that different people would listen in different ways, but to see it written down is so cool!

I can’t picture scouring the internet for a song just because the lyrics resonate with my life.. I wouldn’t ever, ever think to do that!

My emotional response to the melody, chords, harmonies, instrumentation and rhythm are what ultimately leads me to like (or dislike) a song. I probably overanalyse most music, but that’s part of the fun!

love this thread so thank you!
lyrics for me - absolutely listen to the story telling, and appreciate clever/beautiful lyrics. Always slightly amazed at people (DH…) saying they don’t listen to them.
Again, not classically trained and loved my DD telling me I loved certain songs because they have the same chord progression (I may have that wrong, but you get the gist)
Not defined by lyrics, love classical and instrumental pieces equally.

You know her music and think that? Can I ask who you do find inspiring as a lyricist then, in today's modern music?

Yes, so much so that they sort of take over my brain and life.

I've got lyric tattoos and have more planned; some of them have come to hold so much meaning to me that I needed to find a way to stitch them into my body, the way they are into my brain and heart and soul.

DP is really crap with lyrics and then I get questions like "why is she singing about cherry pie?" meaning Lady Gaga, i.e he thinks it's "cherry pie, cherry pie, no he can't read my poker face" - FOOL

I want to be entertained by songs so can't stand endless songs about relationships and breakups

Lyrics all the way for me, I love songs that tell a story, almost like having a 3 minute film playing in my head. I also link songs to each other as a continuation/other side of the story, an example I was recently talking to someone about is Heart- All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You and Cher-He'll never know

Definitely a lyrics person. I don’t mind if the lyrics are fairly basic or simple, but I REALLY mind if they superficially sound like they’re deep and meaningful, but they’re just nonsense when you look at them. My worst is Coldplay Yellow. Sounds so heartfelt, but it’s just gibberish. I had another album years ago and I really liked it, caught snatches of the lyrics, sounded interesting, like she was really singing about something. After a few months I got round to reading the lyrics, and I was so disappointed. It really put me off and I’ve not been able to enjoy the album since. It feels like I’m being deceived!

ETA - I often prefer instrumental music, because I’m picky about the lyrics. I’d much rather have nothing than add-on filler lyrics.

It's always the lyrics for me

Yes I enjoy trying to work out the meaning of the lyrics and then, after a few listens, focus on the instruments. It's especially good when the music matches the meaning in some way. The opposite is good too - when the music is upbeat and jolly but the lyrics are sad and depressing.

I love a lyric where you have no idea of what they are talking about and have to piece it together by looking at people ponteficating on songmeanings.com. But I did English Lit and have barely any formal music education.

Sometimes I make myself to listen the different instruments individually but usually I just forget and hear it as one big sound, which I sure you wouldn't.

I'd be interested to hear your favourite songs to see if good lyrics hit home in a subsconscious way at all /

and Ticket to Ride is about the health cards of prostitutes in Hamburg (allegedly)

I'm definitely both (I've played in bands before) but I swear to God, a good instrumental can reduce me to tears. A good example is the instrumental at the end of Layla - think they used the song at the end of the Goodfellas film. Makes me blub like a baby and I've no idea why.

I'm a Smiths and a Beatles fan. I'm all about the lyrics. Morrissey and Lennon are poets; that's what's important to me in a song (am also an English teacher!)

Not a lyrics person and I love them! It's more about the tune than the purity of the voice for me I think. I like to just sing over them anyway (I'd say it sounds wonderful altogether 😂)

Me too. Trained musically to a very high standard and always focus on the rhythm and actual music rather than the lyrics, enjoy rap because of the rhythms and silly kids songs 😂

However also a swiftie and have switched on my listening to her and others' lyrics, partly due to my DP who is all about the lyrics rather than the music. And TS really is a lyrical genius, no matter what her haters say

I’m also a big Beatles fan and I like singing along but don’t pay attention to what the lyrics mean at all!

I am more of the Peter Kay lyrics mindset.

This is fascinating! I’m classically trained in a couple of instruments but learned to play others by ear and definitely much more about the music than the words (despite my love of writing). I do read lyrics sometimes but it’s always the tune that stays with me rather than the words. It’s actually a running joke in my family - my mum is very musical and always knows the tune but can never remember the words whereas my dad bless him can remember every single word but can’t carry a tune.

I'm really interested in the classical training-music correlation. I'm also classically trained... but as a singer, first and foremost, and if you don't look at the lyrics, you can't interpret and communicate them as well as you might otherwise.

I can sing the lyrics of a song over and over for years and not take in what they mean. I'm autistic and have trouble processing, particularly vocal with no visual (I lip read a lot - learned this in Covid!) so I just sing along blindly but I am a sucker for a random line or 2. It's all melody for me really.

Lyrics all the way.

Obviously I appreciate a beautiful melody or a clever / interesting bassline, piano line, drum sound or whatever, but I don't know enough about music in the theoretical sense for that to be my focus.

English Lit grad and now an academic, if that makes the difference.

Oh, and also a Swiftie 😉

You should listen to Hook by Blues Traveller.

YANBU and your entire post could have been written by me. 99% of the time it's the musical ideas that move me rather than the lyrics.