Red Mosquito

Pete and I talked about this once over BBQ. I'm much more drawn to lyrics than music. But that's not enough; it's overly simplistic to say 'I'm a lyrics guy.' There are some great lyrics to songs I never want to listen to (Leonard Cohen is the best example of this I can think of right now). And there are terrible lyrics to songs that I goddamn love (more than a few Garth Brooks songs come to mind here). And there are plenty of amazing songs that don't have lyrics (Kind of Blue is one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time).

The thing for me is, it's all about the way the lyrics ride the vocal melody. It's how the melody and the lyrics work together, and then to a lesser degree, the singer's actual voice.

So, I guess if you made me pick between the two, I'd say I'm a lyrics guy. But really, I'm a melody guy?

durdencommatyler wrote:Pete and I talked about this once over BBQ. I'm much more drawn to lyrics than music. But that's not enough; it's overly simplistic to say 'I'm a lyrics guy.' There are some great lyrics to songs I never want to listen to (Leonard Cohen is the best example of this I can think of right now). And there are terrible lyrics to songs that I goddamn love (more than a few Garth Brooks songs come to mind here). And there are plenty of amazing songs that don't have lyrics (Kind of Blue is one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time).

The thing for me is, it's all about the way the lyrics ride the vocal melody. It's how the melody and the lyrics work together, and then to a lesser degree, the singer's actual voice.

So, I guess if you made me pick between the two, I'd say I'm a lyrics guy. But really, I'm a melody guy?

You're a musical experience guy. Lyrics are a part of that. It all creates one unique package.

I am that too. I'm not saying lyrics don't matter. Just that they're on a secondary plane when it comes to my musical appreciation. I will always be drawn to good composition, a good performance, a good melody, good harmonies, good sound over the words strewn over them. But then there are certain artists where lyrics are kind of their main thing-- The Mountain Goats are great, but I can't imagine listening to them if they had completely unremarkable lyrics over their (relatively) unremarkable music.

Most of the time I can't even understand what the singer is saying, and in the days before the internet, if they didn't have the lyrics in the liner notes, you were left to make up your own anyway. Some artists preferred it that way.

So I really couldn't care less about lyrics, unless they are really good or hilariously bad.

LoathedVermin72 wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:Pete and I talked about this once over BBQ. I'm much more drawn to lyrics than music. But that's not enough; it's overly simplistic to say 'I'm a lyrics guy.' There are some great lyrics to songs I never want to listen to (Leonard Cohen is the best example of this I can think of right now). And there are terrible lyrics to songs that I goddamn love (more than a few Garth Brooks songs come to mind here). And there are plenty of amazing songs that don't have lyrics (Kind of Blue is one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time).

The thing for me is, it's all about the way the lyrics ride the vocal melody. It's how the melody and the lyrics work together, and then to a lesser degree, the singer's actual voice.

So, I guess if you made me pick between the two, I'd say I'm a lyrics guy. But really, I'm a melody guy?

You're a musical experience guy. Lyrics are a part of that. It all creates one unique package.

Yeah, I like this.

theplatypus wrote:I am that too. I'm not saying lyrics don't matter. Just that they're on a secondary plane when it comes to my musical appreciation. I will always be drawn to good composition, a good performance, a good melody, good harmonies, good sound over the words strewn over them. But then there are certain artists where lyrics are kind of their main thing-- The Mountain Goats are great, but I can't imagine listening to them if they had completely unremarkable lyrics over their (relatively) unremarkable music.

The Mountain Goats are a good example of what I'm talking about, too. Everyone tells me they have great lyrics. But I can't listen to any of their songs with any interest or admiration. They bore me. And I can't even get to the lyrics. Maybe they are great but the rest of it does nothing for me so I don't even take the time to digest the lyrics. The melodies are so boring.

durdencommatyler wrote:Pete and I talked about this once over BBQ. I'm much more drawn to lyrics than music. But that's not enough; it's overly simplistic to say 'I'm a lyrics guy.' There are some great lyrics to songs I never want to listen to (Leonard Cohen is the best example of this I can think of right now). And there are terrible lyrics to songs that I goddamn love (more than a few Garth Brooks songs come to mind here). And there are plenty of amazing songs that don't have lyrics (Kind of Blue is one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time).

The thing for me is, it's all about the way the lyrics ride the vocal melody. It's how the melody and the lyrics work together, and then to a lesser degree, the singer's actual voice.

So, I guess if you made me pick between the two, I'd say I'm a lyrics guy. But really, I'm a melody guy?

I remember this conversation. Let's do it again sometime.

theplatypus wrote:Same, but in my case I wonder if that comes from listening primarily to instrumental music as a kid, as well as music in a language I didn't understand yet (English). Lyrics have always felt secondary.

I am the opposite of you in those regards (instrumental and foreign language listening as child) but still am in the music camp.

I've found that there's really no telling when any given component of a song is going to pop out and register with me in some significant way, positive or negative. "Music" and "lyrics" are too reductive a means of analyzing music for me -- "music" encompasses a plethora of individual components in and of itself (rhythm, dynamic, the timbre of each instrument), as do "lyrics" (the meanings of the words, the phonetic effect of the rhymes, subtler things like phrasing and inflection), each of these things perfectly capable of succeeding or failing on its own terms. I think most of the time the music vs. lyrics debate is really a "gut reaction" vs. "analysis" debate, as the primary argument against the lyrics-first camp always seems to be that they care too much about something they shouldn't care about, which is silly. Everything that's a part of the music is there for consumption, and some folks are just sensitive to certain ingredients. It's part of what makes the glorious tapestry of music appreciation such a joy.

And I think of lyrics as the actual words being spoken and not the way the vocals sound or harmonize with the instruments. I am very appreciative of the voice being used as an instrument in the band, but the words that were chosen to represent the sounds mean less to me. Now that I've put that thought in writing, I'm not sure it makes much sense.

At the end of the day, songwriting is an expressive art. The decision to include communicative language in your song is a decision to have that language be a part of that expression. Whether or not those words look good on paper, or represent a significant artistic feat in and of themselves, they must serve the expressive quality of the song or they are unavoidably and unquestionably harmful to it.

In short, Anthony Kiedis is the worst thing ever to happen to any band. Thank you for your time.

BurtReynolds wrote:Most of the time I can't even understand what the singer is saying, and in the days before the internet, if they didn't have the lyrics in the liner notes, you were left to make up your own anyway. Some artists preferred it that way.

So I really couldn't care less about lyrics, unless they are really good or hilariously bad.

Pretty much. I have no idea what the lyrics are to many of my favourite songs, I've never felt much compulsion to find out. Sometimes they jump out, for whatever reason, but not very often.

The human voice is an engaging instrument but lyrics themselves I tend to think of more like a percussive accompaniment that hopefully don't ruin whatever mood is being created by everything else.

I think Kiedas is seriously fine, he suits the Chili Peppers perfectly.

Birds in Hell wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Most of the time I can't even understand what the singer is saying, and in the days before the internet, if they didn't have the lyrics in the liner notes, you were left to make up your own anyway. Some artists preferred it that way.

So I really couldn't care less about lyrics, unless they are really good or hilariously bad.

Pretty much. I have no idea what the lyrics are to many of my favourite songs, I've never felt much compulsion to find out. Sometimes they jump out, for whatever reason, but not very often.

The human voice is an engaging instrument but lyrics themselves I tend to think of more like a percussive accompaniment that hopefully don't ruin whatever mood is being created by everything else.

I think Kiedas is seriously fine, he suits the Chili Peppers perfectly.

I often think of Beavis and Butthead referring to Anthony Kiedis as "Anthony Krokus." This makes me smile.

He's such a lovable dope.

cutuphalfdead wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:Pete and I talked about this once over BBQ. I'm much more drawn to lyrics than music. But that's not enough; it's overly simplistic to say 'I'm a lyrics guy.' There are some great lyrics to songs I never want to listen to (Leonard Cohen is the best example of this I can think of right now). And there are terrible lyrics to songs that I goddamn love (more than a few Garth Brooks songs come to mind here). And there are plenty of amazing songs that don't have lyrics (Kind of Blue is one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time).

The thing for me is, it's all about the way the lyrics ride the vocal melody. It's how the melody and the lyrics work together, and then to a lesser degree, the singer's actual voice.

So, I guess if you made me pick between the two, I'd say I'm a lyrics guy. But really, I'm a melody guy?

I remember this conversation. Let's do it again sometime.

Please and thank you.

Kevin Davis wrote:I've found that there's really no telling when any given component of a song is going to pop out and register with me in some significant way, positive or negative. "Music" and "lyrics" are too reductive a means of analyzing music for me -- "music" encompasses a plethora of individual components in and of itself (rhythm, dynamic, the timbre of each instrument), as do "lyrics" (the meanings of the words, the phonetic effect of the rhymes, subtler things like phrasing and inflection), each of these things perfectly capable of succeeding or failing on its own terms. I think most of the time the music vs. lyrics debate is really a "gut reaction" vs. "analysis" debate, as the primary argument against the lyrics-first camp always seems to be that they care too much about something they shouldn't care about, which is silly. Everything that's a part of the music is there for consumption, and some folks are just sensitive to certain ingredients. It's part of what makes the glorious tapestry of music appreciation such a joy.

It's been true for a long time now but I'd like to officially go on record as saying that Kevin Davis is RM's greatest asset.

Birds in Hell wrote:I think Kiedas is seriously fine, he suits the Chili Peppers perfectly.