Current Events > In music, is the music itself or the lyrics more important?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Easily the music for me, though lyrics are still fine.
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The music, which includes the vocal melodies. The words can add to the overall effect but isn't usually as important.
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The music is 90% of the song. But that extra 10% does make a difference.
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The vocals are just another instrument, strong lyrics are good if you're attempting to use music as a form of communication for an idea or concept. There's also the case that you happen to be trying to pin down a sound where quality writing is traditionally expected. It just depends. I personally enjoy music with both weak and strong writing, including music that is absent of vocals all together. Neither is more important.
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the beat >>>

imo
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The lyrics don't really matter at all. The melody is more important
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Lyrical
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YookaLaylee posted...

The lyrics don't really matter at all. The melody is more important

stop listening to metal
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Freddie_Mercury posted...

YookaLaylee posted...

The lyrics don't really matter at all. The melody is more important

stop listening to metal

Metal only makes up like 10% of the music I listen to
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Considering I like mostly pop, I lean towards the music over lyrics.
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Depends on the genre, style of song, and the artist.

Technical Death Metal - Music
Trap - Music
Ballads - Lyrics
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This is 100% a case-by-case issue.
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YookaLaylee posted...

The lyrics don't really matter at all. The melody is more important

Exactly how I feel. One of my favorite songs is Reach Out to the Truth Reincarnation, and some lines are "Yeah, flooded apple pie", "It's already disgusting to dance with your palm", and "Yeah naked truth lies, only if you realize". Random af lyrics, but I really like the music itself which is what really matters.

But on the other hand good lyrics can never hurt a song either. I like a lot songs from RWBY and they tend to have lyrics that match well, like This Will Be the Day and Red Like Roses.
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Freddie_Mercury posted...

YookaLaylee posted...

The lyrics don't really matter at all. The melody is more important

stop listening to metal

or rap.

the music, but shitty lyrics are still enough to turn me away
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People that think lyrics aren't important should have to listen to nothing but instrumentals.

SaithSayer posted...

People that think lyrics aren't important should have to listen to nothing but instrumentals.

instrumentals that are just removing the vocal track from a song that otherwise has them loses the melodic line a lot of the time, which is more than just losing the lyrics

unless you just meant music without any vocal parts at all, which is already mostly what I listen to since lyrics are of negative(?) importance to me
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Take it to the logical extreme. Music without lyrics is quite clearly music, but lyrics without rhythm might not be considered music at all.

That being said, lyrics can still be irreplaceable depending on the song, the whole being far more than the sum of its parts.
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It depends on the song.

Imagine is incredibly silly lyrically but one of the most beautiful melodies Ive ever heard

Meanwhile Im so tired would be incredibly generic if I didnt understand what the lyrics were.

Inversely, a lot of KPop I love becomes insipid once I read the translations (looking at you, TWICE >_>)
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Overall, the music. If you only cared about the lyrics, you'll find much more skilled writing in terms of metaphors and imagery and themes in a poetry book than you'll get most music.

I don't need the translations to know that kpop is exactly as plastic as it sounds.
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Music. Good lyrics are optional, good melody is not.

SaithSayer posted...

People that think lyrics aren't important should have to listen to nothing but instrumentals.

Um, no because my favorite part of the music is the vocals. While I do listen to some instrumental only songs, I generally don't like long instrumental solos in songs with vocals.
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SaithSayer posted...

Freddie_Mercury posted...

YookaLaylee posted...

The lyrics don't really matter at all. The melody is more important

stop listening to metal

or rap.

Lyrics matter more in rap than any other genre lol. Don't assume that trap/mumble rap represents the whole genre. And that's not even what I listen to most of the time
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SaithSayer posted...

People that think lyrics aren't important should have to listen to nothing but instrumentals.

Garbage argument because lyrics =/= vocals. I listen to a lot of world/music in other languages. I don't know what the lyrics are and I don't care, as long as it sounds good.

Also, I love instrumental music and some of my favourite concert experiences are during instrumental pieces.

*looking at k-pop fans*
yeah, definitely the music. gibberish that sounds great will still sell well.
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MagnusX posted...

SaithSayer posted...

People that think lyrics aren't important should have to listen to nothing but instrumentals.

Garbage argument because lyrics =/= vocals. I listen to a lot of world/music in other languages. I don't know what the lyrics are and I don't care, as long as it sounds good.

Also, I love instrumental music and some of my favourite concert experiences are during instrumental pieces.

You don't even look up translations?

SaithSayer posted...

MagnusX posted...

SaithSayer posted...

People that think lyrics aren't important should have to listen to nothing but instrumentals.

Garbage argument because lyrics =/= vocals. I listen to a lot of world/music in other languages. I don't know what the lyrics are and I don't care, as long as it sounds good.

Also, I love instrumental music and some of my favourite concert experiences are during instrumental pieces.

You don't even look up translations?

Nope, that's way too much work for something I don't especially care about. And I did a double major with English in uni, so it's not like I don't understand that some lyrics are created with great importance or to convey a specific message. That's not why I listen to music though and I almost entirely focus on the sound of a voice. Hell, I honestly have a hard time even trying to understand lyrics in English songs because I focus so much on the instrumentation, whether it's scream metal, blues, groovy salsa, or whatever.

Like, I can def be emotionally impacted by lyrics, but I care so much more about tones/overtones, timbre, tempo, pitch, and the harmony of the instruments.