To kick things off with an easy question, what do you prefer? The lyrical aspect of a song or the musical arrangement behind it?

To deepen the topic, how important are lyrics to your enjoyment of music? Can you enjoy a song with poor lyrics but brilliant music, or brilliant lyrics but poor delivery?
How important is the choice of words in a song, what about the delivery of said words. Does it matter whether the wording was good or bad if the delivery of said lyrics was brilliant and still got the point across?

Since it is late, I'll leave it at that.
Discuss!

An original lyric makes a song. I can't listen to a song, no matter how exciting the music is, if the lyrics are, 'I loved you, but then you walked away,' or some such shit. I enjoy trying to work out where a songwriter is coming from, or interpretating the lyrics to suit me, and so I'd rather not be hit over the head with obvious stuff. I'm not a musician, so I don't really care if a band uses 3 chords, or whatever, it doesn't matter to me.

For example, take this Sufjan Stevens lyric -

'I can't explain the state that I'm in
The state of my heart
He was my best friend
Into the car, from the back seat.'

Now, I take this lyric as either his friend dying in a car accident, or it might even be in reference to 2 best friends loving in the back seat of a car, and the confusion that follows. The music doesn't interest me, all that much, but the lyrics intrigue me. If the song lyrics had've been, 'My friend died in a car accident, I am really sad,' then I wouldn't bother listening.

It depends on what type of music you listen to. Gangsta rap needs witty lyrics whereas east coast rap or reggaeton which is all about the music (or the bass beats)and the lyrics don't matter much.

When I listen to rock or metal or reggae I want good lyrics. I don't like hearing some fucktard depressed teenager crying about how his parents suck or suicide. But of course, good rock is also made of good music.

And then there's techno, trance or any electronic music where you probably just hear one sentence played and edited over and over for 6 mins over music, which I have no problem with.

So yeah, lyrics are important depending on the type of music and who's singing I geuss.

I agree with DZ, it's all relative in the end.

I probably prefer the music itself to lyrics, but good lyrics just add to the beauty of a song. For example, The Good Life by Weezer is my current obsession, the lyrics are excellent but the music really does it for me, the whole insane bass guitar, the catchiness, everything. However if it was up against shit lyrics, itd be less cool.

Crazy in Love by Beyonce is an example - shit lyrics but good musically, and as a result the song isnt as favourable as it couldve been if some Outkast lyrics had been chucked on it or something.

I think Lyrics are what makes the meaning of the song obvious, and can sort of guild your reaction/thinking to it. It's not always lyrics though... sometimes the way the song is placed in the album, the name, a video clip, or whatever, can make the meaning more obvious.

The music and the lyrical content really have to work well together to make a good song. It's obviously hard to measure exactly what the music alone 'intends', but when placed with proper lyrics, the song should have a clear 'emotional goal'. To use an analogy, a ghost story should be told in a dark room at night. Think of the music as the dark room, and the lyrics as the story itself.

I couldn't really give a flying fudge about lyrics to be honest, so I guess you could say that I'm a tad superficial when it comes to listening to music. I'm really not the type of person who gets any sort of enjoyment out of reading a bands lyrics, I mean, that shit is what poetry is for, and I've always seen poetry as being inherently emo.

The only bands lyrics that I really enjoy reading are Sabbats, who stick to the the G-man in very entertaining fashion. Here's a couple of examples:

To put their music into context, most of Sabbats lyrics are concerned with the persecution of heathen folk during the Christianization of Europe during the Dark Ages. Bolded are some of my favourite little excerpts. Sure, the lyrics aren't exactly deep or meaningful, but I just love how incredibly scathing their lyrics are, and when coupled with with Martin Walkyiers rapid fire vocal delivery it's as fierce as fuck.

I also don't mind the lyrics of Opeth, Cradle of Filth and Zyklon, but apart from those, I couldn't really give a flying fudge.

I can't understand Death Metals lyrics, so I suppose they wouldn't matter. I find lyrics of stupendous importance, however.

:huh:

I know people have their own tastes but you've got to be kidding! <_<

Listen to some Chemical Brothers albums, and you'll see why he doesn't have a problem with it. ;)

Or Bennasi, or Daft Punk, or Daruuude!!!!

Well, for Daft Punk, I think that their 2nd(Discovery) album is far better than their 1st and 3rd, which in my opinion are reeeaaaallly repeditive, and, to be honest, most of the tracks give me a headache. :|

But not Discovery though, that's Daft Punk at their best. :D

I'll agree with that actually. Nothing of theirs beats Discovery as a whole.

Anyway, you have all stated what brilliantly written lyrics mean to you and their importance, but what about the delivery of said lyrics. Is the point being expressed throughout the words in these lyrics destroyed by poor delivery? Is the emotional impact only realised through the delivery, or the choice of words within themselves? Can shortcuts be used with word choice if the point/emotion can still be expressed by the delivery?

To quote some famous person I can't remember the name of - "My favourite singers are those that can't sing." A polished voice seems to fake. I much prefer a real dirty and rough voice. Makes it feel much more real.

Yeah I definitely agree Hello, same goes with books and stuff. If something like Catcher in the Rye was written with a polished style, it'd seem wrong. Dylan songs are a good example of this.

So you like Slim Dusty, Hello?

I really find lyrics important and if, specifically, if I can relate to the lyrics, I'll like the song even more. The musical aspect is also very important and great lyrics will have a greater effect in a well written vs. poorly written song (musically). Basically, for me it goes [from best to worse]:

Good lyrics, good music
Good lyrics, not good music
Not good lyrics, good music

I hope that makes sense because it does to me!

I can appareciate songs with shithouse lyrics. The lyrics aren't very important in trance/dance/techno etc. But a song with good lyrics is going to relate and connect with you on a more emotional level.

So, I don't know what my answer is.

Now to answer my own questions.

To be honest I don't really pay attention to lyrics that much. That may surprise some people considering my unusual tastes but yeah, I don't pay that much attention to them. I wouldn't be able to suggest why it is the case, but whatever. When I do pay attention however, I like to read them a few times and try to relate to their meaning/point and emotion. If they lack in the department, then it puts me off a little bit. Not enough to hate the song/s altogether but enough to make me be disappointed. Delivery is very important though. If I connect with a song, I expect the delivery to be perfect. If it isn't, then I despise the singer for ruining said lyrics.

As a drummer, the lyrics don't particularly bother me. However, if the lyrics are interesting, I definitly listen in.

For example, Dream Theater's concept album "Metropolis part. 2: Scenes from a Memory" follows on from the song "Metropolis part 1" off the Images and Words album. I&W was released back in 1992, and Metropolis pt. 1 was an 11 minute song. 7 years later they release SfaM, and the whole album is part 2. The amazing thing about the album is that every time you listen to it, you discover something new; whether it be in the musical or lyrical side of things. Basically, part and part 2 tell a story. Throughout SfaM, the music and lyrics constantly refer back to part 1. At first I thought SfaM's music was awesome, but once I knew the lyrics and listened carefully it made it just so much more spectacular.

Most of the music I listen to is metal, and the lyrics don't bother me. But like I said, it's probably because I'm a drummer and I'm in for the music.

East coast rappers are generally known to have conscious lyrics whereas gangsta rap relies on both a nice beat and shock lyrics about materialism, urban living etc. I think you've got it the wrong way around. In terms of lyrics gangsta rap is NOT what you listen to if you want good lyrics.