When listening to music, what's more important?

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What do you listen for?

The music itself
22
88%
Lyrics
3
12%
 
Total votes: 25

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Arloest
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When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Arloest » Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:18 am

Ever since I was 4 I've always given more importance to the music itself. I will listen to great music accompanied with rather bad lyrics, but I won't listen to bad music no matter how great the accompanying lyrics are.

Obviously I don't think anyone can listen PURELY for the lyrics, ie, something extremely poetic on top of nails on a chalkboard. So for the sake of the poll assume that the music is at least mediocre.
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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Maggot Brain » Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:24 am

They're both important to me, but I'd say the music is more. KISS, for example, have the worst lyrics ever written, but the music more than makes up for it.

When there's both at once though, I pretty much orgasm.

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby sad jazz cantaloupe » Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:42 am

I listen primarily to Folk and Punk

now with folk, you can get stuff like Neil Young who I love to death simply because of his beautiful voice. But even outside of that, I fall in love with the songs themselves, and would enjoy a group of children singing songs just as much as a band with a lot of chops

in summation, I like to sing along so I go with the words.
Last edited by sad jazz cantaloupe on Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Segovia » Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:43 am

The Music defenitely. Lyrics at times are just stupid, but most of the time I would be attracted to the actual notes that the lyrics are sung to.

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Arloest » Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:44 am

Yeah, for sure the ideal situation is to have great music in a great song with great lyrics. This is what I STRIVE for in music. Or just looking for it.
Who sleeps shall awake, greeting the shadows from the sun
Who sleeps shall awake, looking through the window of our lives
Waiting for the moment to arrive...
Show us the silence in the rise,
So that we may someday understand...

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Segovia » Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:55 am

I would say look for. If you truly strived for it, you would make your own lyrics that applied to your own taste. Since great lyrics and music are completely subjective.

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Maggot Brain » Thu Jan 07, 2010 4:20 am

now with folk, you can get stuff like Niel Young who I love to death simply because of his beautiful voice.
Love him so much that you can't spell his name right? :ninja:

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby MuffinSticks » Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:01 am

I greatly appreciate both, as the music itself demonstrates talent and lyrics can be extremely intriguing and artistically expressive. However, I mainly go for the music itself because I have to focus really hard to keep my attention on the lyrics.

Only with both superior music AND lyrics, however, can a song be perfect :3
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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby datherman » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:40 am

Very much the first option. I listen to a lot of classic rock, which tends to have excellent instrumentation but not always top-notch lyrics. I actually thought of this the other day as I was listening to "Close to the Edge" by Yes. The lyrics make no friggin sense, but I'll still sing along with them anyway. Same with Stairway to Heaven.
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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby nickspoon » Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:40 am

I couldn't choose - if the music is great but the lyrics are inane I can't listen to it, and if the music is awful but the lyrics are beautiful it's difficult to listen to that too.
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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Cactus Jack » Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:25 pm

Depends entirely on the band and the song. Some songs don't need good lyrics. AC/DC is a great band if you want to jump up and down and bob your head but the lyrics aren't anything worth mentioning. The Vaselines have some great lyrics but nobody in that band knew how to play their insturments. So I cannot pick one or another because it depends on what I'm looking for at the time.

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Rooster » Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:41 pm

To me their both as important as each other; a song with bad music can be saved by the lyrics (eg; "It's Alright Ma" by Bob Dylan) and a song with bad lyrics can be saved by it's music (anything by Black Sabbath)

Also, it's not WHAT you sing, it's HOW you sing it. My favourite songs are the ones where the words are simple, the music fits it, and the lyrics are sweet. Examples of this are "Roll With It" by Oasis and "New Slang" by The Shins. With both of those songs, if you changed anything on them or added anything they probably wouldn't work as well as songs.

In short, I look at the whole package rather than the components of the song, which is why I'm abstaining from this vote.

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby nickspoon » Thu Jan 07, 2010 2:38 pm

What Roo says is certainly true. There are many songs which are really great, but if you read the lyrics it's pretty obvious that they're rubbish by any standard - but it doesn't seem to matter if they're sung as though they're meaningful.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2:5, NIV)
Josh Woodward, Ohio Singer/Songwriter, offers his songs for free. Give him a listen.

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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby sad jazz cantaloupe » Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:48 pm

Love him so much that you can't spell his name right? :ninja:
haha, I'd had about an hour and a half of sleep in the past 30+ hours at that point, my bad
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Re: When listening to music, what's more important?

Postby Muninn » Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:53 pm

I'm going to have to go against popular opinion and say the lyrics.

I find myself paying attention more to what's being sung than what's played. Poetic lyrics that are engaging, interesting and make me think have always been my preferance.

I don't completely discount the music side though. I'll listen to any song if I like it and have no genre of music I limit myself to. I approach music like poetry, it has to affect me emotionally, it has to be evocative of something. To me, words are more effective than sounds in that regard.

When people ask me what type of music I like I say I prefer accomplished wordsmiths.


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