Am I the only one that views most vocals as just sounds? *

Good point.

Would Leonard Cohen have gotten to make a second record if lyrics didn't matter to plenty of people?

 

I can certainly appreciate vocals as just sounds especially when they are silly or meaningless. Meaningful lyrics can enhance (or degrade) a song tremendously though.

Vocals disturb my wife. She prefers instrumentals and if she must listen to vocals she prefers them in a language she doesn't understand. She likes opera (as long as it's not in English), Bollywood and Enya.

 

phish has lyrics?

 

i think leonard cohen has one of the great "instrument voices". i couldn't tell you what a single song is about, yet i love his work.

 

Personally I find that it depends on the artist or even song.

For instance-

-If I listen to Bob Dylan's first album I tend to focus on the lyrics because you get the impression that the words are what the artist wants you to focus on.

-If I listen to say Larks Tongues in Aspic by KC I generally get the impression that the band is trying to make a more musical statement and words are a bit secondary.

I do tend to gravitate more towards bands with a more musical approach to the music and listen to vocals as a melody rather than the specific words/lyrics.

That is just how I interpret stuff- It is a natural thing and not something I decide before I listen unless I purposley try to deciphe the lyrics of a song.

 

I wonder if this is at least partially dependent on whether the listener is also a singer.

I sing along with my music all the time (when the situation permits). In the car, when up late working (after the rest of the family is in bed), while cutting the grass, ...

Being this way, I can't help but incorporate the lyrics into my overall experience of the song, which is why some artists whose lyrics usually just don't for me (Rush, America, ...) gradually fall out of my listening rotation.

Instrumentals are different story, of course, and I love those equally.

 

I started as a "folkie" and part of me still remains there. The story is important to me. In fact, I have a very hard time listening to music without words. But the words have to tell a story or portray an emotion and not just be nonsense.

Lipid lounge lizard ladies bore me horribly. I have no patience for pretty voices with nothing to say.

 

You can say that about The Beach Boys' "Salt Lake City" or "I Get Around", but how about "A Day In The Life Of A Tree" or "'Til I Die"?

 

To me, listening to vocals and listening to lyrics are two different things. I always appreciated good lyrics but I never really appreciated good vocals until I started listening to recordings on better quality systems.

 

I'm not saying I never care about the lyrics - but most of the time they are not that important to me.

That is to say, I rarely know all the words to a song - but I can always sing the entire melody of a song I am familiar with (including the rhythm/phrasing) and I can pick out the chords behind the melody.

 

Yes. I do pay attention to words and have memorized the lyrics to countless songs. But even if a song is lyrically slight, the peculiar sounds a vocalist produces and the way they pronounce words fascinates me.

I also listen to a lot of songs/operatic pieces where I don't even have a literal understanding of the words, but the singer will still have my rapt attention. The human voice is one of my favorite instruments.

 

For me it really depends on the song. Some examples of songs that the lyrics are the thing are songs such as:
Blowin' in the Wind,
If I had a hammer,
Standing on the moon,

On the other hand, songs that I like with dumb lyrics like:
what restaurant the singer eats at,
Big hands on the wheel of the armoured car,

Then, some lyrics drive me crazy:
Take your big brown cow (along with your stupid song) and get out of here.

Can you imagine:
I want to hold your libframilch,
Tangled up in seaweed,
Some enchanted moon phase.

 

I have trouble recalling the lyrics of any songs; even those of the Beatles, whose music I've been immersed in for nearly a half-century. I got busted for this a few years ago at a casual gig, when some friends noticed that I kept singing the same verse of most of the tunes. I do know all the verses to the Kinks' "Tired Of Waiting For You", though.

The reason is (I think), my attention wanders when I listen; sometimes I'm listening to the rhythm section, other times the guitars, the Mellotron, the flute, etc. (or whatever else is going on). I even listen to the singing at times!

 

Lyrics

"They don't have to be good for me to enjoy a song, generic and innocuous can be fine, but if they are embarassingly clumsy or stupid they can ruin a song."

+++++++++++++++

I agree with that statement. I don't have a problem with lyrics unless they are really bad. In general I pay only minor attention to lyrics unless there is something that stands out. A song like Movin' To Montana makes me want to listen to the lyrics. The Beatles song Yesterday was mentioned and with songs like that (and also much of Cat Stevens' songs) I also listen because it is easy enough to hear the words clearly.

With most other groups I don't pay as much attention or don't care.

Scott

 

I rarely know the lyrics to the songs I like. If people point out a great lyric, I will sometimes investigate, but I usually don't pick up on them myself. If I can sing along to a song, it is because I enjoy the sounds the singer is making and not necessarily the words they represent. As someone earlier said, it is embarrasing to not know a song based on a lyric. My friends and colleagues consider me an above average (not expert) authority on music, but when asked a lyric type question, a lot of times I will say, "Ummm...Ummmm...."

 

i listen to a lot of music where you can't even decipher any of the lyrics without a lyric sheet. so to answer the question, no, you are not the only one.

 

This can be a blessing in disguise. I occasionally "hear" a lyric I missed on The Who Sell Out, an album that I've listened to for 40 years! Keeps things fresh.

 

Same here. I really don't pay attention to lyrics. Its the sound of the voice just like the sound of everything else.

 

For many albums, that is how I listen. Sometimes discovering/paying close attention to the real lyrics can actually detract from my musical experience.

On the other hand, I used to know every single word to Frank Zappa's Apostrophe (first album I ever owned, way back when I was in Jr High). To this day I can sing along to about 95% and even get the phrasing/inflection right

 

No, I 've always thought that the lyrics and singing were the most important part of a song or music. I guess I'm not really a musician. When I grew up, the words to a song meant everything, it had to have something to say.

 

do you only listen to music with words or lyrics?

 

Actually I've learned to me more instrumentally inclined. I learned to enjoy Classical and instrumental jazz as I got older.

I was just listening to New Order's recording of Ceremony, which is one of my favorite '80's tracks, which lyrics have vague meaning, the vocals are buried in the mix, but do create an atmosphere and impression.

 

I catch key words and phrases at times and remember those.....but yes, the vocals are generally just another sonic layer to me. No more or less important than anything else.

 

I'm the same way.

 

This may be a left-brain/right-brain kinda thing.