Lyrics are important to me. Sure, I'll enjoy a good tune even if the lyrics are weak, but lots of comedy songs would lose a ton of what makes them fun if they didn't have their great lyrics. Just take the Arrogant Worms, for instance. And without his lyrics, Weird Al Yankovic would just be a cover artist.
Lyrics to me are pretty much the most important part of any song, since I like music to have an actual meaning or idea behind it that's being expressed. Without lyrics it's pretty hard to convey any message, so that makes it the most important. Of course, the music needs to be decent too or it won't be enjoyable.
Metal music is usually an exception to me, where I don't pay as much attention to the lyrics, but rather just enjoy the music.
I do agree, vocal delivery is definitely important. I feel that song you shared shows the meaning one's voice can bring, even without knowing the words. I got the sense of an army prepping for battle and marching confident they will protect their loved ones. All that is thanks to the grand choir vocals and passion pouring from the lead singer (that album cover also nudged me towards that imagery, but whateva).
I figured it's about a King who wants to take over the world because it's his Godly right, rather.
/ A Swede
OT: I generally don't care about the lyrics. I'd rather have a powerful vocalist, like a few others here.
Listen to a lot of Swedish trallpunk though. Most of them tend to have clear messages that I like.
I don't know, for most of the music I ever hear, the lyrics are (at best) a method of telling you what mood to be in for the music or (at worst) absolute tripe. I mean, I'll always listen to the lyrics anyway, mostly because of the sneaking suspicion that at least one of them has a terrible message. I'm usually disappointed by the lyrics, though, especially taken by themselves. As poetry, they're pretty bland, self-serious and cliched. Idk, maybe I'm just listening to the wrong stuff.
Lyrics, to me, gotta be meaningful... If they are just stupidity about something stupid like "I'm too sexy for my shirt" and such... I'll hate the song to death.
Lyrics gotta be meaningful. Gotta be good. The vocals also gotta be good too (Vocals being singing in general and their voice and such).
Lyrics wise... There are a lot of songs with some inspiring, good, etc lyrics. One song from the top of my head will be "Great to be Different". The main phrase of that song is a simple meaning but it is just something not many people think about and it really does make others feel proud or happy about themselves.
Fuck yeah, Sabaton. Joachim Brodin's a pretty good song writer, too, especially given that English isn't his first language. It takes skill to write a song about the Holocaust that is both kick ass and tasteful.
OT: Some rappers (Immortal technique, Eminem, Lowkey, R.A. the rugged man), Till Lindemann (of Rammstein), Zach de La Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine), and Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam).
they can just be something that I relate to for some reason, or be about something I really like (my favourite band is Blind Guardian, and they do a lot of songs based on the works of JRR Tolkien, my favourite author, for example), but lyrics are definitely king as far as I'm concerned.
But yeah, lyrics are important to me, probably because I tend to listen to lots of sing along types. Or, at the very least, there's a long chorus or such to sing along with. Bands like Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden, Dio, Hammerfall, etc tend to all being very sing-along, while the lyrics themselves generally tell a story or at least have some sort of message. Or in Hammerfall's case, can occasionally be substituted as some sort of war chant to sing while using your hammer to slay your foes.
I simply don't pay attention to lyrics in songs. Sure, I'll sing along to songs I know and like, but I don't really pay attention to the content of the lyrics, they're just words I can sing along to. The actual meaning of the lyrics does not affect my enjoyment in any way. This also means I have no problems listening to music that is instrumental, in another language, or where the lyrics are just plain unintelligible. It simply doesn't matter to me.
@JazzJack2 My friend showed my Cap'n Jazz a month or so ago, but I totally forgot about them till now. Thank you for the reminder, I need to listen to them more. As for his vocal delivery, I think I enjoy the character of objectively not so good singers (unless they are really boring, like the Killers frontman, I do not like his voice) more than that of a really proficient one. See: Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum.
Yah! I can finally bring this up without sounding like a crazy person!
Generally, I "listen" to lyrics but I don't really listen. As in...I'm aware of the words and I can sing most of my songs off the top of my head but the meaning behind them is usually something I don't pay attention to.
I hopped onto the Youtubes after making a remark on someone's Title (It was "Make it Stop"; which I took as the song from Rise Against; whether that is true or not is negligible to me )
I've listened to "Endgame" (the CD that song is on) a ton. Rise Against is a band that I absolutely love. I know they're huge into activism and their songs reflect this but I really didn't pay much attention to it until I saw the music video and realized what it was about...
Holy balls...that's a powerful fucking song and I never realized it (if you didn't watch, it's a gay rights song to help kids being bullied for their sexuality). I should pay more attention to lyrics I think...
Also, if you like RA, you might like "The Killing Tree", a previous project of the lead singers. It's a more metalcore than hardcore act, and the subject matter tends to be a bit darker, self-harm, failing relationships, abuse, but the lyrics really shine in the format.
From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D43AzA2tws
"White picket fences line these dreams they keep us out!
(Never!..)
or do keep them in?!
(...Leave you!)
Her eyes scream pain that no one ever sees
(Deaf ears put this dull ache to sleep)
As she braces herself for the final blow
Remembering tears of not so long ago
(Everything that onces fell into place is falling apart)
And your all I have
(You've given me nothing!)
And your all I can see
(You've left me blind!)
So lets stay here together
Lets rot here together
six feet under our love"
And from this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwekuqsExVU
"You spend your lifetime wishing
You were dead.
And so you tried and tried.
And said these things take time.
So overwhelmed with guilt that
Clouds my head.
I'll trade these thoughts of you for.
Something else instead."
That said, I do like the overt messages in RA's stuff better. Survive and Generation Lost are incredibly powerful songs in particular.
I like Citizen Cope's lyrics. A lot of his songs can have repetitive lyrics, but in others, such as Salvation or Healing Hands, it's very poetic and stands on its own without the melody.
Say Judas came up to D.C.
He'd been down in Georgia for a while
He drove a 944
He bought with the soul
Of a blonde-headed kid
With a left-handed guitar
Now he's lookin' for me
Citizen C-O-P-E
Sign the dotted line please
For the fake 50's
Now Judas answer me
"Since I was the age to speak
Haven't you been listening?"
Salvation
Well he came to town
Found the woman that I love
And he fucked her down
She told him where I live
Off of 9th in the alleyway
Where they say
They got the coke and the dope
Until you end up broken
"You should have let the smack get you" he said
"But now you've got to deal with me instead
I'm downstairs on the Motorola
You know I've got 3 golden bullets
And I'm shooting for your soul"
Salvation
[chorus]
Well I came down with my Martin blazin'
My voice
It was cutting him up
Now he's aiming
His first shot grazed my eye
I lost half of my sight
And my firstborn's life
The second shot grazed off my guitar moon
And it made my guitar kinda play out of tune
But I just kept playing
Like I had nothing to lose
He turned the third on himself
'Cause the bastard knew
Salvation I'm calling
Salvation
[chorus]
Put the gun down
Put the gun down
Put the gun down
Put the gun down
[repeat]
Recently, I've listened to a few songs by a small artist on youtube named Ken Ashcorp. He's had some rather nice lyrics, I thought.
I was impressed by what I've heard from DubFX. He had especially nice imagery in Made.
I very rarely pay enough thought or attention to properly dissect them, so I usually just stick to the camp of 'not completely dumb/repulsive'. As has been mentioned above, to me, the vocalist is another instrument. As such, I'm more inclined to enjoy the voice rather than the lyrics behind it. Shallow, I know, but I just don't have as much of an interest in music as an art form.
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