Music = Lyrics?

[Boaal]

While it is true that "any moron can rap", this does not mean that they can do it well. Seriously, I dislike mainstream rap and hip-hop as much of the next guy.

A bunch of dudes wandring about, grabbing their scrotums, attempting masculinity whilest overcompensating far too much for... well, just about everything, and doing it badly at that. Rapping about "being in the hood" except for the last time anybody saw any of these pretty boys in "the hood" with a bullet proof jeep and a fifty man armed escort, was... never. Rapping about living in "the ghetto" despite never having come even aproximately close to the living conditions of a ghetto. This is bullshit.

Then you have old school rap, which actually had a meaning and a point and was performed well. And then the occasional underground rap/ indie artist, mc chris comes to mind, that can pull it off better than most mainstream artists.

 

[RoyalStranger]

I feel its more that the artist understands what he/she is doing, feels what they are writing, and writing what they write because they want to pass what they're feeling to others. I mean, everyone does it for the money. They need the money. But so few do it for the sake of doing it.

Good, meaningful, powerful lyrics are a bonus, but a band that knows what it's doing is the requirement. Whether or not people think its good is a different story.

For instance, I think Regina Spektor is amazing, however, someone else would probably disagree.

Its all a matter of opinion, some people feel that Lyrics are the sole part of the project, whereas others believe whats going on in the background makes the band.

It's truly not something everyone can just agree on.

 

[FightThePower]

I like songs without lyrics. That way they focus more on making a good tune.

Of course if they can do both, even better.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Listen to John 5. That is all.

 

[Ryokugax]

Well, no. All of Nirvanas songs have meanings. I mean, I don't listen to them that much but that's how it is with most other grunge bands and from the Nirvana stuff I know. I wouldn't really want to draw focus towards the music in Nirvana either. It's weak sauce.

Anyway, music can exist without lyrics but can lyrics exist without music? Sometimes. Look at John Cooper Clarke and the other punk poets. But then look at some of the more modern music and not so much.

No, they don't all have meanings. To go with the most commonly referenced one in this kind of scenario, Pennyroyal Tea. Sure you can apply meaning to it, that doesn't mean it has a meaning.