Chances are both will often play some part, but which do you ultimately care more about in a song - the sound/beat, or the lyrics?

Tricky one. There are songs I love with lyrics that are a bit weird.

 

Combination of both is obviously ideal but I think I'd go for the sound. I like a catchy melody.

Sound. I quite often don't pay attention to lyrics in songs.

Lyrics. I quite often don't pay attention to sounds in songs. :) call me anti-Woody :D

 

Lyrics are everything to me, everything.

I definitely used to pay attention to sound more, but as I've thought more on my own beliefs/values lyrics have definitely come to play much more of a part! They can definitely stop me playlisting/charting songs I'd definitely have listened to 3 or 4 years ago, and equally can cause me to like songs which don't immediately grab me on sound a lot more.

Lyrics, I like to be able to sing along!

I'd rather listen to a song that sounds great with bad lyrics than song that doesn't sound very good but has very good lyrics. I can normally just appreciate the latter but I wouldn't listen out of choice. Music ultimately is a bit more of an audial experience above all, but good lyrics can certainly enhance that enjoyment.

I'm drawn to the music first but I absolutely need lyrics with it, even if they're shite :lol: good lyrics are absolute genius though and I do appreciate them very much, they can be what makes it breaks a song but for it to even have a shot it has to sound good in general.

Sound, hands down. I'm terrible at paying attention to lyrics :') and I usually rely on a good melody!

Well some of my favourite songs are instrumental, so you can have music without lyrics but not without sound. That said good lyrics can certainly be a key component of a great song. I’ve been looking at how The Beatles used different lyrical subjects to great effect in the rate.

Possibly a lyrics for me, but sometimes my lyrics preferences are very strange for the majority.

 

Sue Wilkinson - You Gotta Be A Hustler If You Wanna Get On is a nice sample. Iconic.

Edited May 8, 20241 yr by Last Dreamer

Sound definitely! Lyrics can play a huge support role and elevate a song if done right.

Depends what I'm looking for in the moment. Nobody is ever going to say The Prodigy write good lyrics, but sonically they can be incredible.

 

If I'm looking to engage my brain rather than my body a great lyricist like Richey Edwards, Shane MacGowan, Bob Dylan etc will be an option.

 

You don't always need both together. I don't mind dumb lyrics in the right context (The Trashmen's Surfin Bird or Taylor Swift's ME! are not a problem) but I do find that bad lyrics can be jarring in an otherwise lyrically good song. For example - 'Now you get to watch her leave out the window, guess that's why the call it window pain' - is a terrible line and not worthy of a writer of Eminem's skill.

 

 

I think over the years I've drifted more from the lyrics to the sound (mainly as I seemed to lose the capacity to learn lyrics!)

 

That being said, there are certain artists that really draw me in with lyrics (e.g. Passenger, Tom Odell, Damien Rice etc)

Usually always grew up not paying attention to the lyrics much lol so would be song but when I do tune into lyrics to some tracks boy do they connect!

Mostly sound

Both really, although I can overlook a dodgy lyric if it's in an otherwise good track.

For many of my favourite songs, I'm not actually sure what all the lyrics are or what they mean. The most important thing to me is how it makes me feel - which usually comes through the sound, but can be enhanced by the lyrics.

Sound. Simply because I prefer throwaway pop in the main. I don’t have the brain capacity to deal with deep and meaningful lyrics after a day of work trying to make Phillip Larkin’s poems seem interesting to a bunch of kids who don’t care one iota.

 

 

 

Well, my BuzzJack Song Contest habits in 2024 point towards sound, as 50% of my output this year so far has been instrumentals and the other 50% non-English language songs :lol: and I would pick that option if I was forced to choose a preference, but that's not to say that I don't also value lyrical content - that can also elevate or hamper a song for me.