Conference mr1pst::music

    
    	Lyrics, definitely.  I find that if a song is funny or clever
    enough, I'm more generous is overlooking the musical short-comings of
    the artists.  A good tune is obviously preferred however.  A good
    example is They Might Be Giants - many of my friends think the lyrics
    are great, but they hate the music ( especially the singing ).  I, on
    the other hand, not only enjoy the words, but think they write solid,
    catchy little tunes.  To each his own, I suppose . . .
    
    					-Jimbo
    

    Well, it depends...lyrics don't grab me on instrumentals  8^)  8^)
    
    There are definitely cases where the lyrics redeem the music and vice
    versa.  So I guess I'd have to say it really doesn't matter.
    
    						       Brian

    I'm much more receptive to good music with mediocre lyrics than vice
    versa.  Most rock critics, I've found, have their priorities in the
    other order.

I have to like the music first.  It has to catch me or I'll never care to hear 
the  lyrics no matter how good they are.  Why should you bother if you don't
like the music?  

I do tend to appreciate the lyrics after I've heard the song a couple of times.

I listen to good music with bad lyrics much more than I listen to bad music
with good lyrics.  

I'm sure there are contradictions though.

bob

ps.  think of Frank Zappa!  That man can insult and offend everyone equally
but his guitar keeps me going back for more.

    interesting question.
    	I have to say that for the most part, the vocal is just another
    instrument to me. I listen to more vocal music than instrumental music.
    There are a few songs that I enjoy the words to also. 
    
    Frank

    I'm a guitar player, so some songs will catch my ear right away with a
    real tasty/killer riff before I ever hear a lyric.  I am also a BIG fan
    of killer vocal harmonies, but they too are independant of lyrics; so I
    guess it's the music/sound first, for me.  I have some real favorite
    songs that I've listened to and played for years and never even knew
    the lyrics.......
    
    stevo

    
    
    I don't think I would listen to REM's DRIVE, if it wouldn't be for
    the beautiful beautiful tune. 
    
    I mean:
    		Hey hey kid kid, rock'n roll
    		Nobody tells you where to go, baby
    
    ???
    
    (Especially after watching the video... Ever seen any other video more
    boring than "drive" ?)
    
    I agree that it is easier to listen to a good tune with not so good
    lyrics than it is to listen to good lyrics with not so good tune.
    
    I have never met anybody who pays as much attention to lyrics as I do ,
    but still, it is always the melody that gets me hooked first.
    
    When I listen to a song where the music and the words are in such a
    nice harmony, I get drunk. Like Extreme's "more than words". (By the
    way, I still wonder  how they came up with such a heart lifting
    ballad.)
    
    Lale
    

    I don't like lyrics or tune, it's more the personality of the musician
    that gets me.
    
    Yours sincerely
    
    Sam Dutton

    I like it when lyrics and tune work together in the context of the song
    as the horses tied to the victim's arms and the horses tied to the
    victim's legs work together in the context of the victim.
    
    Ray

    re .-1
    
    nice imagery!

re -.8

Sam, you're asking for trouble with talk like that. Just check
out the Sting* topics, for example ;-)

re -.9 yes, but -.10 I agree, a little gruesome...

	---------------------

Steve Allen (yes, I'm dating myself) used to do dramatic
recitations of rock lyrics. He'd dress in a tux, stand
at a podium and delaim something like:

	You     ain't nothin'     but     a    hound dog,
	Cryin'      all       the      time . . . .

	---------------------

And, as long as I'm on the line, I appreciate the interplay
of upbeat dance music and downbeat lyrics from groups like
The Cure. Or the Smiths with Johnny Marr's manic guitar
supporting Morrissey's baleful and total flat, prosiac
lyrics. The way lyrics and tunes work with and against
each other is, well, it's what it's all about, yes?

	---------------------

And here's another example. People who don't follow Cole
Porter may at least remember Annie Lenox's version of
Everytime We Say Goodbye on the Red, Hot & Blue compilation.
Whatever. Anyhow, I think those lyrics are terrific -- 
especially the final 8 where the lyrics go "There is
no love song finer, but how strange the change from major
to minor" as the harmony goes (like SO many of those
songs) from, you got it, major to minor.

	
So much for another lunch.

John

    
    	The music has to catch my attention first.  If all I'm looking
    	for is well-written, I can read a book of poems.
    
    							GTI
    

    A third element that often grabs me is the BEAT.
    
    I like percussion, and ventured far afield into African and Caribbean
    and Latin musical styles such as soca, soukous, zouk, juju, salsa, etc. to
    find new rhythm patterns. I find a lot of current R&B particularly
    interesting and experimental; rap/R&B rhythmic collages. Salsa can get
    into particularly dense rhythm structures.
    
    Most rock has covered the same ground so many times as to be massively
    cliched on both lyric and melodic levels. My humble opinion. A good
    performance can pull a cliche into a good listenable realm, though,
    i.e. a good blues revivalist like Stevie Ray Vaughan. 
    
    I do generally find melody much more important than words, which isn't
    surprising when you understand that much of the music I listen to isn't
    in English.
    
    On the other hand, a particularly powerful piece of lyrics, like
    Naughty By Natures's rap about growing up in the ghetto on "Everything's
    Gonna Be Alright" can blow most other things right off the air,
    as phenomenally superficial.
    
    So, my answer is "yes" to all of the above.
    
    

    There's many a three-chord hit about romantic passion yet to be sung
    and while some of them may have cliches in them here and there there's
    an infinity of good hooks and clever twists on human situations to look
    forward to.
    

    I think they need a new three-chords. A diet of nothing but the blues
    gets rather dullish to me, though it is nice to come back to from time
    to time, like a good home-cooked meal.
    
    

    
    	Does Snow's number 1 hit "Informer" mean that J. Q. Public
    prefers tune to lyrics? Man, I've seen the lyrics from the song
    and I STILL can't figure out what he's saying. I must be getting
    old ;*)
    
    			a music lover,
    
    				fred deady
    
    ps. does the thought of "Meatloaf" stage diving frighten anyone else?

    re: -.1
    
    You mean compared to models of clarity like 'Hairway to Steven'?  Or
    any r.e.m. tune?  What else is new?
    
    Peter

    re -2
    I taped the song off of mtv and it had the lyrics along the bottom like
    karaoke style - some seems as if it doesn't tie-up.

    
    Hi,
    
    I need one line from "After Midnight".
    
    After Midnight we're gonna shake your tambourine
    After Midnight ????????????????????????
    
    Thanks in advance. :>
    
    John
    

    
    It's all going to be peaches and cream?
    
    DFW