if i'm honest i dont care so much about the lyrics in a song. they can also sing nonsense as long as it sounds cool or fits the song!
or are there any songs you like just because of the lyrics and you dont care about the music?...
just a thought....

Very much, which is why I have trouble loving the more recent songs of the Stones. Jagger/Richards once produced some of the best lyrics in popular music. Up there with David Bowie, Serge Gainsbourg, Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan.

of course they are important, sometimes much more than the music - vide Dylan, Patti Smith or "Stray Cat Blues" :-)

Don't care at all.

Rock music is about booty: the pursuit of booty, the yearn for booty, the shaking of one's booty. If you want literature, read a book!!

Definitely. Both the contents and how the words suit the song musically.

maybe i didnt say it right. i didnt mean that lyrics are not important.
and i know that there are some fantastic rock n roll lyrics. i also love jaggers stuff (till about undercover). he's very underrated!
but lets say, when i hear a song for the first time, i dont spend that much attention. and if i then like the song and find out the lyrics are shit, i dont care so much. or if i'm at a live gig of a band i dont know that well, i dont even pay attention to the words....
or lets say jumopin jack flash. i still dont know what its all about. but the words just sound cool and they fit the song.

But Jumpin' Jack Flash has great lyrics. A nursery rhyme's id.

in case the lyrics are nonsense bullshit I don't care, it's easy for me to ignore them because I'm not a native English speaker. on the other hand, there are many songs I adore only for lyrics.

Really bad lyrics make me cringe. Brand New Car, for instance

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Amused
in case the lyrics are nonsense bullshit I don't care, it's easy for me to ignore them because I'm not a native English speaker. on the other hand, there are many songs I adore only for lyrics.

Like Visions for Johanna or Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands, in my case.

You got the Sun, You got the Moon,
and you've got
The Rolling Stones

Absolutely! At least for the most part - lyrics make or break a song in my opinion.

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DandelionPowderman
Really bad lyrics make me cringe. Brand New Car, for instance

thats terrible indeed! ;-)

Brown Sugar has great lyrics.

meanwhile it does matter matter a lot to me, from a point of kinda could I subscribe the lyrics ...

thru and thru is a wonderful song, but the lyrics make me laugh every time.
you're just an oooooooopen boooook! ;-) yeah right keith.

Lyrics are very important. If a song like Sympathy for the devil had nonsense lyrics about for example chewing bubble gum it would not be as good even if the music was exactly the same.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-08-25 16:26 by folke.

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guitarbastard
if i'm honest i dont care so much about the lyrics in a song. they can also sing nonsense as long as it sounds cool or fits the song!

yes, exactly. +1000000

Only if the lyric's in Swedish...I think 'she loves you Yeah Yeah Yeah' is brilliant lyrics...

I grew up with the Stones in mid 60's as a young boy. So lyrics weren't that important. Altough somehow we all got the essense of those songs!
There are Stonesfans in the whole world, so the songs seem to work without understanding too.
Now I speak quite good english but still don't get them all.
Unfortunately Dylan is often still a miracle to me.

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folke
Lyrics are very important. If a song like Sympathy for the devil had nonsense lyrics about for example chewing bubble gum it would not be as good even if the music was exactly the same.

of course you're right. but in this song the lyrics are very central. you can understand every word. i think SFTD is a good example for a song where lyrics and music are equaly great and important. but still i'd say that the thing that catches you first is the music.

Lyrics can be important, but are secondary in popular music.

The sound is more important, but a good line or two always helps. Simple rhymes (sad-bad-glad) irritate me.

Yes lyrics help define the mood of a song, along with the guitars, percussion, piano, etc.

thanks to the internet we can now find lyrics!

Mick's rock, I'm roll.

Thanks to the internet, we often find WRONG lyrics.

For years, I thought the lyrics to Tumbling Dice were 'I don't need your tears and that frown.'

one of the best stones lines is:
the sunshine bores the daylights out of me...
since i'm not a native speaker, i never quite knew what it exactly ment, but it just sounds so great in that song! ;-)

depends by the lyrics



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-08-26 10:53 by straycat58.

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guitarbastard
one of the best stones lines is:
the sunshine bores the daylights out of me...
since i'm not a native speaker, i never quite knew what it exactly ment, but it just sounds so great in that song! ;-)

perhaps because they spent so much time in the basement of Nellcote when they recorded Exile, seems appropriate?

Mick's rock, I'm roll.

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gimmelittledrink
For years, I thought the lyrics to Tumbling Dice were 'I don't need your tears and that frown.'

My favorite album is EOMS, which I've been listenting-to for almost 40 years. And, I probably don't even know what half of the lyrics are on that disc. It's rock-n-roll, who cares what they're saying? Dance little sister, dance!

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KSIE

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gimmelittledrink
For years, I thought the lyrics to Tumbling Dice were 'I don't need your tears and that frown.'

My favorite album is EOMS, which I've been listenting-to for almost 40 years. And, I probably don't even know what half of the lyrics are on that disc. It's rock-n-roll, who cares what they're saying? Dance little sister, dance!

That's my attitude also. I can listen to a song a million times and still not know the words.

I do tend to notice lyrics when they're either really good or really bad though. But 90% of the time, I'm focusing on the instruments and the notes that the singer is hitting, but not the words that are comin' out of his mouth.