What do you find are the prevalent qualities in your favorite singers/songwriters/musicians/artists?

Is it poetic lyrics?

Lyrics that you can really relate to and just make you feel like they're writing from your life?

Are the lyrics completely unimportant, secondary to the music and delivery?

If that's the case, what is it you look for in the music when you're looking for something to really satiate your musical hunger?



I've always favored lyrics and singing over almost anything else. Mostly because I don't know how to play any instruments but I know how to talk and write and read. That automatically makes those parts more likely to strike me.

Poetic lyrics slay me. A single line can make a song for me. Which is one of the big touchstones for my love of Joanna Newsom. There are at least five different lines in the song 'Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie' that stun me and make me so jealous of her as a writer and a poet.

But I've found lately that the more I can relate to an artist and the more they seem to write from "my life", the more I love them.

I realised this evening that, without knowing it, Eels has become my favorite musical act. And, when trying to figure out why, I think it is because of the relatibility factor. There are lyrics in songs like 'Things The Grandchildren Should Know' and 'Losing Streak' that give you that "this guy is in my head" feeling. And I know I'm not the only person who's had that feeling at some point in their lives while listening to a song or an album. And that feeling can make a song for you.

ghostface

It's hard for me to say. Sometimes, I can completely ignore bad lyrics as long as they're unintelligable and are sung with a good/interesting melody.

Sometimes I like lyrics that don't make much sense, so I don't have to put much thought into critiquing them.

And sometimes a cheesy line can completely ruin a song for me.

What I love is when I already like a band simply by listening to them, vocals and all, and then later on take the time to read the lyrics and love those as well.

for me the thing that I look for in music is atmosphere and the way that it makes me feel. I used to be a lyric person but I've noticed that often the most important thing for me is how the lyrics work with the music and the overall feel. Currently the bands that I can relate the most to in that way are Placebo, Ladytron, American Analog Set, Modest Mouse, and oddly enough Nas

this is almost exactly how i feel.

there're some bands i've not listened to in months or even years because the songs simply don't resonate with me anymore. i loved the music, but eventually found the lyrics to be weak and when i guess i outgrew the music, there was nothing noteworthy to keep me listening.

and then there're bands like old 97s and pulp who i initially only kinda liked, but who i still listen to a lot because the lyrics are excellent. it was the lyrics that made me dig deeper in each band's discography.

Pedro the Lion
The National
Kings of Leon

Okkervil River. Will Sheff knows my pain.

fishstick, it's like he reads my fucking diary.
it's spooky.

a good lyricist will be able to transport you to a place that you have no real life experience of

Jarvis Cocker is one of my favourties, yet ive never been out with a greek art student slumming it in england. Ive never hustled in New York either, but I still love most hip hop.

So no, relatability isnt that important

For me, it was always ODB.

Dylan
Reed
Lennon
Cohen

I like their honesty, it's hard to write honestly without being depressive or showing off your limitations.

I'm sure Young, Waits, Pop, and Cash are great too but I just never got around to opening them up. Older Springsteen as well.


nothing current, though. It's not relevant to be enlightening, you know? "Sitting on the grass, layin side by side" is enough for us now.

current icons like E Smith, Tweedy, Beck, Chan Marshall do sometimes strike a nerve and write about the human condition, but they don't even match up to Bowie's fantasy flavored drudgery. When he sings "I ain't got the power anymore" you see it, and you understand it in a way that's complex and piercing.

"Your eyes have died. You see more than I" I mean even the pop stars wrote insightful sentiments.

Sufjan comes closest in "The Upper Penissula" but he's not consistent.

i like originality & emotion in my lyrics the most. but i'm fine with two smurfs hugging too.

Interesting post. I'm curious, why do you think it is not relevant to be enlightening?

Dylan really strikes a nerve for me too.

I don't understand the people who are replying by just listing names of artists.

Am I missing a joke here?

exactly right.

who the fuck cares if they're singing 'bout the war or cabbage patch dolls. it's all about how the tune makes you feel.

but i do treasure:

Lou Reed
Jarvis Cocker
Billie Holiday

people inevitably reply to posts based on what they glean from a quick skimming of the topic. in this case, they think it means "which of your favorite artists have the most relatable lyrics?"

Okay, but don't you feel like lyrics are often a driving factor in how a song makes you feel?

I think having lyrics that have a bit of an edge to them can transform a band from being decent to being great. For instance, so many of Malkmus's lyrics are subtly funny, and it takes those songs from being good to being classics in my mind. "Starlings in the slipstream" would be nothing without "There's no coast of Nebraska."

Just like everything else about the music that I love, there's no constant here. There's some songs that I love largely because of their lyrics, but there's plenty of stuff out there that I won't listen to regardless of how great the lyrics are. I don't care if Joanna Newsome is singing A Tale of Two Cities verbatim, I'm still gonna shit it off as soon as I hear her gremlin voice.

I guess in the end it's a combination of things for me, and it's a very specific equation.

in some cases, but most of the time, no. i think for me it's more the tone of the voice and how it plays with the music.

for instance, i can't understand most of what the singer for Darkthrone says, but his voice and the music together give me a feeling of total hatred and evil. on the flip, Sigur Ros....can't understand a word, but with the music, brings tears to me eyes.

but in Billie's case, it's ALL her voice and the tales she's telling.

"Strange Fruit" proves this up and down. But I think there's something to be said for her delivery of it as well.

i like songs with a good sound and songs with good lyrics - but my favorite artists (dylay, costello, westerberg) combine both and that's my nirvana. i like a few bands that are very strong at one area and a little weak in another, but they will never reach the pantheon w/o both.

Lyrics aren't always hugely important to me, it's usually the overall feel of the song. But sometimes the song's meaning hits hard. When I'm looking for everything, Neil Young probably offers me the most in terms of how relatable I find the lyrics along with the delivery and music, which is why I listen to him on an almost daily basis.