When I was a kid, I loved nothing better than laying in bed with my headphones on, listening to music. Laying there with the liner notes in hand, I'd sing along, committing the lyrics to memory. For those albums that didn't have liner notes, I remember lifting the needle of the record, replacing it to the beginning of the song, hurriedly writing the words down on a spiral notebook. Hell, many a cassette tape was butchered with constant rewinding to do the same thing.

Why don't more artists include lyrics in their liner notes these days? Is it more cost effective to include graphics vs the words?

because they want you to pull the dicks out of your ears

What if I don't have a dick?

I always think of Pulp's liner notes saying "please do not read these while listening to the album" or whatever. I could never figure out when I was supposed to read them.

i've noticed that the majority of Metal vinyl comes with lyrics still. they always have, and they spend a lot of time on the entire "package", not just the music, which is great.

many indie/rock/folk/blah albums never have the lyrics, and much of the time have lame ass packaging.

in other words, in the vinyl world, Metal reigns supreme.

I'll send you mine. I'm not using it.

And why would you need to have a dick to have dicks in your ears?

Anyway, a friend of mine made a list of the top 250 albums of all time as listed on some site that aggregates ratings, etc., and I've been listening to them as I let him borrow many of them. I have noticed that I still know the lyrics from many of the albums I enjoyed as a kid and in early adulthood. Now, however, I have acquired so much music, I don't spend the time with each album I used to and hardly ever learn the lyrics of albums I acquire now. I'm thinking of going back and focusing on 2-3 albums at a time that I really like and get to know them better. I certainly don't have the time I used to to listen, but I may be missing out on some great stuff by spreading it too thin.

Stone, I can completely relate to that. Time isn't as readily available as it used to be.

i'd like to know what the guy from pissed jeans is screaming about sometimes.

Personally, I think it's better to not know, and let your own interpretation create additional meaning beyond what's intended. It's no coincidence, I suspect, that most of my favorite albums did NOT come with a lyric sheet.

this pissed jeans is gonna end up on some lists.

yeah, definitely.

I guess or me it's much harder to figure out some lyrics as for you native speakers.

I usually don't listen to the lyrics at first so sometimes, after I heard something for a while, I start to concentrate on the words and this can either enhance the feeling for it or turn it down. for instance, I often love to listen to dream theater because of the music but when I try to get what the singer sings it gives me some cold shivers.