[Cazhune]

I have a very peculiar taste in music, because I don't listen to the lyrics at all, and I mean...AT ALL. I don't pay any attention to it, but if you show me the lyrics to a particular song, I can appreciate it on an intellectual level. The thing for me is, music for me is an emotional experience, NOT an intellectual or literary experience. I'm not even a very emotional person, I enjoy reading books and I consider myself to be a literary person in general, but when listening to music, that part of me just dissolves away. Its to the point that I can literally listen to a song for hours on end, but not even know what the song was really about or any of the lyrics-- instead, I imagine my own stories and experiences in the place of the actual meaning of the song, just going by the energy and emotions I get from the melody/beat. Also I draw from things I have seen or read in the past, sometimes there is an intuitive connection between the melody/beat and a certain theme/image in my mind or even a certain character that evoke strong emotions, and I tend to choose songs that bring out those connections in some way.

Does anybody else have a similar relationship with music? I am curious.

 

[Cheveyo]

I knew someone who would ignore a song's lyrics and meanings and just create her own meaning. It would annoy her when I pointed out what the songs were actually about.


For me, it's both. I listen to and understand the lyrics, but also connect them to my own experiences, thoughts, or emotions.


For example:

You can be pretty certain who the song is about. However, I think most people can relate to that feeling of alienation and loneliness. (Not sure if alienation is the right word to use, here)

 

[wellfxd]

@Cheveyo I love that link in your signature so much. Love that song and Portal.

Regarding the OP; Both are important. The melodies and harmonies definitely need to interest me, but I like the lyrics to have meaning too. I like relating them to my own experiences. I think you have to be a very skilled lyricist to be able to pen a song that so many different people can interpret in so many different ways.

 

[HippoHunter94]

Post-rock is really good for this, as well as a lot of IDM. There are some artists who will write stream of consciousness lyrics that are there to fit the music. Talking Heads has done this, Sigur Ros has done this, Radiohead has dones this, Bon Iver has done this, etc. It's all about creating an experience, rather than telling a story or making a tangible point. It's a special kind of art that is not attempted as often as it should be.

 

[Tater Tot]

I focus on the overall tone and mood of the song and ignore the lyrics. :3 I'll be like "THIS SONG IS SO ME!" and the lyrics have no remote connection to me at all.

 

[Aya the Abysswalker]

Post-rock is really good for this, as well as a lot of IDM. There are some artists who will write stream of consciousness lyrics that are there to fit the music. Talking Heads has done this, Sigur Ros has done this, Radiohead has dones this, Bon Iver has done this, etc. It's all about creating an experience, rather than telling a story or making a tangible point. It's a special kind of art that is not attempted as often as it should be.

Sigur Rós pretty much have become masters of it inventing a nonsense language, but there are other bands who do it like Kwoon in which the lyrics might matter but you really don't hear them or understand them without help due to the accent (they're French) and the melodies. It's very easy to do this with Japanese Post-Rock/Post-Metal bands like envy or sleep.ab, you don't get the language so you insert your own meaning within the melodies of the songs.

Another good examples where you can totally ignore the lyrics are the NieR soundtrack:

The song is sang in a made up language made by the singer for the game's songs

Beyond the Bounds from Zone of Enders: The Second Runner which is partly sang in a made up language, the English part talks about the game story though:

And ORIGA pretty much mastered it as well with her language mix:

 

[mrkedi]

For a very long time, I am more attuned to the bass and background noise when I am not on caffine. So, most of the time, I cannot interpret lyrics anyways. As a result, most of the songs I listen to is not in Cantonese (my mother tongue) or English (which I is super fluent in).

 

[PerplexedJoe]

Not sure if this can relate to what you might have been looking for, but let me know what you think either way!

 

[Snow]

I am very similar: I do not hear lyrics (or assimilate them) for literally dozens or even hundreds of plays of a song (even one I really love).

Once I do learn them, I still don't think about them. I do not associate other meanings or emotions to songs, but I do associate visual scenes based on the emotions I feel (sometimes) to songs based on the music. For example, Metallica's Outlaw Torn I always see a helicopter scene of an abandoned city during sunset. Everything is yellow-orange tinted (reminiscent of western sunsets I guess), but is a modern city and I'm fifty feet off a rooftop looking down.

To this day I have no clue where I saw that, but it started when I was around 15 or so and heard the song for the first time.