Instrumental or Lyrical?

Are you a fan of music with or without words?

I, myself, prefer melodies because it really showcases the music better. I can bet a better understanding of the sounds and notes.

I also believe that instrumental tunes can be used in any situation.

Yep, I'm still here.

Neutral - if it sounds good, I'm on board, lyrics or not.

Only Death Is Real

I'd rather listen to music than read poetry, if that's what you're asking.

I'm so sorry that my avatar doesn't appear fully in the shot, but the cat was threatening the photographer.

I'm typically a fan of lyrics, assuming they've been written well enough to tell a story.

But instrumentals are the corner stone of the folk music I love too, so I'll go with whatever sounds good.

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Put me down for either or as well. Depends on my mood. Usually I go for something instrumental if I want to relax or if I have a mood I need to fit to music, usually I go with something lyrical if I want to sing or analyze something's lyrics or want to hear a story or laugh or whatever, bht generally I'm fine with either instrumental or lyrical music in most occasions.

edited 8th Jul '13 9:13:02 AM by 0dd1

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I prefer songs with vocals. I don't necessarily give a damn about what they're saying. What often interests me is how they say it. Instrumentals just do nothing for me.

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"Singing is a trick to get people to listen to music for longer than they would ordinarily." —David Byrne

It's a wash. Good vocals can elevate a song, or at least disguise how repetitive the backing music is. Bad vocals or dumb lyrics can ruin an otherwise good tune. (Take out the vocals, and "Friday" is actually a pretty good song!) Of course, "good" is very much a matter of context: Joe Strummer, Matt Wignall, and Jason Martin are not good singers in any traditional sense, but their limited abilities each fit their respective musical styles to a T.

Songs with lyrics in languages I don't speak are always fun.

I didn't write any of that.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

Or, rather, a generic electropop song using the always cliche Doo-Wop Progression and a really bland melody...

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...Pretty much this.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the tune is bad, but I find boring at the very least.

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY

Friday has a melody that sticks with you. It it weren't for that it wouldn't have been as, uh, "popular". :P

I like both depending upon my mood - instrumental albums are generally things I'll put on more as "background music" though, whether it's something mellow and ambient I can put on and read to or more upbeat/funky I can clean up to. I've sort of gotten into instrumental soul / funk (Booker T & The MG's, The Meters), and that's something I find really good for the latter.

Oddly, I've found that music that does have vocals, but ones that are either Scatting or in a language I don't understand, can kind of function the same way instrumental music does for me. I kind of don't want to find out what Dungen songs actually mean, because 1) their music might not work as "background" for me anymore, and 2) I like that I can get my own idea of what the songs are about just by the sound of the music and the tone of the singing.

I even like it when normally vocal bands mix it up and do instrumentals, so long as they feel like fully fleshed out instrumentals instead of songs the band just never came up with a vocal melody for. Although I kinda like "Oscillate Wildly" by The Smiths, that's sort of an example of the latter. But heck, maybe it's the one song of theirs that someone who hates Morrissey's vocals and lyrics would like?

edited 10th Jul '13 9:18:00 PM by MikeK

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Anything. Instrumental, lyrical, or pure noise, if it caresses my eardrums and tickles my frontal lobes, I shall listen to it.

edited 10th Jul '13 10:56:07 PM by TAPETRVE

Fear the cinnamon sugar swirl. By the Gods, fear it, Laurence.

What said.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

Both, is my answer. Lyrics are great in their own right and they assign meaning to the song. In the case of instrumentals, the listener is free to assign their own meaning. So there's no way I can decide on one or the other.