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How important are lyrics to you?
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Poll Question: What is your preference?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
20 [22.47%]
13 [14.61%]
8 [8.99%]
4 [4.49%]
17 [19.10%]
27 [30.34%]
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Progosopher View Drop Down
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I voted for 'Depends on the Vocalist,' but it really is "Depends on the Lyrics." Some lyrics are garbage and I do not care for them no matter how good the vocalist is. Some lyrics are obscure, which require some digging into, but most of us don't have the time to do that, or if we do, we don't care to. I can tolerate an average vocalist if I like the music. The best combination is good lyrics with a good vocalist.
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Vocals are very important to me, but I mostly look at it like another musical instrument.. I also focus on how its sung more - use of vibrato, the rhythm of the delivery, etc., but sometimes my radar goes off, and I think, "That was a great line" and then I might check out the entire lyrics of a song.
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Originally posted by Progosopher Progosopher wrote:

I voted for 'Depends on the Vocalist,' but it really is "Depends on the Lyrics." Some lyrics are garbage and I do not care for them no matter how good the vocalist is. Some lyrics are obscure, which require some digging into, but most of us don't have the time to do that, or if we do, we don't care to. I can tolerate an average vocalist if I like the music. The best combination is good lyrics with a good vocalist.

That’s another reason I prefer foreign language vocals. How good or bad the lyrics are becomes irrelevant. They could be the corniest, cheesiest lyrics in the world, but I will never know it. And yes, definitely if the music is good enough, I can enjoy it in spite of the vocalist. I couldn’t listen to Yes otherwise! 🤢🤮

And while most of the time I have neither the time nor inclination to find out what is being sung, occasionally the music and vocals makes such an impact, I do make the effort to find out what is being sung about - even if Google Translate comes up with something that is inevitably not as poetic, or potentially wrong. Now that is a sign of how powerful vocals can be, and it has happened only a couple of times - but it has happened.
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My preference is whatever suits the music. I listen to mostly music with vocals, but I also enjoy a great deal of instrumental music and have played a lot of it in my life.

Lyrics, it depends. If they're really bad, the music better be really good. And then if they're really good, the music better not suck.
Porg for short. My love of music doesn't end with prog! Feel free to discuss all sorts of music with me. Odds are I'll give it a chance if I haven't already! :)
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Since this is a prog poll, I would say that I want the vocalist to be of the same caliber as the musicians.  If in English, I want the lyrics to also be sophisticated in some way or another.  Sung in other languages, not as much and if I enjoy the musical quality enough it doesn't matter, outside of strictly prog, thinking of Alan Stivell here and I have many artists in the "world/fusion," sort of place that I don't have to understand a single word.  Another musician whose lyrics are always superb, pretty much, is Richard Thompson, who is herein as part of Fairport Convention and no one can argue that he's not a superlative guitarist, although his voice can be an acquired taste for some.  I can say that certainly, if something is going to turn me off to a prog band, it will be the vocalist (not naming names here), even if they lyrics are quite good.  Even with simpler forms of music, I do want the musicianship to be quality, however and particularly love many of the long instrumental pieces in the progressive genre at large.  So I voted for "depends on the vocalist," although that's just a part of the factor.  
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Depends on the vocalist. A good set of pipes is yet another instrument.
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The music comes first.
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I don't really know how to vote here. I do like good lyrics, and vocals, and depending on how good they are they can make me apreciate more a song (or album)... or if they are really bad, they can make me have something to dislike from the song... but for me the most important is the music... which is not to say that I prefer instrumental music, or wordless vocal music... just that I like the music presented the best, whether it's got vocals, with or without lyrics, or none at all, or in whichever language it might be (of course, if it's in english, or spanish, so I can understand it, in a way it's better, but mostly it's best if it's in the mother tongue of the artist, that way it feels more genuine, and it's more interesting to me, even if I can't understand it).
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Points: 6737 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 27 2021 at 02:26
I always say when it comes to polls, that I’m not particularly interested in the results, so much as the discussion. This is still very much true, and I’m really enjoying the discussion. Several people have stated they are not sure how to vote, and I admit that I was deliberately a little obtuse in the way I structured the poll, so that it it might be easier to answer in words than by choosing one (or more) of the poll options.

But, one thing I did do, was order the poll options in a fashion that I thought would gain the greatest responses at the top and bottom, curving into the least responses in the middle. Although the curve isn’t as symmetrical as I expected, it is still there - which greatly impresses and delights me, because it means people answered as I expected them to.

I really want to thank everyone who has posted here, though, and not just voted - as it has been really interesting reading the different opinions people have, and the different reasons for having those opinions.
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I started writing a post here several times and gave up LOL so I'll keep it simple.
Both lyrics and vocals are important, bad lyrics and bad vocals (and vocals I dislike) can ruin the music. 
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Points: 20233 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 27 2021 at 03:43
I generally prefer instrumental music, though I'd say that 50% of my fave albums are are sung and come with intelligent lyrics

When I go for non-instrumental music, it's clear that the texts (lyrics ) must appeal to me - and are even a central part of the attraction, almost as much as the singer's voice. Floyd, Caravan, VdGG and Jethro Tull, part of the attraction is the lyrics.
Though I may sometimes enjoy listening to AC/DC, even, in their best songs (Whole Lotta Rosie), I couldn't cite more than two lines in a row.

It's already the case enough in English, but essential in French  - and to a lesser extent Spanish.

Now, of course I have no idea what my fave Finnish band is singing about, but I don't supose that it's about BF losing GF.
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
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prefer lifting our pen
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Originally posted by Progosopher Progosopher wrote:

I voted for 'Depends on the Vocalist,' but it really is "Depends on the Lyrics." Some lyrics are garbage and I do not care for them no matter how good the vocalist is. Some lyrics are obscure, which require some digging into, but most of us don't have the time to do that, or if we do, we don't care to. I can tolerate an average vocalist if I like the music. The best combination is good lyrics with a good vocalist.

^This

 Speaking of lyrics.  Most folks say that they can't make sense of Jon Anderson's lyrics. I equate Anderson personal abstract spiritual iconography to Wassily Kandinsky's.  Anderson's 70s lyrics equate with Kandinsky 1910-1913 period, bookended by Compositions IV through VII.  Whereas Anderson's 80s-90s period equates with Kandinsky's Compositions VII through X.      
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Points: 10261 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BaldFriede Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 27 2021 at 05:19
Two of my absolute favourite bands are Van der Graaf Generator and Magma. With VdGG the lyrics are an integral part, with Magma no-one really knows what they mean, although the singing definitely is an integral part of their music. And I am a huge fan of Barbara Dennerlein, which, with some exceptions, means no singing at all. So I am somewhere in between.


Edited by BaldFriede - June 27 2021 at 06:08


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Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

I started writing a post here several times and gave up LOL so I'll keep it simple.
Both lyrics and vocals are important, bad lyrics and bad vocals (and vocals I dislike) can ruin the music. 

Hi,

This was something that was specially stated in the days that Joe Cocker came up. No one liked his voice, but all of a sudden you knew he could hold and command a performance. And later when he juiced up the broadcast of an event, his lyrical side exploded into a massive hit.

There, really, is not such a thing as "bad vocals", although I will consider that the guy that toured with YES on Chris' last tour, was really poor and could only use centuries old stock hand expressions to try and make the words better, when he obviously had really not a very good idea what it was all about. He did not make YES better on that night ... and I would not have used him ever again. That is "bad vocals" for me. I have no issues with different interpretations, but this was like the beginning acting class for someone that never acted before, in the university courses in theater. It was that poor, and you hoped there was better somewhere, but I doubt that it would have been in YES.

One other thing that is difficult for many progressive listeners, is when something is totally theatrical, and we may like DB, but how many of those fans will ever consider listening to BAAL ... not many, and most can not even comment on it, except maybe to say that DB was wasting his time! I sincerely doubt that, and it might have helped him learn how to interpret a lot of his words and music again!

One great example, is the theatrical use of lyrics by Christian Decamps (who also writes them!), and how well defined and staged these are for a lot of their music, and he knows when to accent it and when to downplay it like a great actor would. But we do not think he is good, because he does not sing in English. He uses his very own language to an effect that is more theatrical than it would be a rock singing song ... but this is not something that "progressive" music listeners do not seem to enjoy or appreciate.

The other example is the "copy" of an original. Many other folks have trashed Chappo (Roger Chapman) for his abilities and he can rock and belt them with the best, and then do a Gypsy Moon out of this world! And many disliked PFM's use of Bernardo Lanzetti for a lead singer, in what was, in reality, a very good album, even if we might prefer what he did with Acqua Fragile, which was really good, nice and very enjoyable.

Lastly, comes the way that lyrics were done and used in Amon Duul 2 ... that a lot f folks don't like. Renate goes from soft to bitch in 10 seconds, Lothar goes cynical in 3 seconds, Kris sings his words even if the meaning of them is twisted and no one knows what they mean, and in essence, any thing that goes completely away from the westernized mode and idea of "singing", which was all on par with the dictum that "krautrock" had of not doing anything with western music ideas or designs.

Lyrics are, and might not be, the end all of it, and the sad thing is that we will not like it a lot when we can not understand them at all, which makes it worse, but as "progressive" music listeners, we really need to grow up PAST THE IDEA of likes and dislikes. There is a lot of appreciation for something that is done differently, and we're deciding on not liking many of them because they were done DIFFERENTLY.
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^ I like Bowie’s Baal, and have no problem listening to it. 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️
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Points: 6467 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Progosopher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 27 2021 at 16:11
Good point. I enjoy a lot of music sung in languages I do not speak. It is important that the cadences of the words fit in with the melodies of the vocals, along with the rest of the music. Many bands just toss words in front of some music with no consideration for how anything fits together.
The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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Points: 6467 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Progosopher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 27 2021 at 16:12
My previous post was supposed to be a response to another post. This seems to be working just like what I was criticizing.
The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

My parents were ultra left leaning liberals who loved left wing folkies like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. So I picked up an appreciation of the genre quite young, which was transferred to 60s folkies like Phil Ochs and Dylan. The lyrics of that era's protest music was especially important to me, so that carried over to some prog  groups like the Strawbs and Renaissance, which dealt with some social issues, as well as telling good stories. It also made listening to the babbling of Jon Anderson quite a challenge at times. While I enjoy many prog artists for just their musical abilities, the better lyrical artists have a special place in my level of appreciation.

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I like well written lyrics...so I prefer English since I don't speak any other language  but I have a fair selection of non English prog.
I am an avid  reader of various styles of fiction also so words work for me.
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Gee I voted for the least popular alternative which doesn't happen often for me. The lyrics are vital for me whether they're sung in English or any other language. Not that I won't listen to a whole instrumental album. I love Rick Wakeman and Mike Oldfield albums. Their impact doesn't alter because they lack a singer or a lyricist. But when there is a vocalist I always read the lyrics. It's one of the most important elements of a good song. 
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Originally posted by iluvmarillion iluvmarillion wrote:

Gee I voted for the least popular alternative which doesn't happen often for me. The lyrics are vital for me whether they're sung in English or any other language. Not that I won't listen to a whole instrumental album. I love Rick Wakeman and Mike Oldfield albums. Their impact doesn't alter because they lack a singer or a lyricist. But when there is a vocalist I always read the lyrics. It's one of the most important elements of a good song. 

I have to admit, that while I expected the middle two options to be the least popular, I honestly didn’t expect them to get so few votes in comparison to the other options.

I guess I should reiterate that back in the day, I would have probably gone for the two middle options - not because I didn’t want to hear foreign language lyrics, but simply because they never even came close to crossing my radar.

I’ve always been a voracious reader, devouring works of fiction and non-fiction. As a child, my mum and dad never had to worry about what to get me for birthdays or Christmas. Books, books, and more books. So, of course, it follows that I paid a lot of attention to the lyrics, and loved reading them where they were available in the cassette booklets. I knew all the words to all the songs on all the albums I owned.

I’ve always listened to instrumental music too, though the ratio of instrumental and music with vocals has definitely shifted over the years. These days, virtually all music is “instrumental” to me, as I very rarely pay attention to the lyrics/vocals anymore. The vocals have become just one more instrument in the mix - and this is largely because I started to explore music from other countries, where the lyrics were sung in the native language. Not having any idea of what was being sung, meant that I was listening to the voice as an instrument.

There are times when I’m so struck by the vocals in a song, that I feel the need to find out what is being sung, but this is rare. I know in a way it is doing a bit of a disservice to the lyricist, and could be construed as discourteous and offensive. I don’t mean to be that way, and I fully appreciate how much some lyricists put into their words. I do actually feel guilty at times, when I know that the lyrics are actually important, and I’m making no effort to listen to them.
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