Do lyrics matter?

  Music is a series of sounds that somehow provoke certain reactions in humans. The human voice is also a sound that is just part of what we call music. However, lyrics are expressions of the human thought. Lyrics become (or have been interpreted and conceived) as literature. Therefore, they must be related to the music (or viceversa) in order to produce meanings and stirr emotions in the listener. There are songs that feature lyrics as a mandatory requirement. Other songs integrate lyrics into the music, and each part comments on the other. Lyrics and music are complementary, yet they can still exist, and produce meanings, when separated from the other. That's my opinion.   

Lyrics ARE important, equally as important as the
music I feel.
I also think that good lyrics are often written off
because although a listener may appreciate the
music they for some reason do not understand the
lyric, the don't 'get' what the author of the words is
trying to say, and when this happens it is easy to
write off the lyric as 'poor'.
Sometimes with a deeply emotional or personal lyric
a listener may feel uncomfortable with that feeling
and therefore would prefer to just have the music
only. I see this happen, and the reverse is also true, I
see people admire a band who's lyric is barely
audible, or understandable and are fine with that
because they do not have to rise to the challenge
that a good lyric can represent.
Of course there are poor lyrics out there, but I find it
difficult to listen to music with unintelligible lyrics.

P-C

The music is definitely more important, but the vocals are an instrument too, but instead of just notes there's the added dimension of lyrics.

Look at Syd Barrett; his music was absolutely brilliant, but his lyrics ruined any chances for him to become famous.

I hate swanky lyrics, and sappy ones, and ones that go in no direction in particular. It mostly has to do with subject matter, but I'm sick of these bands throwing as many random 3-syllable words together.
It was cool when At the Drive-In did it. It's not cool anymore. Cut it out.

As somebody said earlier, what would Genesis have been without its almost Shakespearean lyrics?
What if Pink Floyd had abandoned its thought-provoking lines?
How could RUSH have done 2112 if they hadn't chosen just the right words?
Porcupine Tree would lose its ironic edge of innocence, Yes wouldn't have its 'monk-like' edge, Hawkwind would have been just another psychedelic-rock band...

...how can you relate your feelings to the music if the words don't flow?

el böthy wrote: Lyrics are the reason I got into Van der Graaf in the first place!!! latter I liked Hammills voice a lot more, and even the instrumentation...but if it wasn´t for the lyrics, this bands wouldn´t have made it for me!!! So lyrics are pretty important!

I've always thought they were amoung the most interesting if not the most, lyrically, of the great prog bands.

that said though... being a  huge Yes fan and of non-english (especially Italian) prog I could say in all honesty the lyrics really mean little to me.... it's always been about the music.

They go hand in hand to me.
I try to find the bands who are the best at combining the two into one powerful message. Though I don't believe that a song's lyrics must have meaning I think that they should convey the same emotion as the song's music. I also think that the vocalist can influence me either way. If a really powerful lyric is sung by some tone deaf loser it doesn't mean as much.

Lyrics are very important of course.. That's why i dont listen to Yes 

yeppp wrote: Lyrics are very important of course.. That's why i dont listen to Yes

Yes's lyrics have a lot of meaning to them --- you probably just don't understand the psychedelic counter-culture too well.

yeppp wrote: Lyrics are very important of course.. That's why i dont listen to Yes

Then does it mean, that say, if music is sh*t, but lyrics is awesome you'll still be listening to it?

Paul K. wrote: yeppp wrote: Lyrics are very important of course.. That's why i dont listen to Yes  Then does it mean, that say, if music is sh*t, but lyrics is awesome you'll still be listening to it?

Well if the lyrics start to annoy you ( YES ) then i dont listen to it even if the music is great.. AND I think yes is musically good but nothing really great.. Technically amazing of course, Emotionally .. and when all these are counted i cant say I'm a fan of that band.. Influential they were, no doubt about it !