Do Lyrics Matter?

I’ve heard that the average music consumer doesn’t really care about lyrics or even listen for them anymore. And with so many songs making popularity despite their lyrical obscurity, it certainly calls into question the value of spending gobs of time on writing substantial lyrics. I’d like to dive into this question of whether songs should make ‘sense’, whether lyrics matter, and what we songwriters can take away from the potential power of words for the purpose of our personal artistic expression.

In my career, I’ve learned not to put too much stock in the average listener’s assertion of what matters in music. Their opinion of what is artful and how to create it is about as useful as my opinion about how to choreograph a dance like Twyla Tharp or design a structure like Frank Lloyd Wright. The listener doesn’t have a clue what they’re listening to - they only know how it makes them feel. That’s valuable, if we’re trying to determine what they’ve taken from our musical expression and what is memorable about it. But for suggestions on how to achieve the fullness of our artistic expression in terms of words, melody, vocal tone, chords, meter, tempo, production and mix stylings, they offer no food for our creative hunger. In fact, their commentary can often hinder more than help. Sorry, mom.

So if the general public isn’t the voice of reason on whether lyrics matter to music, who is? Often music enthusiasts take the stance that lyrics matter to some and not to others, saying things like “I don’t listen to the words, but only to the music.” I wonder how far that rationale goes. Which aspect of the music do we listen for, then? If we’re an instrumentalist or a producer, perhaps we’re listening to specific elements of the song that reflect our interests and abilities. The average listener would grapple with chord changes but pick up on rhythm. Even I know the popular songs of Mariah Carey’s career for the sake of their melody alone, despite not being able to sing a whistling lick of it.

It is my belief that even people who don’t care for poetics underestimate the power of words, and that extends to song. We may not be listening for them, but words are part of the sonic bed, inferring meaning in their sound and structure, that is inseparable from the song as a whole. It’s why we infer meaning from songs that, when read aloud, don’t really make a lot of logical sense. 

Some lyrics are a collage of images that provoke a feeling without our direct focus on them. The music that carries the weight of our words also gives those words context. It’s why Adele can exclaim she set fire to the rain and I feel what she means. The musical drama infers this is not fixed in reality, but bathed in fantasy. 

I recall pausing a Seal song one afternoon to read the lyrics of on-screen and found myself disappointed. I had wanted to find enduring wisdom in the words as I had when they were sung, but wound up too far inside my analytical brain to ‘feel’ their power anymore. In separating them from the music, they had lost something, like a plant pulled from the ground by the roots. 

I might wonder, then, if other lyrics could have sufficed for that Seal song that left me disillusioned. Perhaps lyrics that would deliver more logical sense. But the key here is that music contributes a texture, even a character, that allows us to make meaning.

I spend a good deal of my work life picking apart songs. In so doing, I constantly ask myself what makes a song tick, which means untangling more elements than initially meets the eye. What music listeners respond to when listening to music is not only sound, but the whole artist package including persona such as the music video we saw that eviscerates their brand, along with their sound and cultural reference we make from it. It’s virtually impossible to separate all these elements completely, and to do so takes sweat hours - something that only those doing the act of creating have struggled to do. 

When we say we don’t really listen to melody, or grooves, or lyrics, it may say more about the style of music we feel drawn to enjoy rather than a conscious choice to devalue certain elements of song. Lyrically dense songs don’t typically also carry harmonically-rich progressions at the same time as melodically-interesting contours and rhythms. All songs are not equal, and different genres prioritize different elements of song which is, in part, what makes them tick within the genre.

For example, artists like Kris Kristofferson or Johnny Cash are somewhat down to earth and grounded. It’s reflected in their music that can afford simple chord changes and melodies and rhythms. I know that character is going to be straight with me, their expressions rooted in things the common man can relate to. But Adele, on the other hand, remains in her feelings and thoughts for the bulk of her songs, giving us imagery from time to time that establishes how she is experiencing the concept and the world she’s painting. She can afford to let us waft on a wispy trail of thought, because it is inferred in the drama of her musical painting as well.

When we infer meaning rather than tell the listener directly what we mean, we’re allowing them to form their own mental picture and meaning. Many lyrics, and music, come from places within that are not necessarily logical. We’re the creator, but we’re also the observer. Our creative musing brings to mind things that were worth remembering and things that we’re still trying to process. That oceanic feeling is, as Freud pointed out, where the art lives.

So do lyrics matter? Absolutely, and more than we know. But they don’t have to make sense to be important. Whether we can ‘know’ why we like the songs and sounds we do, it doesn’t change the fact we like them. For most of us, ‘why’ just doesn’t matter. For those of us trying to move our listeners with our songs, our words are a powerful tool in doing that if we choose to utilize them.

Stay Creative,

PS: Few songwriting practices improve our skills like the simple act of listening. Collected over my 20+ year career as a multi-platinum songwriter for artists like Faith Hill and as a professor at Berklee & USC, this free guide contains fifty songs songwriters shouldn’t miss, grouped by their particular teachable moments. See what you respond to with each song, and what it might teach you about your own writing.