Anything. Try me.

[bubbles]

I'm in the mood for some debate. I don't particularly care what topic, but I'll throw one out there.

What's more important: lyrics or melody?

Or choose your own subject.

Be silly, be philosophical, be arbitrary... just jump in and play!


ETA: after posting this yesterday, my day went totally sideways and I couldn't get back to it until now. Sorry for the delay. Thanks for playing! You guys are awesome.

Comments

[syasnomis.livejournal.com]

Melody.

Michael Jackson is the best selling artist of all time and I can only understand half the words on the Thriller album.

[coffeesnob.livejournal.com]

I was going to say "lyrics." I was building a case and everything.

Then the voice in my head said, "But...you like Smack my Bitch Up."

*hangs head in shame*

So I can't truthfully say "lyrics," because I would have to deny my unholy obsession with Prodigy.

And I can't. It just won't be denied.

But I'm not sure that you can call what they do "melody," either.

So I propose a third category - beat. I like a good beat. Something that makes me want to drive faster. Or that I can dance to. For example - 80's music, I like, but dancing to it is not my favorite, so I'm pretty ho hum about the whole 80's music scene. But put on some salsa, and I have a really hard time standing still, and, as a result, I can listen to it for hours and not get tired of it. That goes for anything one could use glowsticks to dance to, also. Hence the Prodigy obsession.

You're picturing me dancing with glowsticks, aren't you? If not, you should. Who needs TV when you have such an entertaining mental image?

So I'm going to be difficult and say the most important thing is the beat.

[nonnierms.livejournal.com]

For me, it would be lyrics. Even if the song has an awesome melody, I can't listen to it if it has rotten lyrics or a message I find offensive. And there are songs with great lyrics but mediocre melodies that I still love for the lyrics sake.

[nonnierms.livejournal.com]

glowsticks. coffee. dancing. I can so see this.......

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I was going to say "lyrics." I was building a case and everything.
Then the voice in my head said, "But...you like Smack my Bitch Up."
*splutters coffee* Wah!
Sorry to jump in, but I am so amused. Because I too would have gone for 'lyrics', but I also like Smack my Bitch Up! *dies* Worse, I like those gods of repetitive lyrics, Daft Punk!

*joins the beat camp*

This fits with the fact that my favourite band is Belle and Sebastian because they use beats that I can indie-pop dance to without by breasts bouncing ridiculously. The indie-pop scene really wasn't for the C-cup-or-above set, I'll tell you... (I hope you don't have a visual mind, bubbles79--glowsticks and breasts--eek! sorry!)

[bubbles79.livejournal.com]

So true! But then, who hasn't gone around declaring "I'm Bad, I'm Bad, You Know It, Come On!" with total disregard for melody? I think in MJ's case it's mostly his extroardinary talent for subliminal messaging/brainwashing.

[bubbles79.livejournal.com]

Hee! I love my smart friends. I was hoping someone would come up with a "none of the above" answer. I am disappointed that I missed out on your well-formulated argument for lyrics, though. Let me give it a shot.
Lyrics make you consciously think, search for deeper meaning, and relate the song to your own life. Of course, lyric-free melody has been shown to improve mental performance, apparently acting on an unconscious level. Look at me, arguing with myself. Why did I invite anyone else into this debate anyway? Ok, back on topic. Lyrics have been credited with starting and ending wars (and relationships). Lyrics make you laugh, cry, feel to an extent that melody and beat never quite manage. Unghh, I am so tempted to make a counter-argument here. Bubbles, stop arguing with myself!
Anyway, beat is for l00sers. (Says the girl who owns every DDR game ever made...)

[bubbles79.livejournal.com]

No comment.

Which, stated in the form a comment, may appear to be contradictory, but is not. Clearly I meant to put forward my official position, and not to actually indicate a lack of comment.

[bubbles79.livejournal.com]

No apology needed. I actually enjoy thinking about your... taste in music.
;)

[bubbles79.livejournal.com]

Aren't there any songs that you like in spite of yourself, because they're just that catchy? Are there songs that make you feel nostalgic or high or anything in between, because you link them to a certain time in your life? I find that usually has more to do with melody than anything. Would you recognize the "good" songs by beat or lyrics alone? Lyrics by themselves are poetry. Lyrics with a beat are a march. Melody by itself is music.
Yes? No?

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

*giggle* I envy the small-breasted of this world. There is so much more music available to them--and they probably don't even realise it!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

who owns every DDR game ever made
Really?! *envies*

But lyrics! Yes. They can be poetry. A good lyric can make me like a track I would otherwise dismiss.

[nonnierms.livejournal.com]

blame it on the English major in me but words are very important. There have been melodies that I have enjoyed until I heard the lyrics and then the melody itself became distasteful to me. Its kind of like people--I'll meet someone and think they are attractive yet when I discover they have a horrid peronality, I no longer find them attractive (or the opposite--people I didn't originally find attractive become so because I'm so enamoured of their personality).

There are many many songs that I recognize by beat alone, just as I would recognize them by the lyrics. If a song truly has meaning for me, the lyrics and the melody are inseparable--if I hear one, my mind supplies the other. When a song has lyrics, I tend not to like the instrumental versions--the lyrics and the melody belong together.

Yet I love compositions that are pure melody (as my huge classical and jazz collection can attest). But if you were to put lyrics to those pieces, my mind would protest because it recognizes them as masterpieces all on their own, not to be diluted with lyrics :p