How much do lyrics matter?

Lots of Metallica fans are celebrating the band's new song "Hardwired." The consensus seems to be that the song is a return to Metallica's roots. Whether or not that's the case, is everyone missing the fact that the lyrics of the song are horrible? I realize that lyrics are subjective to a certain extent. But, the lyrics in this case are overly simple, far too obvious, too banal, and very boring.


www.youtube.com...

That got me to thinking about how much lyrics matter to music in fans in general. I believe there are many bands that improved their lyrics in their later albums, but that fact seems irrelevant to fans who only like the earlier work of the bands. I believe The Cure, U2, and Aerosmith improved their lyrics as time went on. But, that doesn't seem to matter to fans who only want to complain about their later work (while failing to notice any positives in it).

The Cure is a great example of that. Is anyone going to claim that the lyrics to a song such as "Boys Don't Cry" are anything close to the lyrics of the average song on any of their later albums?

a reply to: Profusion

I think it just depends. There are some artists whose lyrics I love, like Damian Marley. Then there are a lot of foreign songs I love, but I barely know a single word in them (Linex's "Kimugina", Lim Kim's "Awoo", and virtually any song from Perola are examples).

But I'm a hater so I think that most songs have lame or overly simplified lyrics. So I make up my own interpretations of them lol. In fact, I stopped looking at the official lyrics for most groups I like (like Deftones) because their lyrics have completely different meanings from what I interpreted.

Modest Mouse's early stuff had some great lyrics. I'm more of a singer songwriter kinda guy. So the mountain goats, Damien jurado, bright eyes, and cursive really do it for me. Or just go instrumental and don't worry about any lyrics!

a reply to: Profusion

Lyrics and riff quality, drum intensity, bass cohesion and mastery, and the unified energy of the band are what made Metallica a great band, and made their content so fantastic. There are better lyrics on every one of the following albums, than there are in this song you linked to:

Kill em All
Ride The Lightning
Master Of Puppets
...And Justice For All

Hell, even the bloody Black Album has better lyrics on it than can be found in this track.

That being said, I did enjoy the fact that Metallica at least seem to be trying to capture some energy and commitment to the sound they are making, rather than just trudging through the bog that was St Anger and Deathmagnetic.

Lyrics matter a lot to me, and so does production, sound quality, and the music itself. Bad lyrics ruin a song for me.

But I can't comment on the metallica song because a band's integrity also matters to me, and I gave up on metallica when they sued all their fans for downloading pirated music. Cuz suing your fans for breaking copyright laws is the most metal thing any human has ever done./sarc

S&f for two reasons, one, you didn't have any, two, the lyrics feel lazy.

Lyrics are very important to me. I seek out music that has lyrics that address social issues or brings history to life. I tend to shy away from the plethora of love and break up songs.

The quality of music is very important to me, I like full and rich analog instruments. Electronic music lacks the heart and soul of the person playing the instrument. That said if the lyrics go above and beyond meaningful the instrumentals can pass for just ok.

I do owe Metalica for some fun times in my teen years and for my introduction into symphonic metal with No Leaf Clover. My favorite style of all time.

It really does depend on the type of music. I love songs that have deep, meaningful lyrics but I also adore a beautiful instrumental where lyrics are not necessary,

When it comes to Metallica, I don't think most people consider the lyrics to be the most significant element of their music, myself included. It's more about the blazing riffs, intricate solos, the overall mood and theme of the song.

That is not to say that there are no lyrical gems in some of their songs, just that it's not the focus of their sound.

a reply to: Profusion

This should give you an idea of how important lyrics are...

This isn't Metallica... at least not what i remember

In the name of desperation
In the name of wretched pain
In the name of all creation
Gone insane

[Chorus]
We're so #ed
# outta luck
Hardwired to self-destruct
[Verse 2]
On the way to paranoia
On the crooked borderline
On the way to great destroyer
Doom design

[Chorus]
We're so #ed
# outta luck
Hardwired to self-destruct

[Verse 3]
Once upon a planet burning
Once upon a flame
Once upon a fear returning
All in vain
Do you feel that hope is fading?
Do you comprehend?
Do you feel it terminating?
In the end

[Chorus]
We're so #ed
# outta luck
Hardwired to self-destruct
Hardwired to self-destruct
Self-destruct
Self-destruct
Self-destruct