Lyrics Vs Arrangement? Which is more Important?

I love the explanation given in "Music and Lyrics" about the difference between music and lyrics. It was basically that the music is what draws you in, but the lyrics is what keeps you coming back for more, and I absolutely agree with that. They have to work together to make a great song. You can have absolutely amazing lyrics, but if they're set to horrible music, no one is going to want to listen to the music in the first place. If the music is amazing, but the lyrics are horrible, you can listen to it a couple of times, but after awhile, the lyrics start to drive me away.

This is a tough question for me. My first initial reacion is to say that lyrics are the most important to me, but then I thought about it and realized if the music wasn't any good, I wouldn't listen to the song long enough to hear the lyrics. As far as my favorite songs go, it is the lyrics that make them my favorites and I think the arrangement could be changed and as long as I got to hear the great lyrics, I would still love the song. I will not, however, listen to a song that has a great arrangement but horrible lyrics. So in the end I think the lyrics are what draws me most to a song.

Well, I like some of the others posting on here, feel that the Lyrics are important to some extent, but if the Arrangement seems a mess, then it does not work for me. That is probably why I do not get Rap music because to me, it is just words, and nothing really to hold me. What really goes to show on Music in my opinion is American Idol. Especially when some try to make a Song their own. When the arrangement to a Song is a mess, it makes the song or music really seem a mess, and not worth listening too.

I am much more interested in the musical arrangement than in the lyrics...because most of my favourite songs are in foreign languages anyway. Then again, even though I don't understand the lyrics, they do become familliar to me, as the melody does. I don't tend to listen to music with profane lyrics, so I'm not worried about that, but I do enjoy a lot of instrumental music without lyrics at all. I am much more interest in the music itsself than in the lyrics.

I think I'll happily sit on the fence for this one. I'm a complete sucker for lyrics and all my favourite songs are my favourite because of the lyrics. However, no matter what the lyrics were if the instrumentation was chaotic or just plain old bad I probably wouldn't even make it through one listen. At the same time I've definetly liked songs, no matter how completely stupid and pointless the lyrics were for the simple reason that they were fun and bouncy, had a great instrumental solo in the middle of it or something along those lines. Without the music, a person would be listening to a story/poem and then it would no longer be music. :) At the end of the day I believe the importance of lyrics and/or arrangement is what a person is looking for in a song/album. Are they looking for something they relate to? Something that makes them feel a little more "normal", less alone? If that is the case the person would largely be looking to the lyrical content. Is the looking for something they can dance, jump around, sing too? Do they love a particular instrument and adore songs with that particular instruments solo performance in it? If this is the case, a person may not care how silly the lyrics are but about the instruments involved and the arrangement of those instruments.

I think the music is the most important. I can play a vocal melody with a counter melody on my bass. I can be emotional with the sounds I produce. I can give you the same feeling without words. Sometimes words get in the way. Anyone who has been in a relationship whether it is the friendship you have with your mother, father, friend... etc or a loving boyfriend or girlfriend.

for me it is the lyrics every time. Lyrics are the modern ages poetry. blessed be