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In a song on a scale from 1 to 10 how much importance you give to the lyrics and how much to the music, melody, arrangements?

Could you like a song with bad lyrics and good melody, groove, vibe?

Could you like a song with bad melody and good lyrics?

melody -- 8
arrangement -- 8
lyrics -- 6

Like a song with bad lyrics and a good melody? Happens all the time.
Like a song with a bad melody? No.
.. I dont care what the lyrics are if the song sucks.

melody- 10

arrangement - 10

lyrics - less.

Bad music no way!

Bad lyrics, ssdd. lol

Personally, I spend way too much time worrying over lyrics, I know.

From what I hear these days, the catch phrase is the only important factor in lyrics.

Melody is important, but the groove, the overall feel, is much more important. You can get away with a lot of really bad lyrical content & a sad sorry little overdone melody, but without the groove & catch phrase your song will be total crap in today's market.

Sometimes when I write a song the lyrics come first (especially if I want to give a strong opinion), sometimes the melody comes first. Some songs the lyrics are paramount, others they're not that meaningful. It really depends on the song. If a song is very strong musically and lyrics detract from the song, then why even have lyrics? There's nothing wrong with instrumentals. I've said this many times before, if you're going to have lyrics then make sure they're understood when playing live and ESPECIALLY when you record the song. There's nothing more annoying to me than not being able to understand the lyrics. Later...

I am a child of the radio and I listen for good solid lyrical ideas that either tell a story or evoke a strong emotion. Hopefully it does both. For radio I think the instrumentation and everything is secondary to the vocals. And I am mainly a guitar player.

gtZip wrote:melody -- 8
arrangement -- 8
lyrics -- 6

Like a song with bad lyrics and a good melody? Happens all the time.
Like a song with a bad melody? No.
.. I dont care what the lyrics are if the song sucks.

Agreed 100%

I'd have to view them all on an even keel. I noticed several folks having a generous tolerance for bad lyrics. I have to say, for myself, that even though a song may carry a memorable melody-if the lyrics suck, I'll turn it off-every time. Yes, that melody may stick in my head for a while, but I'll only end up putting my own lyrics to the song.
When I record, we often refer to the vocal track as the "money channel". That's not only due to the vocal melody, but also the idea being expressed. That just my opinion, however, and there are many people making lots of money with very little lyrical talent. They are just not getting any of my money!

I'm big on lyrics but needs a least a decent melodt to be able to listen to it.

Melody first-10, music/riffs-8, lyrics last-5.
There are exceptions, 70's era Steve Miller
or Knickleback are too annoying to me lyrically
to concentrate on the melody. Melody is why a
Celine Dion will always attract more attention
more than an Yngve Malmstein(sp).

Occasionally lyrics and melody complement each other in a song, one song that comes to mind is “Dust in the wind” by Kansas, there are many others but for most songs it seems to me that lyrics is used as a platter to serve a melody particularly the ones with a catchy groove, beat or riff, there are other songs where the opposite is true where the melody is the platter in which the lyrics are served as for example “Every rose has his thorn” by Poison.
Do you guys have more examples?

I think a lot of that old scat style jazz vocalizing bebops along exactly to wild trumpet and sax bleatage.....they sort of depend on each other. An example of just the opposite, a weird conundrum of two things very apart but complimenting each other might be early Velvet Underground where Lou more or less beat poetisizes over weird harmonys from the instruments.
Kraftwerk ?? Stairway to Heaven <---sorry !

In the band Im trying to put together, I consider the vocals to be the
most important 'insrtument'. Everyone remembers a great melody
and tuneful voice. Only four guys in the audience are going to appreciate
the guitar work.

Hmmm, I don't know but I've been told, a big legged woman ain't got no soul? Oh well, I still love Black Dog However, most songs that I like also have good lyrics at the same time, it is the melody and the arrangement that is more important to me. I am an instrumentalist and I like songs that can be played without the lyrics. THe way music is arranged details the composers musicianship and imagination ( hmmm, I think that was a song ).

Hook - 10 regardless if it is, musical or lyrical or both.

neanderpaul wrote:

gtZip wrote:melody -- 8
arrangement -- 8
lyrics -- 6

Like a song with bad lyrics and a good melody? Happens all the time.
Like a song with a bad melody? No.
.. I dont care what the lyrics are if the song sucks.

Agreed 100%

I'll second that motion, couldn't say it better myself. Or am I thirding or something? Whatever, all those in favor, I'll say "aye."