When you listen to music...

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(with words), do you "get" the lyrics?

I ask because I usually don't. I have to look them up, which, I guess, means I am much more visual than auditory (already knew that). I can usually get the chorus or the repeated lines, but otherwise, I'm pretty hopeless.

Also, reading the lyrics and listening to the song are totally different things for me. The same is true for recorded books, radio, etc., but I usually can process just a voice, so it's understandable, it would just be a lot different if I read it. It's when music overlaps words that I have a problem understanding.

You are not alone, I always have to look up the lyrics. It's cool though, I'm usually moved by the sound of the music more than by the content of the lyrics anyway .

I hate it when the booklet doesn't have the lyrics!

I wouldn't say I'm any worse than most at working out what they're saying, but I do have a complete inability to understand what they mean.

Many of Quasi's songs have a very upbeat sound but the lyrics are pretty depressing. I didn't even realise until i read them from the booklet.

I read an Ed Harcourt interview recently where he explained the gist of each song. I didn't have a clue.

I'm the same with poetry and other forms of literature. I need someone to explain the hidden meanings and it really frustrates me.

I can never get the lyrics but only a few scattered words. I don't even pay attention to lyrics anymore but only the tune.

coolstertothecore said

That's what the internet is for....

Go to Google and type....

LYRICS "bring me to life" evanescence

and click Search. It should work everytime.

ie: There are three parts to it, the word LYRICS the Song Name and the Artist Name.
Don't include all three in the one set of quotation marks but if the artist for example contains two words, consider putting them in inverted commas too (eg: "Midnight Oil").

If you don't know the name of a song, type a phrase from it in place of the name

You probably know all this anyway but others might not.

I usually understand the lyrics and meaning of a song, and I listen to a lot of different genres which tend to have different lyrical styles. Sometimes I know just with one listen, and I can often learn the lyrics by ear too. I don't find it hard to "get" a song.

I can understand the lyrics when I'm listening to a song, but I understand their meaning much better if I look them up.

I usually spend my third or fourth listen focussing on the lyrics, so I can listen to them. I don't hear as much of the music that way, though. If I don't concentrate, they could be singing anything, however. Once I know a song, I can usually hear them with less effort, I need to have gone through it 6 or 7 times before I reach that point, though, at least once trying to listen to the lyrics at the expense of the music.

I have to know what the songf is about, so I have to find the lyrics for them. It drives me nuts otherwise. It is more of a way of getting the song better, I think. I also have to correct people if they get the lyrics wrong, they have misinterpretted the song otherwise.

depends. Sometimes I have to ask my daughter what a particular rapper is saying...
I find I fill in the lyrics of things I've heard enough as I hear it; but if you ask me out of the blue what the lyrics are, I can't do it...

I usually listen to instrumentals only, since I do a lot of writing and browsing on the computer. I do have a hard time deciphering lyrics, but I love to do it anwyay.

It aways amazed me how everyone else could listen to a rap song once and know all the lyrics. For me, rap usually sounds like this....

Wah wah smoking blunt wah wah wah word up wah!
Gettin' wah wah wah 22-inch rims waaah!

Yeah, it's completely different, I assumed that the effect of reading some text and hearing it spoken/sung would be totally different for everyone, isn't it?

i google up the lyrics ALL THE TIME and put them into my iTunes library...

I always have to read the lyrics. I usually have songmeanings.net or lyricwiki.org (those are the only lyric sites I like, since they don't have pop-ups) up in another browser window while I'm listening to music on the computer. lol.

I am a HUGE music fan, and I never process any of the lyrics until at least a few listens, unless something really sticks out by chance. It's like, in order for me to process the lyrics, it takes a focus which does not allow me to enjoy the music purely, as music. I can't "get lost" in the music if I'm trying to figure out what he's saying and what the song means. Most NT's I know care more about lyrics than anything else when it comes to music preferences, but I couldn't be more opposite.