Do lyrics matter not to people? For me, most of the time, no. Unless they're egregiously and noticeably bad or trite (e.g. Coldplay, which is one reason why I don't like them). Otherwise, I rarely pay attention. I may as well be listening to a lyric-less song. It's the sound that matters. However, that may very well be due to the way I process information. People are wired differently in that respect. I'm very much visually, rather than aurally oriented. I sometimes have difficulty following spoken conversations, and I often use captions on the television even though I'm not hearing impaired at all. I just can't focus on the spoken word well, which is why most lyrics pass me by unless they're well enunciated. I'm probably an extreme case, but I'm sure some music lovers have similar issues.

Do lyrics matter not to people? It's hard for me to understand them, so I just listen to the groove. Which is probably why I prefer instrumental of some sort.

In my own defense, it's only one -- a soundtrack for "Tour de France" coverage -- and I bought it back during my brief stint in bicycle racing. My family may have that one, too. Listening to lyrics is the main reason I have very little respect for rap. I love to dance, but if I ever stop to listen...Begeesus H. Chrysler. Take, Soulja Boy. The Crank Dat dance is fun (God, I'm white), but the lyrics? Soulja Boy Off In This Hoe Watch me Lean And Watch Me Rock? Super Man Dat Hoe Then Watch me Crank Dat Robocop? Super Fresh, Now Watch Me Jock Jocking On Them Haterz Man When I Do Dat Soulja Boy I Lean To The Left And Crank Dat Dance That can't be English.

Chipmunk_love wrote: Okay, here's a question...what about your musical past do you absolutely keep secret (until now)? I trained to sing opera before I switched to law (seriously, not kidding here) - which may be why I take the mickey out of (unsingable) lyrics all the time.

I listen to the lyrics no matter what it is, but whether or not I care about them or pay attention to them or take them seriously just all depends on the song and artist. For example, I loooove Fergie because her lyrics are generally just so ridiculous that I can't not love them. Taco Bell? Mustangs? Awesome. I don't think I'd enjoy her music the least bit if I didn't stop to listen and laugh. Otoh, I have Britney's "Toxic" on my guilty pleasure playlist and even though I could sing every word to it if it were playing, I couldn't really tell you any of them now without the song backing me up. They just don't matter. And I think it's because they don't matter in general. If it's someone like REM or Sonic Youth or Johnny Cash or U2, then I pay attention and care because that's part of the art. They put an equal amount of care into the music *and* the lyrics. I think it's easier to care when the artist gives a damn. Okay, here's a question...what about your musical past do you absolutely keep secret (until now)? To start us off, I must confess that I've been to two NSYNC concerts. i can't really think of anything I'm personally embarassed by. I mean, I'm sure I've gone to see people who other people would find embarassing, but I kind of don't care. I saw NKOTB, Tiffany and Tommy Page (I had such a crush on him) at Six Flags when I was 12 or 13. I think seeing cornball bands at a theme park is like a right of passage, though, right? {g} If we're talking CDs, though, I have a *lot* of crap that I probably wouldn't be able to unload at the CD Exchange even if I felt like facing their mocking stares. I have a horrible tendancy to buy absolute garbage if it's in the dollar bin. When Tower went out of business, I bought a load of things. Some were good (I got a bunch of REM import singles at the Sunset Tower), but most were really, really bad. I bought two Clay Aiken cds from the Atlanta Tower. Two. A dollar and twenty five cents that cost me, iirc. I bought a Jordan Knight cd, too. Somewhere in that same group was She Wants Revenge and The Killers, but I don't think that helped my cred at the cash register.

I own an Al Green CD. But I guess I'm not really ashamed of that. Hmmm...maybe my Marilyn Manson CD? Nope. Not ashamed of that either.

Okay, here's a question...what about your musical past do you absolutely keep secret (until now)? To start us off, I must confess that I've been to two NSYNC concerts. The N'Sync Christmas album - but in my defense, it was a gift from a friend. I used to say that I was a Dolly Parton fan, but she's still cool.

Dolly's totally cool. A live CD of hers was also amongst my many Tower blowout sale purchases. The reason, incidentally, that I can so confidently list out so many CDs I bought that day (when I can't tell you what I ate for lunch this afternoon) is because most of them were never taken out of wrapper and still have a big Tower sticker on them. They sit there and they mock my inability to pass up a 90% off sale. Dolly doesn't mock me, though. She actually got some play.

I used to be a boy band kind of girl. Also, Celine Dion. But whatever. If she's on the radio, I still jam to it. *g* I belt out her songs, very badly. ;)

For me lyrics are very important. I had a lot of trouble learning to read and still to this day tend to get more through listening than reading or viewing so I can pick up lyrics pretty easily. I also like play on words and a lot of musicians will sneak things in there that make me smile or laugh, particularly when others get it wrong. I had a near screaming match over of all things Meatloaf's I Would do Anything for Love(but I won't do that) because someone completely missed the meaning of the song. I like a good play on words and a cute turn of phrase, ironically the Bon Jovi song I think Namaste referred to earlier makes me smile every time because of that little combination of two completely random events in the same sentence. The only exception to that is John Mellancamp's lyrics Up from Indiana, down from Tennessee...though that may be more of a geography issue for me. I don't have a lot of guilty pleasure. I'm pretty secure in admitting I will listen to most music and have rocked out all over the US to everything from NKOTB to Queen and Metallica to Van Halen to Snoop Dogg

I still like Celine Dion. But more from the standpoint that she's made it successfully and gotten past the professional struggle of damaging her vocal cords. I had a lot of trouble learning to read and still to this day tend to get more through listening than reading or viewing so I can pick up lyrics pretty easily. And for me, I'm starting to realize more and more that the little hearing loss in my right ear impacts music listening for me. I didn't think it did. But now it's harder to pick out specific words. Used to be stuff like chorus/course were hard, and transcribing chords, but now it's more with age.

Coming in late (and a bit reluctantly) on the subject of guilty pleasures, and only because it came up on the internet radio station I was listening to this morning. I love this. I don't know why, but I do: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eISBTBwWKeE

Joe Jackson! That's someone who combines good music with great lyrics (most of the time). Guilty pleasures: Shakira with Hips don't lie. I just cannot stay still when that's playing...

Guilty pleasures: Shakira with Hips don't lie. I just cannot stay still when that's playing... That song makes me laugh so hard because it's Wyclef basically telling Shakira "You're so hot, you make me want to break out my first-year high school Spanish: Como se llama, bonita, mi casa, su casa!"