I'm writing the lyrics of a song. And it sounds great to me. I really like it as it is.
But the lyrics don't mean anything. They are a hodgepodge.

My question: Does it matter?

I think that depends on how important it is to you that the listener get involved on the lyrical level. If you're just fine with them being mouth-sounds, leave it as-is. There's a lot of leeway for words not to reach a coherent conclusion, but let the listener connect the dots.

Frank Decent wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:04 pm My question: Does it matter?

Nah, but I do think there's a line between being absurdist and inarticulate.

Frank Decent wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:04 pm I'm writing the lyrics of a song. And it sounds great to me. I really like it as it is.
But the lyrics don't mean anything. They are a hodgepodge.

My question: Does it matter?

I listen to and love a lot of music without meaningful, cohesive lyrics. Go for it.

Also, do what you want. Trust yourself.

rsmurphy wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:29 pm

Frank Decent wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:04 pm My question: Does it matter?

Nah, but I do think there's a line between being absurdist and inarticulate.

There's that, and also an entire history of popular and great music with really dumb lyrics.

^ All of this.

It's a question of artistic satisfaction, mostly. Do you love any bands with lyrics that are just kind of there? Do you need a core thematic drive to perform a song with the appropriate intensity?

Plenty of good songs with non-amazing lyrics. Sometimes the phonetic shape of the words in your mouth, the actual sound of pronouncing them is the most important thing. It's why putting a great poem to music doesn't always work.

There are tons of songs I love with horrible lyrics. Just dumb shit, horrible turns of phrase, stuff like that. Roxy Music, for example. Bryan Ferry's lyrics are some of the most inane bullshit, but they work in context.

Honestly, I don't pay attention to lyrics 90% of the time. You could be singing your washing machine's owners manual, I'd never know.

I mean if meaningless words are fine in corporate boardrooms or political campaigns (as if there's a difference), I guess they're fine in lyrics. Most serious lyrics are stupid anyway. Have you listened to the Doors lately?

Yeah, I'm not sure where my lines lay. I don't want corporate, inane bullshit. I want lyrics that mean something to me. But this time it turned out to be both a collage and something meaningful.
I'm not used to writing meaningless phrases. Maybe I'll just work on it.
Thanks for the discussion.

”Meaningless” is kind of a funny term. I think there are a lot of good songs that don’t have cohesive lyrics or form some tight narrative arc that the songwriter could explain and defend line-by-line. And yet if the song is compelling, a listener would likely ascribe their own meaning to the song.

In my last band I wrote lyrics and sang (for the first time for me) and it started out with much looser lyrics that I hoped would evoke a mood and not draw attention to themselves in a negative way. Over a few years, I got tighter with meaning and verses that supported them, but I don’t know if “meaningful” = better, all things being equal.